Interview: Maya Beiser on her life’s work and her latest release, a solo cello version of Terry Riley’s “In C”.  

Cellist Maya Beiser is possibly the best living avant-garde cellist there is. Moreover, as I have discovered, she is a crucial figure in progressing classical music over the past thirty years. Her 2011 TED conference in Long Beach California in particular is an eye opener for any young classical musician wishing to further appreciate and or understand the masterful tones of the cello.

What makes Beiser an unstoppable force, a music educator and innovator I believe is her incredible world view. Raised on a strict kibbutz in the Galilee Mountains, it’s fair to say it prepared her later in adult life for the rigours of classical training that she received as a cellist at Yale University. Famously, Beiser would go on to become the founding cellist in the pioneering Bang On a Can All-Stars. But what she is probably best known for is her refusal to bend to classical music norms. Beiser is, as they say, often out of her lane, driving exciting and spontaneous renditions and or adaptations of avant-garde performances and rock songs. This is something that excites this writer the most. Imagine turning David Bowie’s final album Blackstar on its head as a cello concerto and orchestra piece, or Jimi Hendrix and or Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir into an epic playful interpretation. This is the sort of passion that is, dare I say it, unique amongst nonconformist. 

However not everything is about bending the rules when it comes to Beiser. She has the utmost respect for her contemporaries and colleagues like American film composer and music producer James Newton Howard, whom she has played for as a featured soloist. Then, there is her respect for the giants of Western classical music like Johann Sebastian Bach, in which Beiser has tackled the German composers cello suites like you have never heard them before.

For this writer, it is a real honour to have the opportunity to interview one of the most influential cellist of the 21st century. Sure, that sounds like a big call. But I cannot think of anyone else I’d rather interview outside my comfort zone. Of course, what brings me here is Beiser’s latest solo album which reimagines Terry Riley’s ‘In C’. For those unfamiliar with Terry Riley’s 1964 pioneering work, it has been described as a minimalist composition written with no set instrumentation, only 53 musical “riffs” and a repeated C-octave “pulse”. I’ve actually heard it played on piano before, and discovered no two piano performances are exactly same. That said, when I stumbled across Beiser’s multi-cello solo version, I was truly taken aback by its beauty. In short, there really is no escaping Beiser’s series of ever evolving loops and drones, all conveniently broken down for us in sections. But in truth there is nothing better than letting the whole performance, some 55 minutes, swallow you up in its grandeur.  

With that in mind, I recently caught up with Maya to talk about her latest release and other interesting things I didn’t know about her. Here is some of what we talked about. 

Maya, I feel like I am truly out of my comfort zone when talking about the cello and classical music in general. However, I know what I like and the pleasure it gives me. Does it surprise you that someone like myself with my feet firmly planted in popular music appreciation would listen to something like Beethoven for hours on end and then by the afternoon find comfort in Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon? I’m not sure what it says about me?

It doesn’t surprise me at all. Greatness exists in all genres. I personally don’t subscribe to the notion of genre boundaries. I think it’s quite artificial and meaningless. Great music, great art, is boundless, borderless, genre-less. You don’t need to know anything about it in order to experience its power. Beethoven and Pink Floyd are both great. And any music that speaks to you is meaningful simply because it moves you in some way. So, what it tells me about you is that you explore the world of music around you without prejudice or predetermined judgment. And you are openminded enough to allow the music to cast its magical spell on you.

In what way has the cello transformed your life?

The cello was the first thing that was “mine”. I grew up in a commune and we didn’t have any private possessions. Everything was shared. I never had my own doll or a teddy bear. I didn’t sleep with my parents, and I had no private space. I was a rather frail, skinny boyish looking girl. (The khaki pants and plaid shirt I was given, and the short haircut, didn’t help the image.) When I was six, they said everyone can start to play an instrument. They wanted me to play the violin, but I asked for a cello. The cello was my father’s favorite instrument. He had a record player with an LP recording of Pablo Casals playing Bach. On evenings when I was allowed to stay at my parents’ house, he would play this album for me. I was transfixed by the deep, rich sound of the cello. I remember the visceral feeling I had when I received my first cello, a feeling that it would protect me from the world out there. I was my “secret weapon”, I thought in my young girl’s mind.  But ultimately, the cello is the vehicle, not the art itself. And my transformation is ever evolving. It never stops. When it stops, I will cease to exist as an artist.

What else in your life’s work thus far has given you the greatest fulfilment or satisfaction?

Being a mother to two beautiful children. It has been the most grounding, inspiring experience. In the large scheme of things they are probably my greatest contribution in the short time I am spending here on earth. They are net positive. They give so much.

More recently here in Melbourne at a soccer game which I attended, Melbourne classically trained violinist Evangeline Victoria went viral playing a rendition of The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army‘, which has over time cultivated into a sports anthem worldwide. I understand you are not afraid to dip your little toe in what I would probably call genre-bending crossovers where classical music meets pop music. You have interpreted some of the greats, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Lou Reed to name a few. Apart from being fun, why is this something that appeals to you immensely? 

