Zoë Keating
Zoë Clare Keating (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian-American cellist and composer once based in San Francisco, California, now based in Vermont.
Also recorded as Zoë Clare Keating · Zoe Keating
Zoë Keating

PopTech from Camden, Maine and Brooklyn, NY, USA · Zoe Keating - Pop!Tech 2009 - Camden, ME · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Zoë Keating
- Birth Name
- Zoë Clare Keating
- Born
- 2 February 1972
- Birthplace
- Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- Occupation
- * Musician
- Full name
- Zoë Clare Keating.
- Nationality
- Canada and United States.
- Fields
- contemporary classical.
- Education
- Sarah Lawrence College.
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Zoë Clare Keating (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian-American cellist and composer once based in San Francisco, California, now based in Vermont.
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wikidata · Q227121 · wikipedia · Zoë Keating
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Zoë Keating • Birth Name — Zoë Clare Keating • Born — 2 February 1972 • Birthplace — Guelph, Ontario, Canada • Origin — San Francisco, California, U.S. • Instrument — Cello • Genre — * Contemporary classical • cello rock • Occupation — * Musician • composer • producer • Years Active — 1999–present • Website — zoekeating.com
Music career
Music career
Keating performed from 2002 to 2006 as second chair cellist in the cello rock band Rasputina. She is featured on Amanda Palmer's debut solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer. In her solo performances and recordings Keating uses live electronic sampling and repetition in order to layer the sound of her cello, creating rhythmically dense musical structures., her self-produced album One Cello x 16: Natoma reached number 1 on the iTunes classical charts four times, and "Into the Trees" spent 47 weeks on the Billboard classical chart, peaking at number 7. She is the recipient of a 2009 Performing Arts Award from Creative Capital. Keating's songs have been featured in various commercials, TV shows, films, video games, and dance performances, including HBO's White Lotus, Amazon Prime's Mammals, CBS's Elementary, NBC's Crisis, So You Think You Can Dance, MTV's Teen Wolf, Dateline, Have You Heard from Johannesburg, The Day Carl Sandburg Died, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, The Retrieval, The Witness, and PBS's Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. In January 2011, Keating won the award for Contemporary Classical Album from the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. In July 2011, Keating was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She performed at the closing ceremony of the forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2014 and 2016. • Illustration — In November 2015, Keating participated in a copyright review event coordinated by the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. On September 1, 2013, the LA Times published an op-ed she authored. It discussed the positive and negative effects of her iTunes revenue on her do-it-yourself performing career. Keating composed the score to A&E's The Returned with Jeff Russo, and the pair composed music for season 2 of Manhattan, which aired in 2016 on WGN America. Keating's song "Lost" is the theme music to the podcast On Being. In 2020, Keating composed the score to The Edge of All We Know, a documentary about black holes. In 2021, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Keating co-composed, along with longtime collaborator Jeff Russo, the score to the HBO movie Oslo, a film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play. On July 13, 2021, Keating and Russo's score for Oslo was nominated for a 2021 Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special. Keating is one of the few artists to publish their revenue from streaming services, in order to help others get a better deal.
Personal life
Personal life
In 1972, Keating was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, to an English mother and an American father. She began playing the cello at the age of eight and attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Prior to 2005, she worked as an information architect. She worked on projects at the now defunct Perspecta, Inc., and the Research Libraries Group (now part of OCLC) and the Database of Recorded American Music. In March 2010, Keating announced via her website that she was expecting her first child with her husband, Jeff Rusch, in May. Rusch was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in May 2014, and was admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment. Days later, Keating and Rusch received a letter denying coverage for this hospital stay by their insurance company, Anthem. After local media publicized the story, Anthem Blue Cross reversed its decision, telling Keating in a phone call that the hospital stay would be covered. Rusch died on February 19, 2015. Keating continues to advocate for patients, data portability and the simplification of medical insurance. In October 2016, she was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Frontiers Conference with President Barack Obama, Riccardo Sabatini and Kafui Dzirasa, moderated by Atul Gawande.
Solo
Solo
• 2004 - One Cello x 16 (EP) • 2005 - One Cello x 16: Natoma • 2010 - Into the Trees • 2018 - Snowmelt (EP)
Soundtracks
Soundtracks
• 2001 - I Am a Sex Addict - composer, additional music • 2005 - Frozen Angels - composer, cello • 2007 - The Devil's Chair - composer, cello • 2008 - Ghost Bird - composer, cello • 2008 - Not Forgotten - cello • 2008 - The Secret Life of Bees - cello • 2010 - Breaking Bad - recorded cello version of the theme by David Porter • 2010 - (1)Doubt, (2)Nostalgia Trio, (3)Frozen Angels, (4)Coda, (5)Legions(War), (6)The Last Bird, (7)Arrival, (8)Legions(Aftermath) - for writing and performing in The House of Suh film credits • 2010 - The Conspirator - cello • 2011 - Warrior - cello • 2012 - Elementary (TV series) - composer, cello • 2015 - Felizes para Sempre? - composer of "Tetrishead", opening and ending theme • 2015 - The Returned - composer, producer, cello, keyboards, vocals, guitar • 2016 - Manhattan (TV series) - composer, cello • 2016 - The Witness (2016 video game) - composer of "Escape Artist" used in the promotional video. • 2017 - SMILF - composer, cello • 2020 - The Edge of All We Know - composer, cello, piano • 2021 - Oslo - composer, cello • 2022 - Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science • 2023 - White Lotus - composer of "We Insist" and "Legions (War)" used in S2E8 and S2E9 • 2024 - Corpus and The Wandering - composer, cello, vocals • 2025 - Étoile - composer of "Piece 1" in Episode 4 • 2025 - Steal This Story, Please! - composer, cello, piano
Dance Works
Dance Works
• 2008 - Llebeig with the Valencia Ballet - composer and performer, cello • 2014 - Boulders and Bones with ODC Dance - composer and performer, cello • 2021 - Swing Low with Joffrey Ballet - composer
With Imogen Heap and Pattie Gonia
With Imogen Heap and Pattie Gonia
• 2026 - Have You Considered?
With Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke
With Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke
• 2020 - Noon
With Curt Smith
With Curt Smith
• 2010 - All is Love
With Pomplamoose
With Pomplamoose
• 2009 - Always in the Season
With Halou
With Halou
• 2008 - Halou
With Amanda Palmer
With Amanda Palmer
• 2008 - Who Killed Amanda Palmer • 2010 - Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele • 2015 - Bigger on the Inside • 2018 - Big Yellow Taxi covered by Amanda Palmer, Zoe Keating, Sean Ono Lennon, John Cameron Mitchell
With Mar
With Mar
• 2007 - The Sound
With Rasputina
With Rasputina
• 2004 - Frustration Plantation • 2005 - A Radical Recital
With John Vanderslice
With John Vanderslice
• 2002 - Life and Death of an American Fourtracker
With Tarentel
With Tarentel
• 2001 - The Order of Things
With Dionysos
With Dionysos
• 1999 - Haiku
Identity
Identity
Zoë Keating is classed in the genre contemporary classical music. Recorded with the occupation DJ producer. Recorded with the occupation composer. Recorded with the occupation cellist. Recorded as cellist, dj producer and composer. Recorded at birth as Zoë Clare Keating.

