After her decade-long stay in the first violin section with the Des Moines Symphony, Geneviève Gros-Louis (formerly Salamone) is moving to Los Angeles, Calif., to pursue a career in film scoring.
Last year, she performed an original composition at the Cannes Film Festival before the premiere of the Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon. She also received her first composing credit for season three of National Geographic’s Life Below Zero: First Alaskans.
On Jan. 5, Gros-Louis gave a farewell concert at xBk Live in Des Moines, which featured performances from several local musicians.
Playing Cannes
Ahead of the world premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon at the Cannes Film Festival, audiences were brought to tears by the sound of Gros-Louis’ violin. For 20 minutes she played a piece of music she wrote specifically for the occasion, honoring the Osage people and the story that was about to unfold.
“I was crying. Everybody was crying,” Gros-Louis recalled. “There was not a dry eye in the room.”
The film traces the horrors endured by the Osage Nation in Oklahoma during a period known as the Reign of Terror. In a series of grisly murders carried out between 1918 and 1931, dozens of Osage people were killed and went missing at the hands of their white, money-hungry neighbors.
A descendant of one of the Osage men murdered during that time is Dante Biss-Grayson, whose great grandfather is depicted in the film. Biss-Grayson worked with Scorsese on Killers of the Flower Moon and invited Gros-Louis to perform an original score at the premiere.
Since telling stories through music is her passion, Gros-Louis was honored to accept.
“There are so many stories like this that have not been told,” Gros-Louis said. “It's hard to talk about traumatic things, but the way to begin the process of healing is to talk about it. I feel like, at least in collaboration with Dante, there is a way to honor these stories. There's a void that music can fill in these kinds of moments.”
Filling the void
Gros-Louis is a member of the Huron-Wendat Nation in Quebec, Canada. She has dedicated her life to playing music but only recently started writing her own pieces.
Like many during the pandemic, she had time on her hands and a lot on her mind.
“I only started composing in 2020. It’s the craziest thing. It just all happened so fast,” Gros-Louis recalled. “I didn't realize that I had this fire burning within me to tell these stories. I had no idea until I started doing it, and it took COVID and all of my gigs stopping for me to sit at the piano and realize, ‘I love doing this.’”
In 2021, she released her debut album, Catharsis. Consisting of violin and synth instrumentals, the album reflects on 15 years of childhood sexual abuse and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that followed. For Gros-Louis, expressing her emotions through composing helped her heal.
“It's like opening a box, and everything was just coming out all at once,” Gros-Louis said. “That album was all about me telling my trauma narrative.”
Storytelling through music is a principle component of all her projects and serves as the tagline for her recording label, Wendat Records.
“I love to use my art as an avenue for creating change and sparking conversations,” she said.
One such change Gros-Louis has seen is in the music and film industry, which she says is now more welcoming of Indigenous voices.
“I think that we're at a really important time right now where people are starting to listen, and they're starting to understand that it matters who tells the story,” she said.
Composing for television and film
When National Geographic reached out to Gros-Louis in early 2023 to write the score for the next season of Life Below Zero: First Alaskans, she couldn’t believe it. A couple months later, she was once again using her talent for sharing stories through music, bringing new life to the show.
Making the transition from live performances to studio recordings for TV was a new experience for Gros-Louis, but she was ready for the challenge.
“It's very surreal because it's been such an incredible process so far, just to see how the world works in that industry,” she said.
According to Gros-Louis, her work with National Geographic is just the beginning.
“I have some other really exciting contracts I can't talk about yet, but it will be out in time,” she revealed.
As more composing opportunities started coming her way, she decided it was time to relocate from Des Moines to Los Angeles.
“Everything kind of just happens for a reason. This path keeps unfolding, and I'm just following it,” she said. “I'm doing what I love, and I'm working with people I love to work with. Everything is just falling into place right now. I'm still working with these incredible musicians from Iowa, even though I'm living in L.A.”
Bon voyage concert
On the evening of Jan. 5, Gros-Louis gave a farewell concert for fans in Des Moines at xBk Live. She was joined on stage by friends and fellow musicians, including her Dueling Fiddles partner Hanna Wolle, as well Sara Routh, Danny Grause and Lani.
“One of my favorite things to do in my shows is to invite my friends that I perform with and produce and work with all the time,” Gros-Louis said. “There's some magic in that energy on stage, especially in a live setting.”
The show featured the original composition Gros-Louis performed at Cannes, “Flower Moon: Honoring the Osage,” as well as some of her music from Life Below Zero: First Alaskans.
For Gros-Louis, the farewell concert offered her a chance to commemorate all the connections she forged within the Iowa music community over the past 10 years.
“This is like my celebration of my time here in Des Moines,” she said.
She especially wanted to recognize the Des Moines Symphony for the impact it has had on her career.
“I owe so much to my time at the Des Moines Symphony because I learned how to be a musician there,” she said. “It was a beautiful place for me to thrive and grow.”
As she moves on to a new chapter in her music career, Gros-Louis said she will forever hold Des Moines in her heart.
“I am so grateful for my time here,” she said. “Des Moines is always going to have a special place in my heart no matter where I live in the world.”
