Cellists in the News
Yo-Yo Ma Named One of the 100 Most Influential People of 2020
Stevie Wonder wrote:
More than an extraordinary artist and a true musical genius, Yo-Yo Ma is proof of love and life. His gift to us is his music wrapped in a blanket of kind understanding that transcends all boundaries: ethnic, geographic, political, class and genre . . . The sounds he brings through his cello teach us to listen, feel, care and act.
Read more about the extraordinary Yo-Yo Ma in the original article.
Yo-Yo Ma in Conversation with PayPal CEO, Dan Schulman
In an uplifting conversation with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman on “Never Stand Still,” Ma shared that in this moment he’s focused on what he wants society to look like post-pandemic, but also decades into the future.
Be sure to watch this thought-provoking conversation.
Amit Peled: Dissolving Boundaries And Making Music
Amit Peled has strengthened connections all over the world during the pandemic through his online cello academy.
Learn more about Professor Peled’s Online Cello Academy here.
Wisdom from a Young Cellist
In an open letter to the Greenwich Board of Education and Dr. Jones, an eighth-grade cellist writes what the cello has meant to her for the past five years, saying that the cello is “essential” to her life.
Who Are the Members of the Kanneh-Mason Family?
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason took the world by storm with his performance at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.
Meet his siblings and hear them play in this article.
R.I.P. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was many things – including a cellist.
She said:
I took piano lessons from age eight to age sixteen, then for a year at Cornell University, 1952, where I also took Music 101 and 102—the basic music course. I took cello lessons from 1946 to 1947, then played cello—not well—in my high-school orchestra from 1947 to 1950—among the best experiences in my growing-up years.
Learn more about her love of music in this interview.
Watch cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Sarah Wolfensohn’s tribute to her memory.
A Presidential Cellist Steps Down
University of Richmond President Ronald A. Crutcher
Cellist and University of Richmond President Ronald Crutcher announced that he will leave his presidency no later than July 2022.
Read more about President Crutcher here.
Cellist and Violinist Lose their Home to Creek Fire
Some have lost everything in the fires, but luckily, cellist Dieter Wulfhorst and his violinist wife Susan Doering survived. Wulfhorst said they were ready to evacuate.
The initial evacuation warning came at 10 a.m. When the mandatory evacuation order came through at 4 p.m., Wulfhorst and Doering still had time to collect some of the things most valuable to them — his cello, made in 1693 by Giovanni Battista Rogeri, her collection of antique bows dating to the 19th century and her violin, their passports and other important documents, some irreplaceable sheet music and some photographs, and their formerly feral housecat, Charlie — and load up their cars before heading down the hill.
Our hearts go out to them and to those caught in the fires. We are so glad that they made it out alive with Charlie and their instruments.
Donate for Creek Fire victims here.
Everything to Know about Olivia Culpo, Christian McCaffrey’s (Cellist) Girlfriend
Learn more about this celebrity who plays the cello. Here she is on the road to becoming Miss USA 2012:
Putin’s Cellist
Putin’s cellist: Sergei Rodulgin
Is Sergei Rodulgin President Vladimir Putin’s favorite cellist? Recently he has been tied
to several shell companies in various global tax havens that saw cash flows worth billions of dollars. Analysts at the time speculated that Rodulgin, who is the godfather of Putin’s elder daughter, may have been controlling money destined for Putin himself, allegations that the musician and the Kremlin have denied.
Other News
Othello with Cello in Switzerland
The New Theatre, a UK-based theater group, has been performing Shakespeare’s Othello at two venues in Switzerland. Their version of the play
includes a live score by composer Thomas Johnson. The actors themselves play cello, guitar, and percussion and sing four-part harmony throughout — so that the music operates almost as a film score — heightening the emotion and suspense of this sensational thriller.
Stanford-Developed Software Enables Musicians to Play Together in Real Time
Have you tried this open-source software called JackTrip?
JackTrip is a
longstanding software program for online music playing [that] has been optimized for slower, home-based internet connections.
Albums
Beauty Will Save the World
Those are the words of cellist Camille Thomas, whose new album, Voice of Hope, speaks to this very idea.
Read Heather McDougall’s wonderful review of the album here.
The Stolen Cello
A new album from Decca Records and the team behind global sensation Ludovico Einaudi is to be released exploring the inspiring story of a young man caught up in the Albanian conflict in the early 1990s, as he navigates his new life in Italy with his most prized possession: a stolen cello.
This album will be available soon as a CD, LP, or mp3, and is ready for pre-order now.
Read more about this album here.
Music, Mourning, and the Cello: Transcendence
Hauntingly beautiful, this new album by Ilse de Ziah
features rich and dark cello performances of music inspired by religious and spiritual traditions of old Ireland.
Here is one track:
Evolution: Beethoven Complete Cello Sonatas
Spanish cellist Adolfo Gutierrez Arenas and German-Korean pianist Christopher Park deliver refreshingly vigorous, even irreverent performances of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas, works that offer the listener a unique overview of the composer’s evolving style.
Two Generations of Hungarian Cello Music
CD is framed by the chamber music of Zoltán Kodály, beginning with the Opus 7 duo for violin (Hellen Weiß) and cello and concluding with the Opus 8 solo sonata. Between these two selections is György Ligeti’s solo cello sonata, which was originally composed in 1948 during his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where one of his teachers was Kodály.
