Joan Jeanrenaud: A story of musical transformation

An interview with Joan Jeanrenaud -- cellist with Kronos Quartet for over 20 years. From 1978 to 1999, she participated in the development and premieres of hundreds of original works -- by Philip Glass, Terry Riley, John Cage, Hamza El Din, John Zorn, Frank Zappa, and many others. She took part in the quartet’s meteoric rise and its maturing into a central player in the new music scene,. When Jeanrenaud left the quartet -- after discovering that she had early-stage Multiple Sclerosis -- she began a new journey as a composer and solo performer. Her 2008 album, Strange Toys, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and she has collaborated with a variety of performers and writers, including Fred Frith, and PC Munoz. In 2016, Jeanrenaud contributed a piece, “Knock,” to Kronos’s “50 for the Future” series. #stories #storytelling #storytellers #frankzappa #johnzorn #johncage #terryriley #hamzaeldin #overcomingdisability #multiplesclerosis #kronosquartet #cellists #inspiringstories #avantgardemusic #composers #performers