Grammy-nominated Former Kronos Cellist Creates New Music for SF Troupe
Pictured in session at Studio Trilogy are (L-R) ODC co-founder/choreographer KT Nelson, cellist/composer Joan Jeanrenaud, and chief recording engineer Justin Lieberman.
Grammy-nominated cellist and composer Joan Jeanrenaud has recorded new music for San Francisco’s ODC dance company.
Jeanrenaud has been working on the music for nine months with KT Nelson, co-founder of the venerable 35-year old San Francisco dance company. She was joined by longtime collaborator and keyboardist/percussionist PC Muñoz and chief recording engineer Justin Lieberman at San Francisco’s Studio Trilogy.
“It’s so great to have an engineer who really becomes a collaborator,” Jeanrenaud commented. “Justin is such a big part of the process — just the way he is, his attitude. In this case, that proved to be very helpful because he is so enthusiastic, even when it meant working on something over and over again as the work unfolds in the studio.”
ODC choreographer KT Nelson was inspired to create the new work, “Dead Reckoning,” by a trip to Death Valley.” Jeanrenaud explained, “KT was deeply moved by the bleak landscape and the feeling of being a lone individual in such huge, vast surroundings. Her descriptions of the experience and the choreography deeply influenced the music I composed and performed.”
Joan Jeanrenaud plays a Deconet cello made in the mid-1700s. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she played with the Kronos Quartet from 1978 until 1999, when, after a sabbatical, she left to pursue a solo career and collaborations with other artists. Her first solo album, “Metamorphosis,” was described by Greg Cahill in Strings as “visceral, hypnotic… compelling.
“PC Muñoz and I worked together with Justin on the CD ‘Strange Toys’,” recalled Jeanrenaud, “and then we went on to do the CD ‘Pop Pop.’ Over all these years, Justin and I have established a special rapport, a working relationship that is really great to have, and I value it so much.”
Jeanrenaud is planning to include the new “Dead Reckoning” music in a CD compilation of her music for dance recorded over the years for a variety of dance companies. Learn more at: http://www.jjcello.com
Founded in 1971, ODC (Oberlin Dance Collective, named after its place of origin, Oberlin College in Ohio) relocated to San Francisco in 1976. In 1979, ODC was the first modern dance company in America to build its own home facility, from which it now operates the dance company, a school, a theater, a gallery, and a health clinic for dancers. ODC was elected Best Dance Company by the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s 2014 Best of The Bay Readers’ Pick. http://www.odcdance.org/
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Located in the creative heart of San Francisco, Studio Trilogy is a full-service recording facility that provides music recording and audio post-production services in a World Class recording environment. Designed by John Storyk of WSDG, Trilogy’s 8800 square foot facility houses three state-of-the-art control rooms, music and voice recording studios, multiple lounges, and a lush garden/bbq area. An on-site 1200 sq.ft. luxury apartment with media lounge and chef’s kitchen is also available.
Learn more at: http://studiotrilogy.com
