Here’s your weekly dose of cello news.
Cello News
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Casals Museum Re-Opens in Puerto Rico After Three-Year Closure
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – After a three-year closure, the Pilar Defilló House Museum, the former home of Pau Casals’s mother, will re-open this August. The museum had been closed after sustaining hurricane and earthquake damage.
The 19th-century mansion was the home of Casals’s mother and the site
where [Casals] performed his first concert from the balcony after arriving in Puerto Rico on December 17, 1955.
Read more here and here, in the story by Natalia Puertas Cavero.
Julian Lloyd Webber: “The longest relationship I’ve had is with my cello”

Julian Lloyd Webber, Cello wizard, recent OBE recipient. Solo cellist who has been described as the ‘doyen of British cellists.’ Photo: Linda Nylind / eyevine.
The Big Issue featured Julian Lloyd Webber last week in an article called “Julian Lloyd Webber’s Letter to his Younger Self.” It’s well worth reading the entire article, but here are two cello-related excerpts.
The first is about his cello:
The longest relationship I’ve had is with my cello. I got it in 1983, I stopped playing in 2014. Over 30 years I was with that cello, that one instrument playing incredible concerts all over the world with some incredible musicians, and it was like a unit. I knew how it was going to play. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a pianist and to turn up at a concert hall, every time a different instrument. The instrument made me feel secure and I think we both knew what each other wanted.
The second is about playing in Hong Kong:
I would tell my younger self about the most extraordinary concert. I performed at the changeover in Hong Kong, the night before the old regime moved out [in 1997]. All the politicians were there from both sides. The first half of the concert was British music and I closed with the Elgar Cello Concerto. The second half was all Chinese music, a Chinese orchestra and a new Chinese composition. I knew it was going to be a big event. I wasn’t ready for the atmosphere. It really felt like the end of an era. The Elgar Cello Concerto is emotional and has this nostalgia about it anyway, that night it felt extraordinary. You could feel it in the hall. A fear of the change. I’ve rarely felt that kind of tension. I’ll never forget that.
Read the full article by Steven MacKenzie.
Cellist Jan Vogler Collaborates with Bill Murray in Upcoming Film
The film is scheduled to be released on 11 July 2021.
The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Appointed Cellist Hannah Roberts as Visiting Artist
BIRMINGHAM, UK – The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire appointed cellist Hannah Roberts as a Visiting Artist.
The soloist, chamber musician and Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, will be giving regular masterclasses to student cellists. She will also act as a continuing influence throughout each student’s time at RBC.
Click here to read the full story.
Cello Student Allie Bullman Makes a Cello to Donate to Arts without Boundaries for Honors Project
She did some fundraising to cover the costs of the materials, but the pandemic shut down events where she was collecting donations. In the end, she had to pay for the materials from money she raised through dog sitting and other odd jobs.
She is donating the cello to the Arts without Boundaries program.
Read the full article by Casey Conlon here.
Podcasts / Broadcasts
Performance Today Weekend: Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax
The segment with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax is in the second half of the show, beginning about 1:00:00. Click here to listen. Here is the description from Performance Today:
In the early 1970s, two Juilliard students met and became close friends. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax. Their friendship has spanned almost half a century now, and their musical collaborations go back more than 40 years. On today’s show, Fred talks to Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma about music and emotions, and we’ll hear from their brand new album Hope Amid Tears.
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Interlochen Public Radio – In Studio A with Three Cellos
Listen to a pre-concert talk by cellists John Marshall, Patrick Owen, and Crispin Campbell. The program was “Three Cellos play Three Centuries of Music.”
Click here to listen and to read the article by Kate Botello.
The Jason Wright Show, Episode 83 – What It Takes To Be Exceptional with Virtuoso Cellist John-Henry Crawford

Videos
The Piano Guys – “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi
Be sure to read the description of this video and the pinned comment from Steven Sharp Nelson about this video.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Sebastian Comberti – Bach and Saint-Saëns Mashup
3 New Videos from Hauser
SAKURA Cello Quintet – Peter Myers: Sarabande for Five Cellos
SAKURA Cello Quintet: Peter Myers, Benjamin Lash, Stella Cho, Yoshika Masuda, and Michael Kaufman
Nicholas Yee – Cello Cover of Castaways: The Backyardigans
Mabe Fratti – Nadie Sabe
This video is from Mabe Fratti’s new album, Será que ahora podremos entendernos?
Heifetz International Music Institute – Cellist Boubacar Diallo
Allemande from Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009
Hendyamps Studios – Cellist Aimee Norris and Guitarist James Melle: Finding Everest
Irish Cellist Patrick Dexter – Cover of “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2
This video by pandemic sensation, Irish cellist Patrick Dexter, was widely publicized this week.
Your Turn
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