Maya Beiser

Described by the The New Yorker as a “cello goddess” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “the queen of post-minimalist cello,” Maya Beiser has captivated audiences worldwide with her virtuosity, eclectic repertoire, and relentless quest to redefine her instrument’s boundaries. 

Over the past decade, she has created a new repertoire for cello, commissioning and performing many works written for her by today’s leading composers.  Most recently, Maya has collaborated with composers Louis Andriessen, Tan Dun, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Steve Reich, and Simon Shaheen, among many others.  Maya toured this past season as the featured soloist of Philip Glass’s Naqoygatsi with the Philip Glass ensemble, performing with them at the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, the World Expo in Nagoya, Japan, and in Barcelona, Paris, and San Francisco. 

Maya’s critically acclaimed multimedia concert “World To Come” premiered in October 2003 at the Krannert Center in Illinois, and as part of the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s new venue, Zankel Hall.  Highlights of her subsequent “World To Come” tour included performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., UCLA's Royce Hall, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. She has premiered her new project, “Almost Human” at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall to a sold out house in March 2006. Upcoming engagements in the 2006/2007 season include her debut performance at London’s Barbican Hall, return appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as concerts at major venues in Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle.

Maya’s performance of Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint is featured on the recent Nonesuch CD “You Are,” chosen by The New York Times as one of the top albums of 2005.  She is also the soloist on the Sony Classical CD release of Tan Dun’s “Water Passion.”   Maya has performed as soloist with orchestras and major ensembles around the globe including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Sydney Symphony, China Philharmonic and the Bach Akadmie, Stuttgart. She has released three solo CD’s with Koch Classics including “Oblivion”, “Kinship” and “World To Come”.

 Raised on a kibbutz in Israel by her French mother and Argentinean father, Maya Beiser is a graduate of Yale University.  Her major teachers were Aldo Parisot, Uzi Weizel, Alexander Schneider, and Isaac Stern.  Maya was the founding cellist of the legendary new music ensemble, the Bang on a Can All-Stars.