Jeffrey Zeigler
Jeffrey Zeigler is one of the most innovative and versatile cellists of our time. He has been described by The New York Times as “fiery” and a player who performs “with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone.” Acclaimed for his independent streak, Zeigler has commissioned dozens of works, and is admired as a potent collaborator and unique improviser. As a member of the Kronos Quartet he is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the Recording Academy (Grammys), the Chamber Music America National Service Award and The Asia Society's Cultural Achievement Award.
Following his eight-year tenure as the cellist of the Kronos Quartet, his multifaceted career has led to collaborations with a wide array of artists from Philip Glass and Tanya Tagaq to Yo-Yo Ma and Foday Musa Suso, from Laurie Anderson and John Corigliano to Hauschka and the Pulitzer Prize winning scientist Siddhartha Mukherjee. He has also performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, the Royal Danish Radio Symphony and the Ulster Orchestra under the batons of Peter Oundjian, JoAnn Falletta, Dennis Russell Davies and Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
In the Fall of 2021 Zeigler released his latest album, Houses of Zodiac: Poems for Cello by Paola Prestini, a multimedia experience that combines spoken word, movement, music, and imagery into a unified exploration of love, loss, trauma, and healing. The project takes its title from the twelve houses of the zodiac as facets of the self and draws inspiration from explorations of the subconscious including Anaïs Nin’s House of Incest and the poetry of Pablo Neruda, Brenda Shaughnessy, and Natasha Tretheway. Filmed by Murat Eyüboglu at MASS MoCA and Studio Polygons in Tokyo, Japan, the digital experience features the performances and original choreography of New York City Ballet soloist Georgina Pazcoguin and Butoh dancer Dai Matsuoka, a member of the acclaimed troupe Sankai Juku.
