{{Short description|American cellist and composer (born 1991)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Patrick Belaga | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1991}} | birth_place = McLean, Virginia, U.S. | origin = | genre = {{plainlist| * Contemporary classical * ambient }} | occupation = {{plainlist| * Cellist * composer }} | instrument = {{plainlist| * Cello * synthesizer }} | years_active = | label = PAN | website = {{URL|patrickbelaga.org}} }} '''Patrick Belaga''' (born 1991 in McLean, Virginia) is a cellist and composer.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Patrick Belaga {{!}} Metal Magazine |url=https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/interview/patrick-belaga |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=metalmagazine.eu}}</ref> His work is considered contemporary classical music. His work includes a range of influences from Western classical, Middle Eastern classical, pop, new-age, Jazz and Folk and he has performed internationally. Belaga is a frequent collaborator with performance artists Wu Tsang and Boychild, having performed "Moved by the Motion", a vocal and dance performance with a live soundtrack shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hawgood |first=Alex |date=2016-10-26 |title=Patrick Belaga Is a Cellist Who Moonlights as a Model |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/fashion/up-next-patrick-belaga-cellist-model.html |access-date=2023-01-13 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=You Sad Legend—Moved by the Motion: Wu Tsang and boychild, featuring Patrick Belaga |url=https://empac.rpi.edu/events/2016/you-sad-legend |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=EMPAC—Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center |language=en}}</ref> He also scored Lady Gaga's 2017 Netflix documentary, ''Gaga: Five Foot Two.''<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Labayen |first=Evalena |date=2019-10-16 |title=How to Play the Cello for Strangers on the Street, According to Patrick Belaga |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/patrick-belaga-play-cello-on-the-street |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Belaga's mother found the Suzuki method classical music community in northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.<ref name="auto1"/> His mother enrolled his older brother in violin training, and subsequently Belaga was enrolled in cello training.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Tim |title=cellist patrick belaga scored lady gaga's documentary, and models too |url=https://i-d.co/article/cellist-patrick-belaga-scored-lady-gagas-documentary-and-models-too/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=i-d.vice.com |language=en}}</ref> He later went on to attend University of North Carolina. After graduation, he briefly lived in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 2014.
== Work == Belaga often uses improvisation as the foundation of his compositions.<ref name="auto"/> His frequent collaborators include Kandis Williams, Wu Tsang, Boychild, Jacolby Satterwhite, Moses Sumney, Kelsey Lu, Puppets and Puppets, Eckhaus Latta, amongst others.<ref name="archive.flaunt.com">{{Cite web |title=Flaunt Premiere {{!}} Patrick Belaga "The Tunnel is a Tower" |url=https://archive.flaunt.com/content/patrick-belaga-premiere |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Flaunt Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet Puppets and Puppets: The Coolest New Brand in New York - PAPER |url=https://www.papermag.com/carly-mark-puppets-and-puppets-2630958841.html |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=www.papermag.com |language=en}}</ref>
In 2019, Belaga released his first album, ''Groundswell''. The album was influenced by figures ranging from the Greek composer Iannis Xenakis to the 20th-century classical musician Benjamin Britten, and by geological vocabulary ranging from rocks to mountains.<ref name="auto2"/> The artist wrote, mixed, and produced all the tracks.
Later that year, Belaga along with pop artist Lafawndah, producer Nick Weiss, and Jacolby Satterwhite, released ''Love Will Find a Way Home''.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web |last=Bullock |first=Michael |date=2019-11-04 |title=Jacolby Satterwhite's Celestial, Zero-Gravity Dreamscapes |url=https://www.frieze.com/article/jacolby-satterwhites-celestial-zero-gravity-dreamscapes |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=Frieze |language=en}}</ref> The work is a remixed recording of Satterwhite's mother, Patricia, who sang haunting, soulful pop songs on cassette tapes from the 1990s. The 14-track is 1 hour and 14 minutes and was released on vinyl as well as on iTunes and Spotify.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seward |first=Mahoro |title=Jacolby Satterwhite is the artist creating mind-bending new worlds from the queer Black experience |url=https://i-d.co/article/jacolby-satterwhite-miller-ica-exhibition/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=i-d.vice.com |language=en}}</ref>
Belaga scored the Netflix documentary ''Lady Gaga, Gaga: Five Foot Two''. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |date=2017-08-24 |title=Toronto: Lady Gaga to Perform as Netflix Doc 'Gaga: Five Foot Two' Bows |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/toronto-lady-gaga-perform-as-netflix-doc-gaga-five-foot-two-bows-1032279/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021, Belaga released his second studio album ''Blutt''. The cover art was painted by visual artist Giovanni Forlino.<ref name="auto1"/> The album is influenced by Hutsul music, a traditional form of Carpathian folk music that originates from what is now Western Ukraine and Romania.<ref name="archive.flaunt.com"/>
== Discography == * ''Groundswell'', 2019, self-released * ''Blutt'', 2021, PAN
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://www.patrickbelaga.org/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Belaga, Patrick}} Category:1991 births Category:21st-century American cellists Category:21st-century American classical composers Category:American classical cellists Category:American contemporary classical composers Category:American male classical composers Category:Classical musicians from Virginia Category:Composers from Virginia Category:American contemporary classical music performers Category:Living people Category:People from McLean, Virginia Category:University of North Carolina alumni Category:21st-century American male composers