Lester St. Louis

Lester St. Louis is a New York born cellist, composer, improviser, and curator whose work runs through performance, installation, and recording, all rooted in improvisation. An autodidact who did not pick up the cello until he was sixteen, he built his musicianship by auditing classes across New York rather than through a single institution. He has performed and recorded with William Parker, Jaimie Branch, Don Byron, Matana Roberts, and Rob Mazurek, while his crossover work reaches artists such as SZA, Yaeji, and Moor Mother. As a composer he has been commissioned by the JACK Quartet, Jennifer Koh, and Ghost Ensemble, and he co-curates the Brooklyn improvisation series Assembly.