The Cello Guild Courses
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Asynchronous Summer Guild Classes
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For a limited time: Sign up now and get a free Cello Guild T-Shirt! Sign up today, and classes will be available starting in August.
This summer, the Cello Guild is offering four courses designed especially for adult cello students in a series taught by our very own Erica Lessie (of Postcards from Erica) called “Fret Not, Dear Cellist.”
These courses cover cello positions, and asynchronous classes are available starting in August.
Online Concerts
5 August 7:30 PM EDT
CelloStream: Zlatomir Fung Plays Elgar
The first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 22-year-old has already proven himself to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2022 and a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and an exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire.
EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934)
Concerto in E Minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 85I. Adagio – Moderato
II. Lento – Allegro molto
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro – Moderato – Allegro, ma non troppo – Poco più lento – AdagioZlatomir Fung, cello • Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor • Festival Orchestra
Watch on YouTube or at this link.
18 August 8 PM EDT
Sound Journey
A Sound Journey is a musical experience drawing elements of ritual and sound healing together to create a dynamic, transformative environment. You are invited to connect with your intentions, both for yourself and for the world, and then let them take flight as the music begins. Layered textures of the voice, cello, and percussion will weave a tapestry of melody and mantra. As we come together as a community, we can help each other to collectively align our lives with our vision for a better world.
Each Sound Journey offers a unique variety of music and themes See NirmalC.com for dates of future gatherings.
Nirmal Chandraratna is a New York City–based Kirtan artist and composer with a passion for nurturing connection— to spirit, to community, and to one’s deeper self— through music. Using the voice, the harmonium and the cello, he creates music for Kirtan and meditation, and works for communal performance. You can listen to music and media at NirmalC.com.
Tickets are $20.
Online Programs and Events
22-27 August
7ème BACH FESTIVAL GERS – Cours de musique d’été en ligne via Zoom (all information in French)
Vous êtes cordialement invités à l’événement du 7ème BACH FESTIVAL GERS 2022 – BFG COURS DE MUSIQUE D’ÉTÉ EN LIGNE.
Master classes seront de mardi le 22 août à samedi le 27 août 2022 de 9:00 à 17:00 H ( 55 minutes ), en ligne via Zoom / Skype.
- Cours d’Orgue en ligne avec Professeur Irena KOSÍKOVÁ
- Cours de Violoncelle en ligne avec Professeur Anna BRIKCIUSOVÁ
- Cours de Violoncelle en ligne avec Professeur František BRIKCIUS
- Cours de Musique de Chambre en ligne avec DUO BRIKCIUS
Pour tous les groupes d’âge ( 4 – 99 ) et tous les niveaux ( débutants, étudiants, avancés ).
Réservez vos leçons individuelles de cours de musique classique instrumentale ( violoncelle, orgue, musique de chambre ) en ligne.
Click here for registration information.
17 September, 10 December
Online Timeline Series – Cellist Catherine Black
We all want to be as rounded a musician as possible and that’s a pretty big ask. We all have our preferences, and the groups & orchestras we play in, take us down certain paths which enrich and educate us, but sometimes we find a hole in our knowledge!
The Online Time Line Series has really found a place in your lives. Join us to learn more about a remarkable piece of music, its composer, an era, its style that may otherwise have passed you by. Musical architecture, polyphony, phrasing, the place of music in society are all a part of this quest for a better understanding and roundedness.
We will play, discuss & explore from your – the player’s point of view – a particular piece of music from the wide library of Unsung Heroes Cello Ensemble scores. These now range from Josquin and John Taverner (1490–1545), through to Tchaikovsky & Elgar and far into the twentieth century.
Though there are some restrictions online, we can all play using the mute button, though not as a group. This is an exciting opportunity for players to have the chance to play as many parts as they wish as we play together.
You may want to bring a notebook too and I do send out further notes to help you continue the development after the class. I see this as a massive opportunity for us to do detailed work that really moves you on, because we have these apparent restrictions.
Just a thought: you may think a particular composer, (say Josquin for instance) isn’t for you. Don’t rule things out too easily as all these people, whose music I want to share with you, have so much light to shine for us. As cellists, there is so much music we miss because we have so much already written for us. This is an opportunity that I personally have loved developing.
Your score is sent to you on booking your place and there are 15 places per class so we keep the lesson small, detailed and personal.
Do look at all the parts if you can, so you get under the skin of the music.
Venue: Zoom
Fee: £25 per class
Click here to register and get more information.
22 October, 3 December 2022 | 6:00 PM–8:15 PM GMT
All About My Bow – Cellist Catherine Black
Our bow is our voice. We want it to breathe, speak, dance, sing and emote. This is an infinite subject but we do need to start somewhere! I feel we learn best with clear explanation, demonstration, focus and experimentation.
We will explore in varied ways, how our bow use can become increasingly natural to us – to become truly, an extension of your arm and hand. In going slowly and in detail, you will more truly find your own voice and feel able to express yourself more fully and authentically as a cellist & musician.
This series will build your understanding in stages. Some classes may be repeated too.
The instrument we play is large and physical and we need to know how to use energy well and understand movement because sound follows the movement.
I will send you materials for the class ahead of the day and then afterwards I will send documents that help you consolidate and develop our work. The groups will be small enough that we will be able to work individually too to check things are understood.
Venue: Zoom (waiting room opens at 5.45 PM for tuning)
Fee: £30 per class
Ongoing
Trad Cello – Tunes and Techniques with Natalie Haas
Let Natalie Haas teach you some tricks of the trade as well as some great melodies!
Natalie is one of the most sought after cellists playing traditional music today. She and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser have toured as a duo for twenty years, wowing audiences at festivals and concerts worldwide with their unique sound.
In this series she will teach some bowing techniques when accompanying melody players before moving on to chords and arranging, finishing with some melodies that sit well on the cello.
Although this series is aimed at the cellist, many of the skills and techniques will sit as comfortably on any string instrument.
Click here to learn about membership options.
Win a Year of Free Lessons!
Enter a drawing for a year of free lessons via video exchange with cellist Mike Block. Click here to enter.
Previous Events Still Available
Recording Available Through 29 October
Miklós Perényi & Dénes Várjon: Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas
This event was streamed live from Wigmore Hall on Thursday 17 October 2019
Available to watch until 29 October 2022
Recording Available Through 29 October
Steven Isserlis cello; Mishka Rushdie Momen piano
This event was streamed live from Wigmore Hall in June 2020
Available to watch until 29 October
Recording Available Following 14 July
WRTI Presents ASTRAL: Cellist Thomas Mesa
Growing up in Miami, Florida, Thomas Mesa dreamed of playing the drums, then unexpectedly fell in love with the (nearly human) sound of the cello. As part of our video series, WRTI Presents Astral, this Cuban-American Astral artist recently visited the WRTI Performance Studio and played three works that use the cello’s unique voice to respond to the pandemic and social turmoil.
You can hear in the music the range of emotions arising from the isolation of the lockdown: the frustration, loneliness, and yet, a sense of hope. “I wanted to have composers have an outlet to express what they were going through,” says Thomas, who commissioned each of these works during the first months of the pandemic.
Watch the event here.
Your Turn
In the comments below, let us know about your favorite online events and concerts. Have an event or concert you’d like listed? Please get in touch.
