An artist, musician, performer and business manager, Maria Bodmann earned her BFA and MFA in Multidisciplinary Art and Music from the California Institute of the Arts. She studied music at the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin, Germany, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Gamelan at the Indonesian Academy of Performing Arts (ASTI), and shadow theater in the village of Sukawati, Bali.

The Dept of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, has awarded numerous grants to Maria to produce and present traditional Wayang Kulit and creative performances and residencies. Other awards include support from the Brody Arts Fund of the California Community Foundation, California Council for the Humanities, the Durfee Foundation and Puppeteers of America. Maria's shadows are featured in Disney's "Camp Nowhere" and MGM's "Wild Bill", as well as theme parks in Singapore and Jakarta.

Maria is a residency artist with the Music Center of LA, a faculty member of the California State Summer School for the Arts, and past president of the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry. With her company, Bali & Beyond, her featured credits include the Getty Museum, LACMA, the Huntington, Eastman School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, Oberlin, University of Calgary, Swarthmore, USC, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, New West Symphony, Ventura Chamber Music Festival, National Geographic, Paramount's Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Hollywood Bowl, and many more.

Maria's specialty is shadow theater. As a shadow artist she tells stories, sings, plays music, and makes shadow figures of all kinds. She also manages Bali & Beyond. Her responsibilities include performing, teaching, booking programs, advertising, and graphic design.