Anne-Hélène Dupont - October 11, 2018

Jorane: One woman, one cello, infinite creativity

We met her first through her mesmerizing compositions for the cello, then learned more with her inspired scores and myriad collaborative projects. Nothing seems out of reach for Jorane—and no one would want to stand in her way!

Jorane took her first steps into the world of music accompanied by the piano, then the guitar. But it was during college that musician from Quebec City discovered her one true love, the cello. From then on, her fate was sealed.

Never without her cello

Jorane’s solo works revolve around her symbiotic relationship with her instrument. In many of her albums, starting with Vent fou (1999) and ending with the more recent Mélopée (awarded a 2015 Félix for the Album of the year—Instrumental), her music resembles a dialogue. The rich sounds of plucked and bowed strings meld with her voice to create riveting songs with cryptic lyrics.

On other albums, such as Une sorcière comme les autres (2011), Jorane reprises songs from major songwriters and composers, or focuses on her own creations (L’instant aimé, 2012).

She has performed songs from her ten solo albums on hundreds of stages in Quebec, the United States, Europe and Asia.

A team player

If it seems like Jorane has stepped back from the limelight these days, that’s only because she is putting her talents to use in a host of other collective projects, both as a composer and a performer.

She’s written the scores to plays for the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, including Albertine en cinq temps (2014) and Le Journal d’Anne Frank (2015). She’s also composed for more than a dozen films, including Louis Cyr: l’homme le plus fort du monde and La Guerre des tuques 3D (with Éloi Painchaud).

As a performer, Jorane has lent her voice and cello to collective projects in genres as disparate as children’s music and country—with a foray into the traditional music played by the Grands Hurleurs. She has also appeared in multiple tribute albums, for artists like Claude Léveillée, Félix Leclerc and Pauline Julien, among others.

Jorane is also fond of duets, and has time and again sung alongside artists such as Jean-Pierre Ferland, Daniel Lavoie, Élisapie, and more recently, alongside Richard Séguin in the opening piece for Retour à Walden.

Impossible to define

Though her earliest forays invited comparisons to Tori Amos, Sinéad O’Connor and Loreena McKennitt, critics and listeners quickly learned: with her knack for reinvention and her shape-shifting musical talent, Jorane defies any and all attempts to define her.

This fall, she will be working with 11 musicians and various other accomplices, including electroacoustic music composer Robert Normandeau, to create a show of entirely new songs.

The show will be performed on March 1, 2019, in the Cinquième salle at Place des Arts.