ABOUT US

Hallie Malina (she/they) is a playwright, lyricist, dramaturg, and Pisces based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally from upstate New York, their work explores themes of adolescence, sex, morality, and decay. Her work has been described as “visually and emotionally poetic”, “distinctly feminine”, “important to here and now”, and “gross, but in a sexy way”.

Olivia Berkson (she/her) is a composer, performer, arranger, instrumentalist and singer/ songwriter based in New York. She is known for her catchy hooks and harmony arrangements described as having a “wall of sound”. Her work focuses on themes of the feminine experience, the feelings we can't always find the words for and our relationships with others and the world. Her dream is to innovate and make art that makes people feel less alone.

We don’t usually look so serious, though…

Our story

Olivia and Hallie met in a randomized Zoom breakout room in 2020 while working on The Myths and Hymns Project directed by Billy Bustamante at the University of the Arts.

With the task of writing a song about Jewish Women, Hallie wrote lyrics and Olivia wrote a melody and the Berkson & Malina team was created! The song “In the Shadows” made the final cut of the devised piece, and the duo went on to work on two more songs together. The full student devised cut can be found here:

Myths and hymns devised cut