Photo: Tobias Zielony

Listening at the tip of your seat

Very powerful and remarkably intimate is probably the best way to describe the work of composer and sound artist Maya Shenfeld. Though originally trained in Jerusalem as a classical guitarist, she moved to Berlin, where she enthusiastically emerges herself in the city’s punk and experimental music scenes. Soon she found herself shuttling between these two totally different musical worlds: from the grand Konzerthaus Berlin to the tiniest free-spirited Indie venues. However, it is precisely in both these worlds where she finds the inspiration for her sound installations and music, tapping from both the classical tradition as well as the experimental underground.

On her impressive debut album In Free Fall she explores the tension between perfectly structured compositions and the sheer joy of noise, grain and feedback. It gives her music and installations its distinctive dynamic and adventurous quality.