Long recognized as a leading performer of cutting-edge music, Maya Beiser has helped to redefine the cello as a solo instrument, both through her commitment to contemporary composers and her multicultural approach.
In February, the Israeli-born cellist will present a special, one-night-only performance as part of the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series at Washington University.
The concert, titled World To Come, will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12. Tickets are $28; $24 seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $18 for students and children. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd.
For more information, call (314) 935-6543.
Beiser, who spent eight years with the avant-garde ensemble Bang On A Can All Stars, has collaborated with many of the world’s most renowned musicians, ranging from Academy-award winning composer Tan Dun — whose Crouching Tiger Concerto she has performed with orchestras around the globe — to Brian Eno and Trent Reznor.
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WHO: Cellist Maya Beiser WHAT: Concert, World To Come WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12 WHERE: Edison Theatre, Washington University, Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. TICKETS: $28; $24 for seniors and WUSTL faculty and staff; $18 for students. Available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, (314) 935-6543, and all MetroTix outlets SPONSOR: Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series |
World To Come (also the title of Beiser’s latest CD) will feature music by five contemporary composers. The program begins with Arvo Part’s Fratres (1980), followed by a pair of commissioned works, Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel (2001/2003) and Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint (2003). The program concludes with Louis Andriessen’s La Voce (1981) and the titular work, David Lang’s four-part commission World To Come (2003).
Raised on a Kibbutz by her French mother and Argentinean father, Beiser began performing at the age of 12 and made her American debut at the age of 19. She holds degrees from the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and Yale University, where she worked with Aldo Parisot. Other teachers include Uzi Wiesel, Alexander Schneider, and Isaac Stern.
“I still start every day of practicing playing Bach,” Beiser writes in the liner notes to World To Come. “This music never ceases to sound fresh and surprising to me.
“But as I was moving away from the traditional classical repertoire and trying to find new ways of musical expression, I realized that with today’s technological resources, there is no reason to limit what can be produced at one time from a single string instrument. The power and coherency that comes from one person hearing, perceiving and playing all the voices, makes a very different experience.”
Besier has appeared as a solo artist for Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series; Carnegie Hall’s “Making Music”; the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series; and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Festival appearances include the Holland Festival, the BBC Proms, London’s South Bank Meltdown Festival, the Jerusalem Festival, the Adelaide Festival and the Prague Spring Festival. Recent concerto appearances include concerts with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Radio Berlin Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and The Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Beiser has recorded for Koch International, Sony Classical, Cantaloupe Music, and Nonesuch Records. The Los Angeles Times selected her CD Kinship as one of the 10 best classical discs of 2000, while Classic CD magazine called her “a searingly passionate player who surpasses all technical difficulties with ease.”
Beiser has received numerous honors for her commissions, including grants and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation’s Multi-Arts Fund, the Koussevitzky Foundation, Meet the Composer, The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Edison Theatre
Edison Theatre’s OVATIONS! Series serves both Washington University and the St. Louis community by providing the highest caliber national and international artists in music, dance and theater, performing new works as well as innovative interpretations of classical material not otherwise seen in St. Louis. Focusing on presentations that are interdisciplinary, multicultural and/or experimental, Edison Theatre presents work intended to challenge, educate, and inspire.
Edison Theatre programs are supported by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, and the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis.