Maya Beiser (born 31 December 1963) is an American musician, cellist, performing artist and producer who lives in New York City. Beiser was raised on a kibbutz in Israel by her French mother and Argentine father, and graduated from Yale University School of Music. She has been described by the Boston Globe as "a force of nature",[1] "a cello goddess" by The New Yorker [2] and "the reigning queen of the avant-garde cello"[3] by The Washington Post. Beiser is a 2015 United States Artists Distinguished Music Fellow[4] and the Inaugural Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist at the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology.[5]