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Joëlle Léandre

French double bass player, improviser and composer Joëlle Léandre is one of the dominant figures of the new European music. Trained in orchestral as well as contemporary music, she has played with L’Itinéraire, Ensemble 2e2m and Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble intercontemporain. Joëlle Léandre has also worked with Merce Cunningham and with John Cage, who has composed especially for her — as have Scelsi, Fénelon, Jolas and Clementi. As well as working in contemporary music, Léandre has played with some of the great names in jazz and improvisation, such as Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, George E Lewis, Evan Parker, Irène Schweizer, Steve Lacy, Fred Frith and John Zorn. She has written extensively for dance and theatre, and has staged a number of multidisciplinary performances. Her reputation is international, and her work as a composer and a performer, both in solo recitals and as part of ensembles, has put her under the lights of the most prestigious stages of Europe, the Americas and Asia. Joëlle Léandre also has more than a hundred recordings to her credit.

Joëlle Léandre

Aix-en-Provence (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France), 1951

Residence: Paris (France)

  • Composer
  • Performer (double bass)
  • Improviser

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Joëlle Léandre

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