I spent my childhood and early adolescent years steeped in the classical music vernacular. In my parents’ house, we would listen to all kinds of music; my Argentinian father loved Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel, my French mother would sing along with Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf. But I was studiously practicing, learning and performing the entire classical cello repertoire.  It wasn’t until, at the age of fifteen, when my then boyfriend introduced me to Janis Joplin, that I realized I wanted to play the cello the way she sings. I started to listen to different kind of music and imagine how it would sound on the cello – David Bowie, Nina Simone, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Velvet Underground, and many other more esoteric singular musicians. I became interested in exploring sounds and ways to play my cello that add something to the music of these artists, revealing some deep layer that we may have not heard in the original version. So in addition to my natural subversive and rebellious nature, the impetus to explore these artists’ music was double fold; to find new worlds of sound and expression in my cello, and to uncover hidden layers in these great artists’ work.

I’d probably call myself a cinephile. That said, I love film scores and how movies use music to great effect. I’ve heard some of your featured cello parts for films. Is that something that still interests you? Do you have a favourite famous film score and why?  

Yes. I love working on film scores. It’s a great medium. I am very a visual person. I “see” music. I was fortunate to work and collaborate with some great film composers especially my friend James Newton Howard, who is truly brilliant. I am definitely planning to do more in that field, including composing film scores.

Could you tell us who is your biggest inspiration from the classical music world? And why?

Glenn Gould. Simply because he was singular, eccentric, truly unique and of course brilliant. But more than anything he was always true to himself.

I love your twitter handle @CelloGoddess. You have also been called “the reigning queen of avant-garde cello” and “rockstar cellist” to name a few over the years. How does that sit with you? It is nice to be so affectionately admired? 

It’s nice, of course. Although I don’t really feel it in my day-to-day life as an artist. Accolades are very fleeting. You can’t really hold on to them. As an artist you have no control over how your music will be perceived and accepted by the public. So, I try hard to focus on the work. I remind myself every day that the success is in the creation of the work. Everything that happens after, whether it is loved, or ignored, is frankly not as important.

Before I ask you about your latest release. If I may…. I understand you are very proud of your Jewish heritage. How has that impacted on your love of music? 

Yes. I am Jewish. Although I was raised an atheist and so I am ethnically Jewish but not religiously so. It is my heritage and I think a lot about what my family and my people had to go through. A lot of my relatives from my mother’s side were murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis. My grandparents and parents were Jewish rebels themselves – anarchists, communists, socialists and also a few capitalists who wanted to have a good life. My family’s footprint is quite large, from Ukraine and Poland, to Spain, France, Argentina, and Israel. I don’t subscribe to any organized religion. I think organized religion is responsible to most of the atrocities we humans inflict on each other. Religious groups scare me.

Your latest album is a revelation to me! How did the Terry Riley piece “In C” come about?

I have known Terry for a long time. We performed In C together on a tour with the Bang on a Can All-Stars (the New York new music collective where I was a founding member). We also recorded the piece for an album on the Cantaloupe label. Last summer we celebrated his 88th birthday with an online global performance organized by my friend, the composer Evan Ziporyn. It was a magical midnight performance with musicians from around the globe connecting online. Terry joined from his home in Japan. Following the performance that night, I began to explore the idea of creating a solo version for In C, utilizing a series of drones and loops. It started as an open experiment, meant as a gift for Terry.

I find your version of “In C” hypnotic. It really leaves me wanting more. What is something surprising you discovered about how it developed as a body of work?

I think somewhere deep down I always knew the piece is really one long C drone. It doesn’t always come across that way. It often can sound strident and perky. In reimagining it, I was looking for the deep and rich resonance of the cello’s low c string to guide me. Building the loops, I played with the interlocking rhythmical grooves patterns they create when stacked deliberately on top of each other. It all became very intuitive.

Apart from the continuous sound or droning C-string of your cello, please tell us about some of the other instruments that compliment the movement? Why did you choose them? And surprisingly no piano? And is that your voice we can hear too?

Other than my cello, the only other instruments are the various drums. Laying down all the cello drones took a while since I did it in real time aiming to create many variations in the sonic landscape. I then started to construct the loops, overdubbing them one at a time. And yes, it my voice you can hear… I wanted to create a malleable, porous, breathing soundscape, so nothing ever feels too perfect, or too machine-like, which led me to use my voice in the 4^th part of the piece. I was referencing medieval chorus hocketing.

As I have done with other recent recordings, I was working with multiple mics positions to record each loop. This created shifting sonic elements that produce changing, evolving perspectives. The drumming came last. I called two of my longtime collaborators and they came to the studio and recorded the drumming tracks.

Maya, I’ve probably taken way too much of your time. And I honestly have a million more questions. But if I can leave you with an existential question. How can we have healthy relationships?

By truly and deeply listening to each other.

‘Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C’ is out now via Islandia Music Records. Also listen on Spotify. For more information on Maya Beiser check out her website. Follow Maya Beiser on Facebook and Twitter. Watch on You Tube.