Jeffrey Zeigler
We Were Fridays
We Were Fridays is an interdisciplinary music project led by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler – a deeply personal exploration of cultural memory and diaspora. It will follow a story that began in the Griot tradition of West Africa, travel to South Carolina by way of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, then north by way of the Great Migration, and beyond. We Were Fridays explores the music of the Gullah people of the Low Country of South Carolina, a community which to this day has preserved more of their West African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African American community in the United States. Gullah music has influenced spirituals, gospel, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and jazz. We Were Fridays will extend this reach into the world of instrumental cello music. Told through cello, electronics, and dance, We Were Fridays will explore forbidden love, fractured lines, and complex legacies.
“My father was raised in Philadelphia with no knowledge of his biological family until 1992, when a woman named Burnice Perry contacted him. She became the grandmother I never knew, tracing our lineage back to George Washington Friday. Before she passed, I recorded hours of our conversations; those recordings are the heartbeat of this work…”
The work is centered around new compositions from Etienne Charles, Tamar-kali, Hannah Ishizaki and Jeffrey Zeigler; and features choreography/dance from Flexn pioneer Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray, and a bespoke interactive book design from sister sylvester.
The project is deeply rooted in an ethos of community and intergenerational learning – partnering with the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, South Carolina and the University of Georgia Culture & Community program to devise community engagement and education platforms. This work has brought together community members and elders, along with students and teachers to engage in dialogue, conversation and creative exchange around the project’s themes of memory and diaspora.
We Were Fridays will premiere at National Sawdust in September 2026.
Cellist and multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Zeigler has established himself as one of the most innovative and versatile musicians of our time, with a body of work that spans across different genres, themes, and formats, from solo to opera to chamber and interdisciplinary collaborations. Artistically beyond categorization and fiercely independent, Strings Magazine hailed Zeigler as “widely known for pushing boundaries and breaking conventions,” while The New York Times praised his playing as “fiery… with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone.” Deeply committed to the creation of new works, he has commissioned dozens of works and has collaborated with many of the leading artists and innovators such as Laurie Anderson, John Corigliano, Bryce Dessner (of The National), Philip Glass, Hauschka, Magos Herrera, Glenn Kotche (of Wilco), Yo-Yo Ma, Dai Matsuoka (of Sankai Juku) Siddhartha Mukherjee, Paola Prestini, Terry Riley, Carl Hancock Rux, Foday Musa Suso, Tanya Tagaq, and John Zorn.
As a member of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet from 2005-2013, he is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from NARAS (who present the GRAMMYTM Awards), the Richard Bogomolny National Service Award from Chamber Music America, and The Asia Society’s Cultural Achievement Award.