photo by Isabel Crespo Pardo
Maya Keren is a songwriter and improviser from Philly living in Brooklyn. They play piano, guitar, and sing. They are inspired creatively by the question: what does it feel like to live a spiritually nourishing life, by one’s self and with others?
Maya has found answers along the way: at the Creative Music Program as a teen in Philly, at the Banff Workshop for Jazz & Creative Music, through collectives like Mutual Mentorship for Musicians and the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab. Mostly through friends and collaborators, as well as teachers, students, and ancestors: John Moran, Julian Miltenberger, Akiva Jacobs, Jeffrey Gordon, Maya Rabinowitz, Eliza Salem, Anna Abondolo, Emmanuel Michael, Eden Girma, Lesley Mok, Isabel Crespo Pardo, Miranda Agnew, Julien Chang, Maya Stepansky, Claire Dickson, Camila Ortiz, Sky Hill, Rahul Carlberg, Caroline Davis, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Maria Grand, Sumi Tonooka, Kris Davis, and Angelica Sanchez (to name a few!)
Maya graduated from Princeton University in 2022 majoring in Music and minoring in African American Studies. In April of 2023 they released their debut solo album, Blebba Grows. Maya writes songs, loops, and words for their band Careful In The Sun, with support from Looking Glass Arts (recording residency, 2023) The Center for Remembering and Sharing (touring grant, 2024) and YoungArts (recording grant, 2024), with their debut album due to release fall of 2025 on Munich-based Squama Recordings.
Currently, Maya is rehearsing with Henry Threadgill’s project “Listen Ship” alongside piano partner in crime Rahul Carlberg, as well as Bill Frisell, Miles Okazaki, Stomu Takeishi, Brandon Ross, and Jerome Harris. They are also in the midst of finishing up their second solo record, Slow Burn.
Maya has found answers along the way: at the Creative Music Program as a teen in Philly, at the Banff Workshop for Jazz & Creative Music, through collectives like Mutual Mentorship for Musicians and the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab. Mostly through friends and collaborators, as well as teachers, students, and ancestors: John Moran, Julian Miltenberger, Akiva Jacobs, Jeffrey Gordon, Maya Rabinowitz, Eliza Salem, Anna Abondolo, Emmanuel Michael, Eden Girma, Lesley Mok, Isabel Crespo Pardo, Miranda Agnew, Julien Chang, Maya Stepansky, Claire Dickson, Camila Ortiz, Sky Hill, Rahul Carlberg, Caroline Davis, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Maria Grand, Sumi Tonooka, Kris Davis, and Angelica Sanchez (to name a few!)
Maya graduated from Princeton University in 2022 majoring in Music and minoring in African American Studies. In April of 2023 they released their debut solo album, Blebba Grows. Maya writes songs, loops, and words for their band Careful In The Sun, with support from Looking Glass Arts (recording residency, 2023) The Center for Remembering and Sharing (touring grant, 2024) and YoungArts (recording grant, 2024), with their debut album due to release fall of 2025 on Munich-based Squama Recordings.
Currently, Maya is rehearsing with Henry Threadgill’s project “Listen Ship” alongside piano partner in crime Rahul Carlberg, as well as Bill Frisell, Miles Okazaki, Stomu Takeishi, Brandon Ross, and Jerome Harris. They are also in the midst of finishing up their second solo record, Slow Burn.
say hello! mayapkeren@gmail.com