Stina Cello's "Camel" doesn't ask you where it's going. It just moves.
Right before a cello performs, there’s a certain type of silence that exists. This silence, however, is not created by an empty hall; it is instead created when the audience accepts they are about to experience a significant change, but do not yet recognize it is about to happen.
Stina Cello possesses this silent knowledge. She has had multiple opportunities to experience this type of silence: via Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi three years in a row, on the evening of the opening of VIA (Riyadh) with John Legend, and at the Waldorf Astoria (Dubai) where she became their resident musical prodigy with the same type of matter-of-fact confidence that describes gravity. She has also toured to South Korea, France, against Lebanese and Turkish borders. In 2025 she received a Golden Talent Visa from the UAE government. Most artists dream of attaining this level of success.
“Camel” however, is by far her most distilled work.
Similar to a desert, this track depicts space yet remains alive to the degree that patients can perceive its energy. The layering of electric cello playing alongside (and over) an electronic production creates a beautiful tension between the two textures and is the essence of the piece. The electric cello suggests a technical history of fifteen years of classical training based upon a collection of techniques for playing this instrument while ultimately choosing an expressive restraint.
Kristina Maturina is a graduate of Ufa State Institute of Arts (Russia) that provided a foundation for her development as an artist through many different ways similar to finding out that a building does not crack at its base until you are able to see it after years. Kristina's experiences with remixing Mozart's Requiem into contemporary works of art (her own) live improvisation practice or the Ballet and Cello Concept (where classical ballet dance is performed simultaneously with an electric string player) will remain intact when Kristina enters the recording booth to create new creations, rather, the shapes of her work will change.
It's interesting that this is timed right after where music will originate from. There is no surprise as she has lived in Dubai for many years and has had many music residency gigs at places like Buddha Bar, she has performed at Time Out's Nightlife Awards, and, for sure, has crossed the imagination of an individual who is at inner peace with the work they do and have done. "Camel" does not feel like a new beginning to a career; it feels like a quiet private thought made public.
When a camel crosses a desert, they do not cross because it is fantastic to do so; they cross so that they can get to the other side of the desert. This in itself is most likely enough reason for them to continue.