Biography

Mary Joan (a.k.a. Maria Iivonen) has been interested in making music ever since she was a little girl. She’s a Finnish girl who has always expressed feelings through music. Music has always been a big part of her life, and she’s been studying it in different schools. She has years of experience in singing, performing and teaching singing. Iivonen was born in Tampere 1985, and moved to Oulu when she was 21. Both of these cities are important to her and she cares deeply about them. She also likes travelling, and she has a soft spot for English language. As an early teenager, she was writing in English very much, also in her diary. Iivonen graduated as a singing teacher from Oulu University Of Applied Sciences 2011 and has been teaching singing for a profession over a decade. She also has a large-scale experience in performing as a singer in many different projects. Different genres in music is familiar to her and she’s no stranger being on stage.

Before Mary Joan’s own journey with music started, Iivonen has been doing a lot performing and teaching singing. She has been teaching in many different schools around Oulu, among other places like University Of Oulu, Oulu university Of Applied Sciences, Oulu Conservatoire. At the moment she teaches in Vuolle College (Vuolle Opisto), Kainuun ammattiopisto (KAO Conservatory) and also privately. Iivonen has been performing many gigs with various bands and assemblies throughout the last 15 years.

In Summer 2020 Mary Joan released her first EP record called Origin. She organized the recordings sessions and got to work with her dearest colleagues Tuomo Jakku, Matti Perkiö, Matti Salo, Anni Huovinen, Sini Sax and Sami Juntunen. Origin is recorded and mixed by Juho Sirkkala @ Viralline Productions and mastered by Jarno Alho @ Alho Audio Mastering.