This Saturday, April 28th, I will be performing “Provenance” at The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, CA. I am accompanied by Lebanese-American master oud player Bassam Saba, as well as American percussionists Shane Shanahan and Matt Kilmer. Go to The Mondavi Center’s website for more information about the concert and to buy tickets. I am excited to return to the Mondavi Center – last time it was my program “World To Come,” which is very different from “Provenance.” As I explained to Jeff Husdon at The Davis Enterprise during our interview, “this concert features some music that we couldn’t include on the [Provenance] album, so you will hear some new things. And there is room for improvising in some of the pieces, so even if you’ve heard them on the album, they will sound different in concert.” Read the full interview here. Scroll down to see a bit of what you can expect on Saturday. I hope to see you there!

Below is more information about the “Provenance” show from the press release:

Provenance features music by Raz Mesinai, Simon Shaheen, Tamar Muskal, Evan Ziporyn, Hamza El Din, Douglas J. Cuomo, Kayhan Kalhor and Djivan Gasparian – hailing from Armenia, Kurdish Iran, Egypt, Israel, and the US – and is inspired by the Golden Age of medieval Spain when Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived together peacefully, giving rise to a centuries-long flowering of commerce, culture, art, and architecture. In a world troubled by religious strife and division, Provenance offers a contemporary interpretation of this historic shared harmonious source, which lasted from the eighth to the fifteenth century.

Provenance is 75 non-stop minutes of continuous thread where live music and original text in Ladino, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin are woven together into an all-encompassing musical tapestry. Beiser says, “Provenance outlines a musical landscape in which cultural differences are brought together for the artistic energy they release with each encounter. It embraces co-existence not as an abstract ideal but as a creative necessity.”

MAYA BEISER + PABLO ZIEGLER:
“CANYENGUE, THE SOUL OF TANGO”CELLO/PIANO DUO PLAYS ASTOR PIAZZOLLA + MORE

FEBRUARY 1 AT LE POISSON ROUGE

Arrangements and originals by Ziegler, a 10-year veteran of Piazzolla’s band

On Wednesday, February 1 at Le Poisson Rouge, I’ll be performing with Latin Grammy-winning pianist/composer Pablo Ziegler in Canyengue, the Soul of Tango, a program of rare and well-known compositions by Astor Piazzolla and original works by Ziegler.

The show begins at 7:30 pm, with doors at 6:30; tickets are available through Le Poisson Rouge.

On Friday, November 11, I’ll be performing at UCLA’s Royce Hall for a co-headlining bill with percussion icon Evelyn Glennie. I will open the evening, presented by UCLA Live, with selections from my latest album ‘Provenance.’ Following a solo percussion set by Glennie, we will appear together for the first time to give the world premiere of ‘Stuttered Chant,’ a new duo work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (and Los Angeles native) David Lang.

For ‘Provenance,’ I commissioned works by composers from Armenia, Kurdish Iran, Israel, and the US. The title means ‘origins,’ referring to both my personal history and the intertwining cultural traditions that course through these pieces. On some pieces, my cello is heard on its own or with live electronic sound; on others, I am accompanied by Lebanese-American master oud player Bassam Saba, as well as American percussionists Matt Kilmer and Shane Shanahan.

October 22-24th: My interview with Sirius XM’s Peter Cummings will be on air!

A few weeks ago I sat down for an interview with Peter Cummings at the Sirius XM studios here in New York. Peter hosts an interview series called Linked on the Sirius Classical Pops station (XM 75 & Sirius 75). We spoke about the inspiration for my latest album Provenance and the creative process behind my next big projects. Tune in this weekend to hear the interview and music from my recent albums as well as music that inspires me (Bach, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Piazzolla…). Tune in to Sirius XM so you don’t miss it!

Air Times on channel 75:

Saturday, October 22nd at 9AM

Sunday, October 23rd at 8PM

Monday, October 24th at 11PM

In other exciting news…

At the beginning of March I had the privilege of appearing at the prestigious TED conference in Long Beach, California, which brings leading artists and thinkers together to exchange “ideas worth spreading.” Other presenters included Bill Gates, Bobby McFerrin, Julie Taymor, Morgan Spurlock, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Roger Ebert. It was a remarkable experience in every respect, truly energizing.

My presentation consisted of two pieces for multi-tracked cello and video: Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint with video by Bill Morrison and David Lang’s World to Come with video by Irit Batsry. While the performance was streamed live to TED attendees around the world, it is now available online and you can view it above or at the TED website here. I hope you’ll take a few moments to watch.

Wow, it was so rewarding to perform at the charming theater of the Rubin Museum in NYC.  Elliott Forrest  – the illustrious series director – projected haunting images from the museum’s fascinating exhibition and, as a special treat, the phenomenal Guy Klucevsek adorned the cello with his sublime accordion playing.

Seems that  the New York Times music critic, Alan Kozinn had a good time as well

Here is a quote from his review of the concert:

“Given the program’s conceptual breadth — it was something like Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, condensed to just under two hours — you could almost have missed the sheer virtuosity of Ms. Beiser’s focused, richly nuanced playing. In her case, that involves more than finger power and interpretive suppleness. Except for two pieces (“Kol Nidre” and Ms. Gubaidulina’s involved, harmonically dense “In Croce”), for which she was joined by the deft new-music accordionist Guy Klucevsek, Ms. Beiser’s accompanist was an interactive program on her laptop, which included recorded cello and vocal tracks.

I am performing in NYC Sunday, March 13, starting at 6 pm at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea. The show is part of RMA’s “Resonating Light” series, hosted by my friend Elliott Forrest of WQXR. The works I’ve chosen are inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, “Embodying the Holy,” which explores striking parallels between Eastern Orthodox Christian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

This week I’ll be appearing at the prestigious TED Conference (February 28 – March 4), taking part in a panel called “Deep Mystery” on March 2 with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, cognitive scientist Deb Roy, and geobiochemist Felisa Wolfe-Simon. Each year, TED brings together visionary thinkers from a wide variety of fields; this year’s participants include philanthropist Bill Gates, singer Bobby McFerrin, director Julie Taymor, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and critic Roger Ebert. Conference registration is closed, but you can follow the proceedings by registering for the TED Conferences Associates Webcast.

If you want to know more about my TED experience, you can follow me on twitter @cellogoddess, where I’ll be posting updates throughout the week.

You can find my official music video for “Kashmir” on my home page. Just look to your right! Enjoy!

In January, I performed with the Bochum Symphony under the direction of Steven Sloane. It was inspiring to be a part of such a great performance which featured Tan Dun’s “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Concerto”. Read the reviews from my appearance with the Bochum Symphony here.

More to come soon about the exciting events this year- Sign up for the e-mail list so you’re the first to know!