Read Stephen Smoliar’s full article here.
The Piano Guys Have a New, 2-CD Album
Read more about their new album here.
Act fast and you can purchase a customized version of The Piano Guys’ new album: 10!
Two-CD Album by Cellist Marianne Baudouin Lie: Atlantis, Utopia and Wolf Dreams
Contemporary but accessible, there are
quotes from folk music, such as Vi har en Tulle (We have a Tulle)…, but at the same time in a completely new form that is not intended as a traditional performance of these melodic quotes, but more as a sound surface in interaction with the cello. A rather innovative and fascinating approach.
Live at Le Guess Who? 2019
This is not an album, per se, but a newly released recording of a live performance.
Dutch cellist, composer, and producer Maarten Vos performed live at Le Guess Who? 2019, on the invitation of festival curators Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed. We can now share the recordings of the full performance thanks to Concertzender, who captured the show at the Janskerk in Utrecht.
Jo Quail to Reissue ‘Five Incantations’ on Deluxe Vinyl
AdderStone Records will reissue this 2016 album by cellist Jo Quail on vinyl on 20 November. It will be available for pre-order on 1 October.
In support of the new release, Quail will give an online performance on 19 November.
Videos
17-Year-old Lydia Briggs Brings Us Morning
Briggs released her video earlier this month, but we just learned that the cellist accompanying her is Cleveland Orchestra’s Alan Harrell. Read more about Briggs and this track in particular in this review.
Beautiful Cover of “The Book of Love” by Laura Heaberlin of Cricket Blue
Laura Heaberlin of Cricket Blue covered Peter Gabriel’s cover of the Magnetic Fields song “The Book of Love.”
Hauser Fans Rejoice! Hauser Recently Released Two New Videos
Have you seen Hauser’s cello cover of Hans Zimmer’s “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator? This is one of his “Alone, Together” concerts in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Online Performances
Below are upcoming, online events. Be sure to click on the original source link for exact details of times, time zones, and ticket prices.
September
Live Performance 24 September, Available on Demand until 1 December
The London Mozart Players with Young Classical Artists Trust artist, cellist Maciej Kulakowski, perform Schumann’s Cello Concerto.
Wigmore Hall Performance: Online Now, Replay Available through 15 October
Cellist Philip Higham and pianist Susan Tomes perform works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, Josef Suk, Leoš Janáček, Claude Debussy, and Nadia Boulanger. See the full program information here.
25 September at 9 AM – 30 September 9 PM
(Pre-recorded streaming presentation)
Stick & Bow: Krystina Marcoux, Marimba and Juan Sebastian Delgado, Cello
Registration required
General Admission: pay any amount
In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, the energetic duo uniting Canadian marimba player Krystina Marcoux and Argentinian cellist Juan Sebastian Delgado play music from Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, and Puerto Rico/Spain.
Click here to view the original web page at www.baruch.cuny.edu
26 September 2020, 12 PM EDT
cellochat: know the score: inside the George Walker cello sonata
Featuring Astrid Schween, Emmanuel Feldman, Owen Young and Seth Parker Woods
Join in the conversation as our excellent panel of cellists come together to discuss their personal journeys learning and performing this incredible masterpiece of the American cello repertoire.
Click here to view the original web page at www.cellobello.org
26 September 4:30 – 6:30 PM PDT
Groupmuse
Cellist Seth Russell and oboist Chelsea Russell present works by Bach and Bloch.
Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
27 September
The Hutchins Consort
This is not strictly a cello performance but may be of interest to cellists. Dr. Carleen Hutchins aimed to:
produce a family of string instruments whose combined voices would span the entire range of written music and effectively fill the gaps left by the traditional string instruments (violin, viola, cello and bass) which form the core of the modern symphony orchestra.
In this performance you’ll hear the instruments,
ranging from the tiny treble violin, tuned one octave above the standard violin, to the gigantic large bass violin, tuned one octave lower than a ‘cello, the Hutchins Consort produces an astonishing range of sounds.
Read more about the concert here.
29 September, 5:30-6:30 PM CDT
The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Happy Hour with Cellist Jesse Christeson
This event will feature cellist Jesse Christeson for a conversation about his various musical projects and especially his work with the Boston-based Hub New Music Ensemble. Jesse was Principal cellist with the MSO from 2013 to 2016, and in 2015 performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with the orchestra. While he continues to perform with orchestras all around the country, Jesse’s first love is chamber music, and he will share some of his more recent musical performances with us.
Get full details on this program here.
29 September, 7 PM EDT
Cellos and the Vibrational Afterlife of Chemical Residue
International Contemporary Ensemble’s cellist Katinka Kleijn is joined by cellist, composer, and improviser Aliya Ultan in a performance-discussion on pushing the boundaries of cello performance, using other sonic materials to vibrate and interact with the cello. New sound worlds emerge, interrogating how people interact with their environment and found objects. Ultan explores the sonic phenomena of trash by building gowns and sculptures out of glass bottles, cans, tampons, fishing line, styrofoam, and plastics
Click here for more information.
30 September 5 PM to 6:30 PM, Boulder Colorado
Virtual Event of Note: Cellist Zuill Bailey
Spend an evening engaging in conversation and captivating performance.
Tickets $30-$50
Click here to view the original web page at calendar.colorado.edu
