Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C
Photo by Jill Steinberg
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“The intrepid cellist Maya Beiser has reimagined the piece ingeniously. The result is transfixing….moody and introspective, but also, by the end, quietly uplifting”
Cellist Maya Beiser joins forces with drummers Shane Shanahan and Matt Kilmer for live performances of Terry Riley's In C, as recorded on her 2024 album Maya Beiser x Terry Riley. Maya recreates In C as a series of ever-evolving cello loops, constructing a hypnotic, rapturous soundscape that re-envisions this classic 1964 Minimalist masterpiece.
As NPR puts it, "This album is a musical journey for mind and body – both a stimulant and a sedative. It offers many engaging stopovers, from an oasis of calm where the pulse evaporates, to Led Zeppelin-like headbanging reminiscent of 'Kashmir,' to moments where the cello loops interleave with the sweet delicacy of Vivaldi. If you have a spare hour to let this singular, hypnotic music wash over you, the world might just seem a little brighter."
Terry Riley describes Maya's performance on the recording as, “stunningly beautiful,” adding, “the overall shape flows so naturally and her cello sound is so warm and powerful.”
Hailed as “the reigning queen of avant-garde cello” by The Washington Post, Maya Beiser brings a bold and unorthodox presence to contemporary classical music. Raised on a commune in Israel’s Galilee Mountains by her Argentinean father and French mother, Beiser spent her early life surrounded by the music and rituals of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, while studying classical cello repertoire. Throughout her extensive career she has been a featured performer on the world’s greatest stages, defying conventional norms with her boundary-crossing performances. Maya has collaborated with eclectic artists across five continents, reimagining solo cello performance in the mainstream arena. Maya’s vast discography includes fifteen solo albums, many of them topping the classical music charts, and she is the featured soloist on numerous film soundtracks. A graduate of Yale University, Maya Beiser is a United States Artists (USA) Distinguished Fellow in Music and was a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist at MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology. She is the founder of Islandia Music Records, an independent record label that creates work with large-scale social, cultural, and spiritual impact by pushing the boundaries of the art-music genre.
Shane Shanahan has combined his studies of drumming traditions from around the world with his background in jazz, rock and Western art music to create his own unique, highly sought-after style. Since 2000 he has been touring around the globe performing with Yo-Yo Ma as a founding member of the genre defying, Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble and served as Co-Artistic Director (2017-2020). Shane has performed and/or recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Philip Glass, Alison Krauss, Deep Purple, Jordi Savall, Sonny Fortune, Chaka Khan, Bill Frisell and Glen Velez, among others.
Matt Kilmer has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including being named a Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute fellow. He has produced albums for many contemporary artists and is an in-demand session drummer and percussionist as well as a highly sought-after live musician for touring acts such as Grammy Award-winning artist Lauryn Hill and master Arabic oudist and violinist Simon Shaheen. He has produced and collaborated with artists as diverse as Reggie Watts, Jon Brion, and Krishna Das.
“Using acoustic and electric cellos, as well as a looper and computer software, Beiser has created a sonic tsunami that runs from soft ripples to towering waves of sound.”
VIDEOS
“The mesmerizing tribal ecstasy of Beiser’s opening movements seems equally rooted in Africa, India, and psychedelic rock. One of the movements sounds as if it was created during prayer in a medieval cathedral; another comes across like an otherworldly variation on an Indian raga. Welcome to In C as you’ve never heard it before—but will surely want to hear again.”