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.

‘Provenance’ is inspired by the Golden Age of Medieval Spain, when Muslims, Christians and Jews thrived together, giving rise to a centuries-long flowering of commerce, culture, art and architecture. Likewise, I grew up in an Israeli kibbutz at the foothills of the Galilee Mountains, co-existing in harmony with neighboring Muslim and Christian Arab villages.

‘Provenance’ draws from that experience, celebrating the glory of a multi-religious, multicultural civilization and the hope of lasting peace. It includes music by Kayhan Kalhor, Djivan Gasparian, Tamar Muskal, and Douglas J Cuomo, culminating in a multi-cello version of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

Tickets are available to the general public starting at $20 via www.uclalive.org, Ticketmaster or the UCLA Central Ticket office at 310-821-2101.

I hope to see you there!

love, maya

P.S. Here is a feature hot from the press of the Huffington Post…