Joëlle Léandre

The French double bass player, improviser and composer Joëlle Léandre is one of the leading figures in new European music. Trained for orchestra and contemporary music, she has played with l’Itinéraire, 2e2m and Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain. Joëlle Léandre has also worked with Merce Cunningham and John Cage, who composed especially for her, as well as with Scelsi, Fénelon, Hersant, Lacy, Campana, Jolas, Clementi and some forty other composers.

In addition to her work in contemporary music, Léandre has played with some of the biggest names in jazz and improvisation: Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Evan Parker, Irene Schweizer, William Parker, Barre Phillips, Pascal Contet, Steve Lacy, Lauren Newton, Peter Kowald, Urs Leimgruber, Mat Maneri, Roy Campbell, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Mark Naussef, Marilyn Crispell, India Cooke and many others…

She has composed extensively for dance and theatre and staged a series of interdisciplinary performances. She was a DAAD scholarship holder in Berlin and Artist in Residence at Villa Kujiyama (Kyoto). In 2002, 2004 and 2006 she was visiting professor for improvisation and composition at Mills College in Oakland, CA, Darius Milhaud Chair. Her work as a composer and performer, both in solo concerts and in ensembles, has taken her to the most prestigious stages in Europe, America and Asia.