Zoë Keating performs with Rasputina; Concert at La Sala Rossa, Montreal, Quebec
Simon Law from Montréal, QC, Canada · Zoë Keating

Zoë Keating at eTech in 2009.
Ed Schipul · originally posted to Flickr as Zoe Keating Performing
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Zoë Keating”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q227121: Zoë Keating
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Transitions | Zoe Keating.
- 2.Zoe Keating. Independentmusicawards.com.
- 3.Cellist Zoë Keating brings enchanting sounds to stage tonight. The Union. July 19, 2013.
- 4.Zoë Keating. LABOR PAINS - The sharps and flats of the music business - iTunes helps a DIY musician make a living. But what the Internet gives, it can also take away. Los Angeles Times. 2013-09-01.
- 5.Jeff Russo & Zoe Keating to Score A&E's 'The Returned'. Film Music Reporter. November 4, 2014.
- 6.The On Being Project Tumblr - zoekeating: It happened yesterday morning. Jeff.
- 7.Oslo. Television Academy.
- 8.Zoë Keating - 2013 online sales & streaming revenue. Google Docs.
- 9.Zoë Keating. Zoe's Incredibly Interesting Blog: Expanding. Blog.zoekeating.com. 2010-03-09.
- 10.tumblr.com. Unbelievable. 2014-05-18.
- 11.Andria Borba. Sonoma County Man Battling Cancer Denied Coverage By Anthem Blue Cross After Paying $100K In Premiums. KPIX-CBS San Francisco. May 28, 2014.
- 12.KPIX-CBS San Francisco. Anthem Blue Cross To Cover Sonoma County Cancer Patient After KPIX 5 Report. May 30, 2014.
- 13.Holubiak, Ian. Jeffrey Rusch, Husband to Zoë Keating, Dies After Initially Being Denied Cancer Treatment. Classicalite. February 24, 2015.
- 14.Video of President Obama's remarks and panel discussion. YouTube.
- 15.Remarks by the President in Opening Remarks and Panel Discussion at White House Frontiers Conference (transcript). 13 October 2016.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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