Maya Shenfeld is a Jerusalem born Berlin-based composer and musician. In her practice, Shenfeld explores the intersection between modes of musical production used in popular, electronic, and experimental music. Her debut solo album In Free Fall was released on Thrill Jockey records in January 2022 and featured on Fact magazine, Berliner Tagespiegel, the Guardian, and as number one experimental album of the year on Stereogum. Following the release, Shenfeld presented In Free Fall and variations thereof in Kings Place (London), Blitzclub (Munich), Meakusma Festival (Eupen), Roter Salon (Berlin), Elb Philharomnie (Hamburg), Heart of Noise (Innsbruck), and more.
In 2022 Shenfeld scored two short films, Piazza Futura by Kevin b. Lee (Locarno Film Festival) and the Flagmakers by Cynthia Wade and Sharon Liese. The Flagmakers won an Emmy award for the best short documentry and was shortlisted for an academy ward. Shenfeld has previously written music for EMI’s production music library which is synced internationally on documentaries, drama, and radio.In addition to her work as a composer and performer, since 2020 Shenfeld has been working as a researcher and educator for Ableton's learning team.
Shenfeld is a graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the University of the Arts (UdK) Berlin, where she completed an MA in classical guitar and contemporary music composition. Notable compositions and sound installations include the Gay Guerrilla Girls (Diappaearing Berlin, Schinkel Pavillon e.V), Five Compositions for the Enviromental Song (Institute for Contemporary Arts, KW, Berlin), Outline (Jewish Museum Munich), Circles for youth choir (Klangwerkstatt festival Berlin).
Shenfeld is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including Initiative Musik, Berliner Senat Arbeitstipenidum, Musik Fonds, Goethe Institute, GEMA scholarship, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship, the DAAD scholarship, and the University of the Arts Berlin. She produced in the framework of multiple residencies, among them Amplify Berlin and EMS Stockholm.
Selected Press
20 February 2024
Under the Sun Review
The Queitus
08 December 2022
The 10 Best Experimental Albums Of 2022
Stereogum
09 November 2022
Meakusma Festival Review
The Wire
25 October 2022
Maya Shefnfeld: a Sonic Adventurer
Lola Magazine
04 July 2022
The Queitus Albums of the Year So Far Chart 2022
The Quietus
04 February 2022
Contemporary Album of the Month
The Guardian
29 January 2022
Avantgardepop von Maya Shenfeld
Berliner Tagesspiegel
25 January 2022
In Review: In Free Fall
The Quietus