Israeli-born American classical cellist, Maya Beiser will perform twice at this year's Big Ears Festival. On Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 7pm, she is the featured soloist in Philip Glass' Cello Concerto No. 2 "Naqoyqatsi" with the Knoxville Symphony at the Tennessee Theatre.
On Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 2pm at the Bijou Theatre, Maya will play a solo show -- accompanied by film from Bill Morrison -- featuring music written specifically for her including Steve Reich's iconic Cello Counterpoint, Osvaldo Golijov's haunting Mariel, Michael Harrison's otherworldly Just Ancient Loops, plus David Lang's visceral take on Lou Reed's Heroin and Maya's own signature interpretation of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.
In a recent review of Beiser's performance at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's Calderwood Hall Zoë Madonna of the Boston Globe commended the kibbutz raised cellist as being like a hurricane in its powerful delivery:
"Maya Beiser was a force of nature...Wielding her instrument like a lightning rod, she careened through virtuosic passages, grafting angular, dark edges onto her phrases.
"She seamlessly slipped between solo chromatic strife and serene bliss amidst her own recorded cello choir textures...the kind of experience that will likely prove almost impossible to replicate with any other performer."
Likewise, The Washington Post's Stephen Brookes praised Beiser for taking her breath taking new heights that leave one wondering where she will go next:
"Maya Beiser, the reigning queen of the avant-garde cello, has been pushing out the boundaries of her instrument for years, but ...it was clear she's now aiming at almost transcendental heights.
"Beiser knitted pop and overtly spiritual music together -- and found a deep, almost devotional thread running through everything she played."
For information about getting tickets to this year's Big Ears Festival be sure to head over to their official website.
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