Enter our Cello Love Wall Art Giveaway
–
11″ x 14″ metal print of Paola’s Cello Love trademark design.
Enter for a chance to win this fantastic 11″ x 14″ metal print of Paola’s cello love trademark design which cleverly combines the ASL sign for “love” (
) with the word “cello.”
The giveaway entry form is at the end of this article about Paola Beals.
Online Programs and Events
21 January 8 PM EST
Sound Journey – Harness the power of Music, Mantra, and Sound to Help Drop into the Present Moment
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 world 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.
Click here for tickets and more information.
28 January, 4 March, 13 May, 16 September, and 2 December 2023 (Saturdays) | 6.00 PM – 8.15 PM GMT
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 (waiting room opens at 5.45 PM for tuning)
Fee: £25 per class
Click here to register and get more information.
4 February, 25 March, 22 April, 3 June, 23 September, 11 November | 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
Click here to register and get more information.
5 February 14:40 GMT
Chord Phobia? GFW Workshop for Strings with Trish Strain & Roo Geddes
Find the right chords, compose simple harmonies, learn to jam along in any folk music environment. Trish & Roo welcome everyone to this upbeat and accessible workshop.
For Cello / Fiddle players of all levels
Registration is £10.00.
13 February 17:00 GMT
Cello & double bass recitative accompaniment in today’s concert halls
Secco Recitatives. Those sung/spoken moments in cantatas or operas where so much of the action takes place and where only occasional, single bass notes, with or without figures, are written in support of the vocal line. Over the past twenty-five years, much musicological research has investigated the practice of secco recitative accompaniment by cellists in earlier times, but relatively little work has documented the actual performance practice used by professional cellists who accompany secco recitatives today.
This talk presents the results of an online questionnaire sent to 249 professional continuo cellists worldwide during the Spring of 2020. The survey discusses instrumentation and seating positions within the continuo group, chordal and bassline articulation, rehearsal protocol, self-evaluation and critical feedback. Above all, it documents whether the cellist realizes the harmonies and in what circumstances. The research shows that certain cultural and sociological factors influence continuo group dynamics and are highly predictive of a cellist’s accompanimental practice. Awareness of these correlations permits today’s young continuo players to see their own interpretative choices from a different perspective and perhaps alter the performance practices within their professional continuo groups in the future.
Register for this free event here.
13 March 18:00 GMT
The Bach Cello Suites: A masterclass with Steven Isserlis
Composed some three centuries ago, yet hardly known until the last 100 years, Bach’s Cello Suites have captured the imaginations of music-lovers across the globe. They bear few indications of how they should be played, instead leaving the interpretation to the performer. It is impossible to know the full history of the suites, and this uncertainty has left them shrouded in an air of mystery.
In this fascinating masterclass, Steven Isserlis, the internationally renowned and award-winning cellist, invites you to explore the suites. As well as hearing excerpts, you will begin to discover the story of the suites – why they languished in obscurity for so many years, and whether there might be an underlying narrative to the music.
Steven’s book The Bach Cello Suites: A Companion is available to pre-order in paperback. You can purchase a book and ticket for the combined price of £58.52 including P&P. The book is due to be published in March 2023.
Registration starts at £51.83. For more information, click here.
2, 9, 23, 30 April 10 AM ET
The Amit Peled First Hour Online Course
Join Professor Peled for four 60-minute sessions via Zoom. This is a group class where you learn the principles and techniques found in his book, “The First Hour — A Cellist’s Daily Technical Regimen.” Play along with Professor Peled as he demonstrates live the exercises that will help take your playing to the next level. Each session is recorded in high quality and your registration fee gives you access to each session video throughout the duration of the course.
Dates: April 2, 9, 23, and 30, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. ET (each session is recorded)
Fee: $500 USD ($400 USD for previous participants in the Amit Peled First Hour Online Courses or Online Cello Academy)
To Register: Send an email to Julia@ctmclassics.com
Required: You will need to purchase a copy of “The First Hour” book by placing your online order here. Please order by March 1, to allow enough time for shipping.
For more information, visit the class website.
31 July -6 August
WFCF Cello Academy 2023 – Online Summer Cello Master Classes
The 5th WALTHAM FOREST CELLO FEST 2023 in London invites you to the CELLO ACADEMY – Online Summer Cello Master Classes via Zoom / Skype.
Individual Online Cello Lessons will take place daily from Monday 31st July till Sunday 6th August 2023 @ cca 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (cca 55 minutes slots), online via Zoom or Skype.
For more details follow #WFCF22 @WalhamForestCelloFest, book your course https://WalthamForestCelloFest.eventbrite.com and visit https://www.Brikcius.com/WalthamForestCelloFest/
Ongoing
The Cello Guild – Cello Courses
New classes – plus a chance to earn a free Cello Guild sticker! We recently launched our new Cello Guild site.
Please register before purchasing.
- An Introduction to the Celtic Cello – by Clíodhna Ní Aodáin
- Making a Goritzki Bow Foam – by Nancy Green
- Cello Geography: Mapping the Fingerboard – by Jonathan Simmons
- Fret Not, Dear Cellist – Venturing Beyond First: 2nd and 4th Positions – by Erica Lessie
- Fret Not, Dear Cellist – Moving on Up: 5th and 6th Positions – by Erica Lessie
Cello Discovery – Yes, You CAN Learn to Play the Cello Online
Created by cellist and pedagogue Carolyn Hagler, this program is excellent for beginning and intermediate students wanting to learn online. Innovative and regularly updated, this program impressed Cello Museum team members.
Sign up for Cello Discovery here.
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
Please see Wigmore Hall’s Video Library of Past Livestreams
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.
