Teaching

Over 100 students have successfully completed Mariia’s original programme on contemporary music theory and basic composition. The course was designed to teach musicians how to create their own works, master the secrets of improvisation and play their instruments with ease.

The greatest benefit of the course lay in the versatility of the knowledge imparted: students learnt musical principles that could be applied across any genre – from writing pop songs and improvising at home to creating soundtracks for video games or films. The course consisted of three separate modules, tailored to each student’s level of preparation and knowledge. The programme was constantly updated to meet the needs of each intake, including specific topics such as orchestration, sound engineering, working with computer software and the basics of the music business.

Today, Mariia’s expertise is available in the form of practical intensive courses covering over 13 hours of teaching material. These masterclasses are streamlined and focused on the practical skills required in the modern industry:

– From idea to track: developing a melody, working with the structure, form and texture of a piece.

– Harmony and arrangement: creating different musical moods (from romantic to horror) through the use of alterations, modes and modulations.

– Advanced level: arrangement techniques for string instruments and a full orchestra, as well as a step-by-step process for creating a composition from scratch.

Mariia Yaremak was invited as a guest and mentor to the ‘Based on It’ project. 

Working within the CAMP proved to be a real source of inspiration. Mariia began the day with a lecture on ‘Reharmonisation, material development and the ability to work with the structure and narrative of a soundtrack based on Ukrainian folk melodies’. The practical assignment was equally relevant: students were tasked with creating a track based on the knowledge they had gained. Although the details of the work remain behind the scenes, there is a strong likelihood that these compositions will one day be heard in the country’s major cinemas.

Mariia Yaremak spoke at the All-Ukrainian Forum for Piano Teachers, ‘Spivzvuchchia’. As a composer, pianist and arranger, she presented her perspective on contemporary music education, inspiring her colleagues to introduce innovations into their teaching practice.

During the forum, Mariia focused on three key areas: combining creativity and pedagogy, methods for developing creative thinking in pupils, and the creation of musical projects that go beyond the classical repertoire. She shared her experience of creating music that brings the world together and offered new ideas for lessons, drawing on her work on large-scale international projects – from performances for the royal family in London to participation in UN events and the Atlas United festival.

The ‘Harmony’ Forum served as a platform for building a progressive community where classical traditions form the foundation for bold innovation. In addition to new insights and success stories from Mariia, participants gained access to an exclusive professional community, teaching case studies and certificates of professional development.

On 1 April 2026, Mariia Yaremak, at the invitation of Ksenia Borodin, gave a lecture to the university’s international students on Ukrainian culture and music. She spoke about the phenomenon of Ukrainian fantasy as a means of reimagining identity, as well as how cultural events today influence charitable fundraising and shape a new sensibility among audiences. Mariia paid particular attention to the realities of organising artistic events in Ukraine during the war, specifically the evacuation procedures during air raid alerts and the emergence of cultural venues in shelters, which are becoming not only a necessity but also new spaces for creativity and shared experiences.