"The surface of Heartland, by Berlin based improvising pianist Magda Mayas, seems at first to zone into that same textural ballpark - the inside of the piano, it transpires, has as many recognisable mannerisms as the keyboard - but the potency of her creativeness soon asserts itself. Mayas reminds us that the piano has physical dimensions, as she wires up its insides, elevating its inner mechanisms to the status of the keyboard, and deploys her instrument's wooden frame as an added sound source. Put together, it's an exhilarating sonic brew: after her introductory drones disperse, the music flies with cartoon-like velocity. Metrically intricate, brittle patterns ricochet against the instrument casing like it's a pinball machine, strings twanging together like the expressive tuning of a blues guitarist. Towards the finish, keyboard harmonies get more empathically struck - Mayas began with the future and has worked back to the instrument we already know."-Philip Clark, The Wire

Magda Mayas

Studied Jazz Piano and Improvisation at the University of Arts in Berlin and finished her Diploma at the "Hanns Eisler" Conservatory for Music, Berlin with Georg Graewe. Living in Amsterdam in 2001, the international network of musicians, improvisers and composers, n- collective, was founded and includes the Quartett Mayas /Nutters/Olsen/Galvez (www.n-collective.com). Magda Mayas performs internationally with various ensembles e.g in a duo with drummer Tony Buck or with her trio phono phono (Michael Renkel guitar /electr., Sabine Vogel flutes/electr., Magda Mayas piano/synth.) She appeared on various festivals, such as the the "Total Music Meeting" in 2005 and 2006, at "Konfrontationen" 2007 and did additional performances with Johannes Bauer, Christoph Kurzmann, Andy Moore, Tristan Honsinger, Frank Gratkowski and Michael Moore. Besides she is co organizing an international festival for improvised and contemporary music since 2005, especially featuring piano players: "Tasten-BerlinerKlaviertage"