andPlay is committed to expanding the existing violin/viola duo repertoire by commissioning new works and actively collaborating with living artists. The New York City–based duo of Maya Bennardo, violin, and Hannah Levinson, viola, first played to an eager crowd on Fire Island in the summer of 2012 and has since commissioned over 45 works.
Collaboration is an integral part of andPlay’s artistic process; the ensemble has worked closely with composers including Carolyn Chen, Andrew McIntosh, Mariel Roberts, Lester St. Louis, and Zeynep Toraman. andPlay’s 2024–25 season includes performances in New York City, Detroit, Toledo (OH), Otterbein University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Northern Illinois University, College of the Ozarks, and Ohio State University. This season also features new works by Angharad Davies and Magnus Granberg which will be premiered as part of a European tour in Summer 2025. In a commitment to accessibility, andPlay continues to use livestream and virtual tools as additional ways to connect with audiences across the world.
andPlay’s second album, Translucent Harmonies (2023), was released in September 2023 on the UK label, Another Timbre. Featuring works by Catherine Lamb and Kristofer Svensson, the album was included on Bandcamp’s Best Contemporary Classical: September 2023 and Steve Smith’s “2023, for the record.” Previously, andPlay’s cassette release of Victoria Cheah’s a butterfly on your shoulder into years and years to come (2022, Dinzu Artefacts) was also listed on Bandcamp’s Best Experimental Music: March 2022. andPlay’s debut album, playlist (2019, New Focus Recordings), features world-premiere studio recordings of works by Ashkan Behzadi, David Bird, and Clara Iannotta. playlist was recorded as part of andPlay’s Artist Residency at EMPAC (Troy, NY) and was listed on Bandcamp’s Best Contemporary Classical: October 2019.
Recent highlights include a five-city tour in Sweden, appearances on the Frequency Festival (Chicago), the Twin Cities New Music Festival (St. Paul) and Re:Sound Festival (Cleveland), and a recording residency at EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Troy, NY). The duo has also performed at venues including the Center for New Music (San Francisco), Scandinavia House (New York), Roulette (New York), Monk Space (Los Angeles), Short North Stage (Columbus), and the Toledo Museum of Art.
