Maiya Hershey is an experimental Lebanese-Argentinian sound producer and visual artist based in Portugal. Hershey has a background in visual arts and started her musical path from a young age through practising classical piano, but soon moved on to produce acoustic and atmospheric pieces that are influenced by natural components, field recordings, and long ambiences. Maiya, whose interest in anthropology and ecology forms part of her creative process, has been releasing singles since 2011, growing in her own ways towards a more experimental and abstract soundscape.
Maiya has released three albums since her debut in 2017: Tides, PianoWorks Vol 1. And 2. Her track “We Spend All Eternity Looking for Us”, part of the solo piano works collected in PianoWorks Vol 1. And 2, has garnered a plethora of positive global reviews since its inclusion on Calm, a sleep and meditation app, receiving over 11 million listens and an Emmy nomination. After the release of her debut EP "Tides", Hershey moved on to work on a collaboration project with English musician Steve Jansen, called ‘Neither Absent nor Present’.
Maiya has contributed to various non-profit compilations, including Music for Another Sky (2021) for Refugee UK, Special Species’ Anthozoa Anthology (2021) for Coral Reef Alliance, and Salaam for Yemen (2018) for War Child. Within the space of these compilations, she was able to raise awareness through music, using her own unique methods of experimental sounds in combination with field recordings.
Maiya's music has been featured in shows broadcasted by NTS Live Radio, Quiet Space, and KEXP. Her work for film includes audiovisual collaborations for Tales of Silver City (2019), Dreaming Moths (2018) and Human Being is a Human Dreaming (2014)
