Maria Chavez

Location: New York, US

Maria Chavez (she/her) is an abstract turntablist, sound artist and DJ, renowned for repurposing broken vinyl into sonic sculptures that can sometimes be compared to improvised musique concrète pieces, or, conceptually, improvised sonic sculpture sessions. Her recital style approach focuses on the various forms of Deep Listening, a practice developed by her mentor Pauline Oliveros. Coincidence, chance and failure are themes that run through her projects. She is also the only turntablist in the world that has been performing with a rare needle called the RAKE. This needle contains two needles on one head shell allowing the turntable cartridge to read two different parts of a record at the same time. Chavez’s 2012 book on abstract turntablism, Of Technique: Chance Procedures on Turntable, written and illustrated by Maria, was the first book on abstract turntablism and has developed a reputation as both an academic resource and a foundational text for a new generation of turntablists. Born in Lima, Peru, Chavez is based in New York.