Long bio (279 words) Maiani is a contemporary violinist, performer, arranger, and educator. She is the violinist with the four-time Grammy-winning Eighth Blackbird (8BB), and founder of Brouhaha—a syncretic performance project, combining the arts with anthropology that addresses the climate crisis. With 8BB, Maiani was a featured soloist for world premieres of concerti grossi with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the United States Navy Band in 2022. ​ Not one to shy away from bold interdisciplinary productions, Maiani premiered and recorded the Grammy-nominated (2025) album of David Lang's recent work composition as explanation, written for 8BB directed by the legendary Anne Bogart. ​ Maiani has collaborated and performed with various other cutting-edge artists—both in the contemporary classical realm and beyond—from Bang on a Can, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Wild Up, Louis Andriessen, David Lang, Viet Cuong, Ted Hearne, Nina Shekhar, Du Yun, Raven Chacon, Joe Hisaishi to Childish Gambino, Peter Gabriel, Kanye West, and Julianna Barwick. ​​ In 2021 Maiani joined the faculty of Yale's Department of Music as Lecturer and Robert M. Trotter Distinguished Visiting Professor at University of Oregon (2023), specializing in the performance of contemporary chamber music. She is also an Artist in Residence and Fellow at Yale's Morse College and regularly tours universities and conservatories for residencies. ​ Maiani studied under the tutelage of Irina Muresanu at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Mela Tenenbaum in Brooklyn, N.Y. Other mentors include Lenny Matczynski and Andrew Mark. Maiani was born in Bahia, Brazil, grew up in Los Angeles, and also lived in Boston, Paris, Mexico City, and San Francisco before settling in woodsy Connecticut. Maiani also enjoys in-person philosophical debates, reading about evolutionary biology and primatology, and listening to Naná Vasconcelos and the Motown hits. Short bio (204 words) Maiani da Silva is a contemporary violinist, performer, arranger, and educator. She is a member of the four-time Grammy-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird, founder of Brouhaha, and Lecturer at Yale’s Department of Music. She has premiered concertos with the Cincinnati Symphony and the U.S. Navy Band, premiered staged works by David Lang/Anne Bogart, and has also collaborated with Bang On a Can All-Stars, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Electric Earth Concerts, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Wild Up, Louis Andriessen, Viet Cuong, Ted Hearne, Nina Shekhar, Childish Gambino, George Lewis, Taylor Mac, Julianna Barwick, Joe Hisaishi, and more. Maiani studied under the tutelage of Irina Muresanu at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Mela Tenenbaum in Brooklyn, N.Y. Other mentors include Lenny Matczynski, and Andrew Mark. She is also an Artist in Residence and Fellow at Yale University's Morse College. Maiani was born in Bahia, Brazil, grew up in Los Angeles, and also lived in Boston, Paris, Mexico City, and San Francisco before settling in woodsy Connecticut. Maiani also enjoys in-person philosophical debates, traveling the world, and reading about evolutionary biology, paleoanthropology and primatology. Listening to 90s slow-jams and Motown always lifts her spirits. For more info: https://www.maianidasilva.com Shorter bio (106 words) Maiani da Silva is a contemporary violinist, performer, arranger, and educator. She is a member of four-time Grammy-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird, creator of Brouhaha, and Lecturer at Yale’s Department of Music. She has premiered concertos with the Cincinnati Symphony and U.S. Navy Band, premiered staged works by David Lang/Anne Bogart, and also collaborated with Bang On a Can, Wild Up, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Electric Earth Concerts, Louis Andriessen, Viet Cuong, Childish Gambino, Julianna Barwick, Joe Hisaishi, and more. Maiani studied under the tutelage of Mela Tenenbaum, and with Irina Muresanu at The Boston Conservatory. She is also Artist in Residence and Fellow at Yale University's Morse College. For more info: https://www.maianidasilva.com ​ Playful bio (380 words) Violinist, performer, and music explorer Maiani da Silva enjoys a richly varied artistic career, feeling equally at home playing in concert halls, recording studios, breweries, and even a parked car, once. An omnivorous contemporary musician, Maiani is most dedicated to works by living people, and can also be found playing body/vocal percussion, arranging, singing, and even unintentionally interpretive dancing during measures of rest. Maiani’s performance career took off at the age of 10 when she became an altar girl in her local Catholic Church in West Los Angeles, robing up “backstage” and ceremoniously pouring wine into a chalice, in-sync with the bell-ringer. Since learning that you can go on stage without going to church, she has happily performed in secular altars all over the world including at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and Shanghai Concert Hall, among others. Maiani is the violinist with the four-time Grammy-winning Eighth Blackbird, and founder of Brouhaha. ​​In 2021 Maiani joined the faculty of Yale's Department of Music as Lecturer, and she is was also a Visiting Distinguished Professor at University of Oregon, specializing in the performance of contemporary chamber music. Most recently, Maiani was a featured soloist with Eighth Blackbird for world premieres of concertos with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the United States Navy Band. She also premiered David Lang’s composition as explanation, a theatrical production directed by Anne Bogart, where she had to recite the 1926 speech (of the same name) by Gertrude Stein while playing acrobatic arpeggios with pencils in her hair. Not only known as a violinist and musician, Maiani’s fit of exhaustive giggles had a mention in the Los Angeles Times in a review of a 12-hour marathon performance of Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss in 2019. Already a seasoned marathon performer, with Taylor Mac’s 24 Decades of Popular Music and the L.A. Phil’s Fluxus Festival, Bliss just pushed her over the edge. Maiani was born in Bahia, Brazil, lived in Los Angeles (twice), Boston (twice), Paris, Mexico City, and San Francisco before settling in rural Connecticut. Maiani also enjoys surprising her friends by knowing the lyrics to probably most 90s slow-jams, gardening, reading, and having in-person philosophical debates over a delicious glass of wine. For more info: https://www.maianidasilva.com