A well known figure in the British new music scene, the increasingly un-categorisable Zoë Martlew travels the world as cellist, performer, educator, media commentator and composer, performing as soloist and with some of the world’s most renowned contemporary music ensembles, chamber groups, improvisation, film, electronica, multi-media, pop and rock artists, dance and theatre companies.

Inspired by many years of working closely with all kinds of composers from around the world as cellist, Zoë has turned to composition relatively late on in her career, starting out as performer composer for theatre productions Warning to the Curious Eastern Angles Theatre; Ghostward Almeida Theatre; National Geographic film Sondercommando, going on to form a long term creative collaboration with New York City Ballet dancer/choreographer Antonia Franceschi on Up From the Waste Soho Theatre, POP8 Lion & Unicorn Theatre London and Ballet Black at Linbury Studio ROH. Her cello and sound track funk piece Shift Trip received it’s Maltese premiere in 2018 by Johan Stern (principal cellist Gottenberg Symphony) and U.S. premiere at 92Y New York 2019 as part of a Franceschi ballet and has just been released on NonClassical label recorded by cellist Cecilia Bignell.

Since its first outings in the early 2000s as “Z Unleashed” her acclaimed one woman musical cabaret show Revue Z (her own words and music) has played all over the UK and abroad including festivals in Canada, Plush, Iceland, Spain, Denmark, Orkney and Wigmore Hall. Some of the solo cello pieces that formed part of this show have now become part of the cello teaching lexicon at advanced performance level in conservatoires around the world. In 2012 Zoë collaborated on a film with Dutch film maker Albert Hartwig on her piece Salat Babilya and later the same year on her song Red Room with Danish video artist Signe Kleis.

Since the Primrose Piano Quartet recorded her piano quartet Hame for Meridian, recent ensemble commissions include Broad Street Burlesque for BCMG ("gleefully tawdry. Fabulous" 5:4 blog); Slap On for CoMA (more than 15 performances UK/Europe to date), the title of which CoMA gave to their 25 year celebration festival; #skincare for Occupy the Pianos festival St John’s Smith Square with singer Lore Lixenberg and ensemble; string trio “Völuspå” premiered at PAW festival in Dorset last year, to be performed at Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival this summer; Musae - 5 songs for mezzo soprano and piano commissioned by Wild Plum Arts for Cheltenham Festival 2019 with repeat performances in London this autumn, performed by Lucy Schaufer and Huw Watkins. Upcoming commissions include works for Nicholas Daniel and the Britten Oboe Quartet, and a clarinet/electronics piece for Mark Simpson for Kings Place, London.

• Zoë Martlew official website