"My very first encounter with the piano took place when I was seven years old. A wondrous universe opened up in front of me. All about the piano was fascinating and sensuous: It sounded good, it smelled good, it felt good!"

Pianist and composer Marie-Luise Hinrichs lives and teaches in Cologne, Germany, and performs internationally. She received her first piano lessons at the age of seven from Marianne Haupt in Siegen. At the age of fourteen, Marie-Luise received a boost of encouragement when she was chosen to be the understudy for concert pianist Stephan Askenaze during rehearsals with orchestra for Mozart's C major concerto (KV 467), and at age seventeen, when her debut performance of the same concerto, conducted by Sygfried Fiedler, received critical acclaim.
Marie-Luise pursued further studies with Hubert Juhre in Essen, Yara Bernette at the Hamburg University of Music, Pavel Gililov at the Cologne University of Music and Renate Kretschmar-Fischer in Detmold.

After her graduation in 1997, Ms. Hinrichs became a sought-after and internationally acclaimed soloist. Her concert activities took her to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Sydney Town Hall, the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, the Tanglewood Festival and the Chatelet and Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris. She has toured through France, Spain, Norway, Australia, Syria, Lebanon, the United States, and Germany. Her EMI Classics CD (now re-released by Warner Classics) of works by Mozart for two pianos, recorded with duo partner Christian Zacharias, was nominated for the 1998 Classical Cannes Award. She has performed with the Sudwestfunk Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony and the Moscow Virtuosi under such conductors as Emmanuel Krivine, Bernhard Klee and Vladimir Spivakov.

Ms. Hinrichs particularly favors the music of Spanish composer Antonio Soler, whose unique sonatas, with their roots in the folk music of Spain, are a mainstay of her solo repertoire. "I was 16 years old when I heard a Soler sonata in a church in Spain, performed by an Argentinian pianist. It was like a vision. I knew, very intensely, that I'd play this music later." Her recordings of Soler's sonatas, published by EMI Classics (now Warner Red Line Classics) and CPO, drew attention from beyond the borders of Germany and introduced Soler to new audiences.

In 2005, Marie-Luise started to suffer from extreme depression and anxiety. During a time period of deep emotional pain, when she was searching for a role model and for spiritual healing, Marie-Luise discovered the life and work of medieval German saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). "I read the book 'Vision' and was captivated by it. I immediately bought the songs, and a new dimension of music opened up to me. The music has a healing effect... It is flowing, extremely free and natural... It encompasses the whole cosmos. It is like an echo of the cosmos - of the heavens and the stars here on our earth. Hildegard von Bingen said that she received her songs, images, and visions from God." Marie-Luise's CD "Vocation", featuring her own piano arrangements of Gregorian chants composed by Hildegard von Bingen, caused a sensation and was long in the European classical music charts in 2011. A documentary film portrait was also created about the development of this project. In 2019, Marie-Luise produced a sequel to "Vocation" entitled "Meditationen" which again showcases her arrangements of the music of Hildegard von Bingen, and again, a 3rd CD in 2023 entitled “Visions.” Marie-Luise also composed a music book with accompanying CD of original works for piano and voice, with lyrics focusing on the life of Hildegard von Bingen, and paintings by Marie-Luise's sister, Marianne.

While working on the von Bingen project, a friend introduced Marie-Luise to the music of philosopher and composer George Gurdjieff. This was the beginning of a great fascination with music of the Orient, especially music by composers from Gurdjieff's home country of Armenia. Marie-Luise has since devoted several concerts and recordings to Oriental and Armenian music.

Marie-Luise loves to organize charitable fundraising music projects, such as “Frohe Weihnachten” (“Merry Christmas”) her album of gentle, calming pieces by the great composers, combined with traditional German folk songs of similar gentle character, the profits from which go to the Westfalisches Children's Hospital in Münster, Germany, and a fundraising concert for her favorite animal shelter near her home, in which she performed her very own original compositions dedicated to animals.

Marie-Luise's stylistic voice is characterized by an extremely sensitive, gentle, calm, mellow, warm piano sound. She is especially drawn to sacred music as it reflects her own deep devotion to God. She also has a great sense of humor and love of plants and animals that shows up in her original compositions and drawings. She has independently published five CDs of original compositions on her own independent record label, Angels Records.
When not preparing for concerts and recordings, Marie-Luise teaches at her home studio and enjoys inventing learning exercises for beginning and intermediate piano students.

"It is a great blessing to be able to express myself through music," says Marie-Luise.