Maya Fridman & Bouke Groen

Cellist Maya Fridman does not see herself merely as a musician or performer, but as an artist in multiple forms. For her, music is magic: her concerts feel like rituals, intense and sensory. Trained in Russia and the Netherlands, she won the Dutch Classical Talent Award (2019) and developed performances in which she plays, sings, whispers, shouts, and incorporates scents and candles. As a singer-songwriter, she explores electronics, gothic, and pop on her album The Power of Indifference (2023). She collaborates with other artists, organizes benefit concerts following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and promotes multidisciplinary projects through the Maya Fridman Foundation, while writing a dissertation on the ritualization of concert practice.

During this session, she is joined by the American composer and multimedia artist Scott Ordway, who composed the music for The Architecture of Trees together with Rob Zuidam.

Artist Bouke Groen investigates in his work the connections and expectations underlying how people interact with their environment and with one another. He focuses on the unconscious relationship with the physical landscape and social space, creating experiences that are tangible and intense. His work aims to contribute to personal and societal growth by highlighting thoughtfulness, sensitivity, tolerance, and wonder. Groen works with installation, performance, sculpture, and video art, but sound art is central. His works are presented in indoor and outdoor exhibitions and at permanent sites, where they become part of a city or landscape.