Helen Gillet

Helen Gillet is a Belgian-born cellist, singer, and composer who has made New Orleans her home since 2002. She holds degrees in music and anthropology from Beloit College and a master's in music from Loyola University New Orleans, and her training under Hindustani cellist Nancy Lesh launched her into a career built around live looping, layering cello and vocal lines into a singular, genre-resistant style. She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Voodoo Festival, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and has recorded with Arcade Fire, Dr. John, and Marianne Faithful. Her original score for Katrina & Beyond plays above Fats Domino's wrecked piano in a permanent exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum.