Zeena Parkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Musician
- composer
Zeena Parkins | |
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 Parkins on April 5, 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1956 (age 69–70) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1980s–present |
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| Website | www |
Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp".[1] Parkins performs on standard harps, several custom electric harps, piano, and accordion. She was a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow and professor in the Music Department at Mills College.[2]
Born in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, Parkins studied at Bard College and moved to New York City in 1984.[3] Her work ranges from solo performance to large ensembles.[2] Besides standard and electric harps, her work also incorporates Foley, field recordings, analog synthesizers, samplers, oscillators and homemade instruments.
She has recorded six solo harp records[2] and recorded and performed with Björk,[4] Matmos, Ikue Mori, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Christian Marclay, Yoko Ono,[5] John Zorn (including in Cobra performances),[3] Chris Cutler, Pauline Oliveros,[6] Nels Cline,[7] Elliott Sharp,[8] Lee Ranaldo,[9] Butch Morris,[10] Tin Hat Trio,[11] William Winant,[12] Anthony Braxton, Bobby Previte,[13] Courtney Love's band Hole,[14] and others. She has also been a member of a number of experimental rock bands, including No Safety,[15] News from Babel,[16] and Skeleton Crew.[3]
Parkins worked with dance companies and choreographers, including the John Jasperse Company, Jennifer Monson,[17] Neil Greenberg, and Emmanuelle Vo-Dinh, and has won three Bessie Awards for her achievement in composition for dance.[2]
She provided scores for filmmakers including Abigail Child,[18] Isabella Rossellini,[19] and Cynthia Madansky.[20][2]
Parkins received a 1997 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.[21]
