Serena Jost writes and performs songs that have been called “magical and a true healing” and ”born from another Universe.” A dynamic singer and cellist with a hauntingly beautiful voice, she is a unique performer whose music evokes vivid emotional landscapes. A long time New Yorker who grew up between the Midwest and Switzerland, Serena has walked along the Great Lakes, over mountain passes and loves to take to the streets of NYC.
She is currently recording her fourth album at Grammy winning Studio G in Brooklyn.
In 2027 Serena will be presenting BLOOM, a “staged choreography of song." A full-length performance of songs and improvised music, text, movement and visuals, the work premiered to a sold-out audience at Five Myles Gallery (Hanne Tierney) in Brooklyn. Inspired in part by a workshop with Meredith Monk, the next staging will also feature dancers from a 2026 Movement Research ensemble.
Jost has recorded live to vinyl with her band at Leesta Vall Recordings, was a featured guest on WFMU (Irene Trudel) and WPKN (Bob Johnson), as well at The Mike Watt Show (Iggy Pop). In 2018 she completed a solo album of songs for voice and cello recorded at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea, NYC. Recorded by Adam Gold and mixed by Chris D. Butler, Up To The Sky received rave reviews, "one could be persuaded that the church was designed with the eerily predictive intention of helping shepherd this one piece of work into the world." (Stereo Embers) Her previous album, A Bird Will Sing, was produced by the legendary Anton Fier (Golden Palominos) and recorded with her band, Julian Maile, Rob Jost and Robert DiPietro. Brad Albetta (Wainwrights) produced her debut, Closer Than Far.
Serena has performed across Europe, the UK and US and Canada. NYC venues: Joe’s Pub, Barbès, Pangea, PS1, Ki Smith Gallery, The Owl, Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room and The Kitchen as well as The Shipyard in Washington, DC. She has collaborated with poets Anne Waldman, Eleni Sikelianos and Dan Machlin (Immanent Audio, Ugly Duckling Presse), many musicians and songwriters and numerous dancers, including Douglas Dunn and Kathryn Sanders (Wally Cardona). Together with composer/cellist Matthew Robinson, she led a 50-cello performance on Governor's Island. She was an original member of Rasputina..
"the Elizabeth Barrett Browning of avant-classical folk"
—Stereo Ember Magazine
"Serena Jost writes gently eccentric songs and sings them in an elegant alto, often accompanying herself on cello, but it isn’t quite right to call her a singer-songwriter. The term art song—normally tied to 19th-century concert music—usefully characterizes Jost’s carefully arranged pieces and succinct lyrics, neither quite rock nor folk" —Time Out NY
"It was as if she stepped off a cliff into the musical abyss–and lived to tell." —WUSB-FM Finn Miller
"Imagine mixing the sound of Mary Hopkin with the haunting sound of Nico, and you might begin to have some idea what the overall vibe is like. This time around, she stands alone with her cello presenting music that is real, personal, and immediately effective. While Jost's previous albums were more commercial, our guess is that Up To The Sky will be one of the high points in her career." —Baby Sue
"a collection of composed and improvised pieces that marry her distinctive playing style with her otherworldly voice." —KMUW, Jedd Beaudoin (NPR )
“seamlessly merging classical and pop melodies”
—Lucidculture
"Jost gets props for her cello work, but she’s also a brilliant singer – at Joe’s Pub, she and her full band soared and occasionally roared through the songs on her sensationally good new album A Bird Will Sing." —New York Music Daily