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Thank you!
Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash
It’s difficult to believe that it’s been just over a year since we launched our online museum website – the first of its kind.
So whether this is your first visit or you’ve been with us along the way, thank you for joining us here at the Cello Museum. Creating the Cello Museum is a dream come true, particularly for my fellow curator Erica Lessie and me.
Beginnings
Jeremy Montagu 29 October 2019
I still remember the afternoon I spent with Jeremy Montagu in October of 2019 when I first had the idea of creating an online museum. Click here to read more about how this idea came to me in a flash that afternoon and how Jeremy and I had a wonderful exchange of ideas and plans that day.
The goal was – and is – to create an online platform with cello exhibitions, articles, and news and to make this accessible and free to everyone who loves the cello.
The Cello Museum is the first musical instrument museum of its kind, centered on one instrument, and conceived from the start as being completely online.
A Year in Review
This has been an exciting first year for us. Here are some of the highlights:
- We created our first online exhibition: Innovations in Cello-Making Materials
- Our team grew from three members to seven! Read more about all of us here:
- Andrew Bellis – Bow Specialist
- Renate Kwon – Content Editor and Advertising Manager
- Dr. Yuriy Leonovich – Cello Music Editions Specialist
- Erica Lessie – Researcher and Guest Curator
- Dr. Laurence Libin – Senior Advisor in Organology
- Dr. Brenda Neece – Curator and Founder
- Jonathan Simmons – Intern
- We dedicated the Cello Museum to Jeremy Montagu. Read about the Dedication Day celebrations here.
- We started a Cello Book Club in January 2021. (Be sure to check the schedule. As I write this, our next meeting is on 26 September 2021 with award-winning author and cellist Gill Tennant. Be sure to sign up in order to get the Zoom meeting information.)
- We opened an online museum shop.
- We gave a presentation for the North Carolina Cello Society in April 2021.
- We were community participants in The Face to Face Speaker Forum Preview Virtual Event with Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, cultural ambassador, and U.N. Messenger of Peace in May 2021. The program generously gave our Cello Museum visitors free tickets to watch the program online.
- We participated in the Waltham Forest Cello Fest in June 2021.
- Every week for a year, we’ve had a new article, a news roundup, and a listing of online cello concerts and events. Unfortunately, we have since had to discontinue (at least temporarily) our news roundup, but we are continuing with our articles and events listings.
Our Series
We started with one series: Erica’s Postcards, on the last week of every month. Over the year, we’ve added more:
- Dr. Leonovich’s monthly articles about cello repertoire (3rd week of every month)
- Bow History by Andrew Bellis (approximately once every other month)
- Our daily Cello Birthdays series – celebrating the lives of cellists, composers who have given us music played by cellists, cello makers, cello historians, and others with a strong tie to cellos (This is an excellent place for cellists and non-cellists alike to discover new repertoire.)
- N.B.: Next month, we will start a new series featuring New York Women Composers and their works for the cello! Stay tuned for details! (2nd week of every month)
A Few Favorite Articles
It was too difficult for me to choose my favorites, but according to Google, some of our most popular articles of the past year, aside from the series above, are:
- A Tribute to Jacqueline du Pré – Jaqueline du Pré was one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century despite her tragically short career.
- 7 Ways Bernhard Romberg Influences the Cello World Today – A Beethoven contemporary, Bernhard Romberg was a famous, touring virtuoso cellist.
- Charlie Chaplin: Passionately Fond of the Cello – Charlie Chaplin, the iconic, world-famous comic actor who built his career in the era of silent films, also played the cello.
- A Tribute to Elsa Hilger by Jonathan Simmons – Elsa Hilger was a prodigy and the first full-time, non-harpist, female musician in a major American orchestra.
- 7 Ways the Legacy of Casals Lives on Today – In his birthday month last year, we remembered the iconic Pau Casals (29 December 1876 – 22 October 1973). Here are seven ways his legacy lives on today.
- An Inside Look at The First Hour Online Journey with Amit Peled – I really enjoyed this one. Professor Amit Peled gave us an inside view of one of his online cello courses: “The First Hour Online Journey.” Thank you, Professor Peled!
- A Cello Helped Launch One of the Most Popular TV Shows of All Time – A specially modified, Vaudeville cello helped launch I Love Lucy, one of the most popular TV shows of all time.
- First African-American Member of a Big Five Orchestra: Cellist Donald White – Cellist Donald White was the first African-American member of the Cleveland Orchestra – and the first in any of the Big Five orchestras.
- 5 Cello Movies to Watch During the Crisis – I wrote this when much of the world was still closed during the pandemic. Erica and I selected 5 cello movies to keep us all going. I’m so grateful that the world is opening up now, but I still love these movies.
- 30 Gift Ideas for People Who Love the Cello – this was our holiday gift list for 2020. We’ll be creating a new gift list soon. Don’t forget – the biggest holiday of our year is coming up in December: International Cello Day.
A Chance to Win Prizes!
Please help us celebrate by entering for a chance to win a prize from our limited edition product line. Every Saturday for four weeks, starting tomorrow (25 September, 2 October, and 9 October), we’ll be doing a random prize drawing.
Here are the prizes:
- 25 September: a cello sticker – Winner: Lyz H., USA. Congratulations. Lyz!
- 2 October: an 11 oz. mug – Winner: Kay Shipton, UK. Congratulations. Kay!
- 9 October: a notebook
- 16 October:
- a T-shirt (long or short sleeve – the winner’s choice)
- PLUS – Thanks to the generosity of the Emmy-nominated author and musician, Leora O’Carroll, the winner will also receive a copy of the memoir she wrote with her mother: Maureen O’Carroll: A Musical Memoir of an Irish Immigrant Childhood
Enter for a Chance to Win
You can also purchase these and other limited edition first anniversary items here.
How You Can Help
While this online is completely free to visitors, we would be grateful for your help. Please tell your cello-loving friends, students, family, and colleagues about us.
We are also grateful for your support through donations and museum shop purchases. At this time, we run entirely on volunteer work and your assistance. Every little bit helps.
Thank you.
Your Turn
What topics would you like to see us cover in the future? Please tell us in the comments.
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