Brent Arnold’s extensive creative career in the worlds of new music, improvisation, opera, theater, dance, electronic music, pop, and rock is hard to summarize. The New York Times has hailed his “mastery across string instruments” and his work can be found on hundreds of recordings in a wide range of genres.

Growing up in Northern California, his first instrument was the electric guitar—his conduit to the underworld of rock, psychedelia, jazz, punk and noise. But when he casually picked up a friend’s cello, he had a vision of new possibilities. He became obsessed with the new instrument and began taking classical lessons while figuring out Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis tunes on his own. He moved to Seattle to study at Cornish College of the Arts as a student of Walter Gray (original cellist of the Kronos Quartet), and then discovering his spiritual mentor in legendary jazz violinist Michael White (Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Roland Kirk, John Handy).

White’s teaching was as mystical and spiritual as it was practical. His emphasis on the transcendent power of sound was a profound influence. Hours could be spent on a single note, learning to hear the harmonic substrata within it.

In Seattle, Brent became a mainstay of the avant-garde music scene, and also the go-to cellist and string arranger for a plethora of indie rock bands.

After a move to New York City, he began giving solo cello & electronics performances, with an ever-shifting array of pedals, synths, and computers. He also became more deeply involved in interdisciplinary projects that combined music with theater, film, dance, performance art, puppetry, and more. This led to his work with Dave Malloy, Gelsey Bell, and Brittain Ashford in Ghost Quartet, collaborations with the Shadow Parks Department, and composing for choreographer Ashwini Ramaswamy and film director Marc Wilkins, among many others.

In 2022 he began a collaboration with Grey Filastine, Walid Ben Selim, Ricard Soler, and Ali Abdi Omar on the opera Ali, which would premiere at La Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium in 2024.

Currently he is composing for The Night Heron Quintet, featuring Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Zosha Warpeha(Hardanger d’amore), Brent Arnold (cello), John Murchison (bass), Alaina Ferris (harp). His new album, More Light, produced by Randall Dunn, will be released in Spring 2026.