Jo Quail The Cartographer

Jo Quail is an internationally acclaimed composer and virtuoso cellist from London, UK. Equally at home on stage solo, with bands – or in collaboration with choir and orchestra – she combines an eloquent mastery of her instrument with innovative looping techniques, to realise her complex, evocative music for audiences worldwide. Inspired by the visual arts as much as by fellow composers, Jo cites Barbara Hepworth and Georgia O’Keefe as key influences, alongside the diverse music of Debussy, Pärt, Tool, and Cardiacs. As a result, she freely crosses the boundaries between genres, awakening listener emotions, and taking audiences into uncharted territory with each concert. Her exuberant, celebratory performance style has won her a fanbase in the contemporary classical world as well as among enthusiasts of post-rock, metal and electronica. Now at a stage where she is touring throughout Europe and internationally, Jo enters 2022 with composition and performance uniting in her most ambitious project yet: April will see her take on the prestigious Roadburn Festival’s “Commissioned Music” project performing her new work The Cartographer – an honour bestowed only on artists who have the vision to create something truly unique. Jo received the PRS ‘Women Make Music’ award to record this work in Holland with the full ensemble at Groenland Studios, and, following the premiere, will release this in 2022. An incredible landmark, but one from which there is so much more coming into view for the future.