Israeli cellist bows her own way

As a teen cello prodigy in Israel, Maya Beiser revered her teacher, virtuoso violinist Isaac Stern. So she just couldn't confess to him that, in addition to Bach and Mozart, she also loved Led Zeppelin.

Beiser never shook that iconoclastic nature, which explains her standing today as a boundary-busting artist and champion of new music. It also explains the black leather pants and boots she occasionally wears on stage.

Forget Haydn and Dvorak. Beiser is all about Osvaldo Golijov and Philip Glass. And once she premiered a concerto written for her that was based on themes from the martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Next up for the Israeli-born Beiser, 44, is the premiere performance of Nolan Gasser's World Concerto for Cello with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Joining her for the production, conducted by Michael Morgan, will be guest artists playing the Chinese erhu, the Indian sarangi and the oud. The concert takes place Jan. 23 at Oakland's Paramount Theatre.

Gasser crafted his concerto, which draws on world music genres to send a message of peace, expressly for Beiser — the two teamed up multiple times during the creation process. But it is not the first time someone has written music for her. Besides the obvious flattery, she enjoys the collaborative process, especially when she gets to show composers what she can do.

"Composers often think, 'The cello can't do that!' " she says, referring to the unconventional bowing, plucking, banging and overdubbing techniques she often employs. "[Gasser} and I spent the last few days together in New York, and we worked together. He's very open to that. All composers are."

She also is pleased to present a piece with a positive message, especially at a time when her Israeli homeland is at war and facing intense criticism.

"Music is the ultimate human expression," she says. "I read the news in horror every day now at what's going on [in Gaza]. I grew up in the '70s in Israel, where there was a sense of hope that peace will come. Yet I still want to believe in the good."

Born and raised on a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee, Beiser has an eclectic family background, even for an Israeli. Her father grew up on a Jewish commune in Argentina. Her mother, as a child, hid in a French convent during World War II. The two later made aliyah.

"We didn't have a synagogue on the kibbutz," remembers Beiser. "My parents felt it was important to change the Jewish faith. There was a sense of celebrating the land and all the wonderful things the land can give us, so Pesach was about spring."

She started cello lessons at 8, and immediately took to it. "It was the first time as a girl I had this sense of purpose," she says. "I loved the sound from the very beginning. So I could play quite well, quite fast."

The late Isaac Stern took notice of her and brought her into his American-Israel Cultural Foundation, which sponsors promising young musicians. She later attended Yale.

Though she could play the standard repertoire as well as any top cellists, Beiser veered off in a different artistic direction, one that permitted more freedom than the starched-collar world of the classical concert hall. "I was always the rebel in the conservatory," she says.

In her recordings, she makes liberal use of modern studio techniques, from overdubs (adding a recorded sound to a previously recorded piece) to distortion pedals. She has collaborated with composers such as Louis Andriessen, Tan Dun, Brian Eno, David Lang, Steve Reich and Simon Shaheen, all of whom trusted Besier's instinct for defying musical conventions.

"The [written] score," Beiser adds, "is a necessary evil.

Does that mean she'll go rogue during the premiere of the World Concerto for Cello in Oakland? No, but Beiser does promise an experience audiences won't forget.

Says the cellist: "My teacher used to say, 'You have too much personality! Forget about yourself and find what the composer meant.' To me, the ultimate musical performance is the one where you tap into some kind of spiritual energy that comes in the moment."




Maya Beiser will perform Gasser's World Concerto for Cello with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at 8 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $20-$65. Information: (510) 763-7308 or oebs.org.