Life & Work with Marika Pruss of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marika Pruss.

Hi Marika, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I’ve always loved music. I started piano when I was three, played violin and French horn for a few years, and loved singing and dancing. I found the love of making up my original songs when I was eight or nine. I always knew I wanted to be a musician. As I go through my personal journey and hardships in my teens, playing piano and writing music has really become therapy for me, and I decided to be a composer. I studied composition and music production in a Japanese music college, and film scoring at Berklee Colle or Music. While I was a student there, I recorded my first EP and started releasing my own music as an artist. Since then I have been regularly releasing my modern classical music, as well as writing music for short films, commercials, and a video game.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the struggles has been finding the right balance of life and work. I have two young children, and we travel quite often for my husband’s work, so balancing it all has been a challenge. But I love the challenge and it gives me a lot of new inspirations.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I write modern classical music and I’m known to my audience for my emotional music. I feel most proud when people tell me that my music helped them through hard times. Music has helped me so much in my life, so I am always trying to write music that speaks to people’s hearts.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love that that LA has so many creative people, and is surrounded by the beautiful senary of nature. I do miss a walkable city like Tokyo where I grew up sometimes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marika-takeuchi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.marika-takeuchi.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarikaTakeuchiMusic?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0lsDi98XEKVkgN2kdZWBHT?si=LLIE-JSNRySrz87LRjO80Q&utm_source=copy-link