Cellist
Maya Beiser has etched a bold career path that marries classical to rock, starched collars to casual dress, and tradition to unorthodoxy. With an eclectic repertory of works by
John Tavener,
Tan Dun,
Led Zeppelin, and many others from all over the musical map, she plays what many call indie classical or alternative classical. However one defines her,
Beiser clearly enters the world of contemporary music with a willingness to take risks. Her freewheeling performance style, which may involve electronics, lighting effects, projected imagery, spoken poetry, and all manner of sounds from the cello, has helped her gain a wide audience of adventurous listeners.
Beiser has performed at jazz concerts and festivals and has made a string of popular recordings. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Ravinia Festival, and the major concert venues in Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, and countless other cities. In 2020,
Beiser issued Bowie Cello Symphonic: Blackstar following a multimedia tour of her project in partnership with
Evan Ziporyn. She returned in 2021 with the album
Maya Beiser x Philip Glass. Both of these records were issued on her Islandia Music label.
Beiser was born in Gazit, Israel, on December 31, 1963. Raised in a kibbutz, she began studying piano first but took up the cello at age eight. At 11, she was discovered by
Isaac Stern, who became a mentor. For her mandatory military duties, she served as the cellist in the Israeli Military String Quartet.
Beiser relocated to the U.S. in 1985 and had advanced studies at Yale University School of Music. Among her teachers were
Aldo Parisot,
Alexander Schneider, and Uzi Wiesel. In 1992, she gave her New York City recital debut at the 92nd Street Y in a program of works by
Shostakovich,
Janácek, and other notables. That same year, she helped form the
Bang on a Can All-Stars. The group had numerous successful recordings, but
Beiser soon developed a thriving solo career as well. Her first album, Oblivión, offering works by
Piazzolla and Nin, appeared on Koch International in 1999.
By the early years of the new century, she was a major star. Her sold-out Carnegie Hall concert in October 2003 received rave reviews.
Beiser's performance of
Reich's Cello Counterpoint on the 2005 Nonesuch album
You Are (Variations) was a popular and critical success. In 2008,
Beiser fashioned the concert work Provenance using music by several Middle Eastern, American, and British composers. The piece had great success in concert, and its
2010 recording on the Innova label generated both critical acclaim and brisk sales. She created and toured successfully her multimedia, multi-style productions, including Elsewhere: A CelloOpera in 2012 and All Vows in 2014. Some of the music in All Vows became her 2014 album
Uncovered, a collection of reimagined rock masterpieces. The 2016 album
TranceClassical covered music ranging from
Bach and
Hildegard von Bingen to
Lou Reed and
Imogen Heap. That year,
Beiser premiered
Mohammed Fairouz's cello concerto Desert Sorrows with the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra and
Mark-Anthony Turnage's Maya with the
Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In 2017,
Beiser teamed up with arranger and conductor
Evan Ziporyn on her next project, Aura Blackstar: Bowie Cello Symphonic Visualized, turning the late icon's final album into a multimedia cello concerto. A recording of the project was issued in 2020 on
Beiser's Islandia Music label, which she founded the previous year. The next recording on the imprint,
Maya Beiser x Philip Glass, was released in 2021.
Beiser's TEDTalk from the 2011 TED main stage has been viewed over a million times and translated to 32 languages. In 2015, she was named a United States Artists (USA) Distinguished Fellow in Music, and in 2017, she was a presenting artist at the inaugural CultureSummit in Abu Dhabi.