Enter Our Catherine Black Online Cello Course Giveaway
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To accompany this week’s interview with her, Catherine Black is giving away two free online cello courses! In addition, the Cello Museum is giving away a T-shirt to each winner and a sticker to each runner-up. We held the first prize drawing on 18 May, but there’s still time to enter for a chance to win a place on the Online Timeline Series course in June.
- Winners of Prize drawing on 18 May 2022
- Winner: Angie Sutliff, WI, USA
- Runners-up:
- Ilay, UK
- Aimee, ID, USA
- Prize drawing on 17 June 2022
- One winner will receive a free pass to the Online Timeline Series class on 25 June 2022, plus a Living That Cello Life T-shirt.
- Two runners-up will each receive a Living That Cello Life sticker.
Course winners may choose a date later in 2022 if they cannot attend the course they’ve won.
Online Programs and Events
21 May, 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
Click here to register and get more information.
21 May (also 18 June, 16 July 2 PM BST)
Opening the Practice Toolbox with Gisela Meyer
About this event
- Do you feel you are spending a lot of time practicing with little result?
- Are you stuck learning a particular piece or passage?
- Can you “sort of “play – or sing – your repertoire, you feel that there is more to be discovered and want to know what to do next?
- Don’t wait until you are frustrated and ready to start a bonfire with your music –join this 2-hour online workshop instead!
- Suitable for all musicians who work from sheet music.
- Saturday, once monthly, 11.00-13.00* Online platform: Zoom
- Schedule:
- Introduction and presentation of general methods – the three stages of practice 10-15 mins
- Individual sessions masterclass style (active participants) 15 – 20 mins each
- Q&A 15 mins
Prices: Active participant** £15 Passive participant £ 5
*A minimum of three active participants is necessary to run the workshop. If no more than three sign up, the workshop will only run for approximately 1.5 hours.
**Active participants: Please be prepared to perform a piece or part of a piece, ca 2 mins in length (or shorter), and send me a scan of the sheet music – with bar numbers marked in – prior to the workshop, so I can share it with the group.
21 May 8 PM EDT
Nirmal Chandraratna – 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.
Each Sound Journey offers a unique variety of music and themes See NirmalC.com for dates of future gatherings.
Click here for more information and to purchase tickets. Tickets are $20.
24 May 4 PM PDT
Kids Storytime featuring Asian American Children’s Authors: Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho
Playing cello since the age of 4, Yo-Yo Ma’s music became a reflection of his own life between borders, disciplines, and generations. This lyrical picture book tells Yo-Yo Ma’s immigration story and how he uses music to build bridges between cultures.
This book is suited for children 4-8 years old, though we welcome children of all ages with parental supervision.
Each month the Chinese American Museum, along with our partners at the LAPL Chinatown Branch, hosts 1-2 virtual story time programs! Register for one or all!
Click here to register for this free online event.
27-28 May 2022
2022 Washington International Competition for Strings
We hope you will join the FMMC Foundation for the 2022 Washington International Competition for Violin, Viola, and Cello! In its 69th year, the WIC provides renowned jurors offering individual advice and feedback to all semifinalists. See below for important deadlines, details, and more.
To apply, visit app.getacceptd.com/wic.
Dates and Information
- Application Open: September 15, 2021
- Application Deadline: February 1, 2022
- Semifinalists Notified: March 1, 2022
Semifinals take place in-person at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on both Friday, May 27, and Saturday, May 28, 2022, from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Finals take place in the Terrace Theater of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on May 29, 2022, at 2 PM.
For more details and prize information, visit the FMMC website.
24-26 June
New Directions Cello Festival
NDCF is back in action! Join us in person or virtually for a jam-packed weekend of innovative performances, workshops, discussion, and community.
For over 25 years, the New Directions Cello Festival has been dedicated to new and innovative uses of the cello. We’ve created an international forum for the exchange of music and ideas and fostered the growth of the cello in all styles beyond classical music. The cello can now be seen and heard in countless genres of music around the globe.
Stretch your playing and musicianship with a diverse offering of workshops in technique, improvisation, and creativity with a like-minded community of cellists.
Artists include Andrew Yee, Kaitlyn Raitz, Zachary Brown, Marika Hughes, Dave Haughey and Jeremy Harman.
For more information and registration, visit the New Directions Cello Festival website.
25 June, 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.
27 June-1 July
Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop
Learn from world-renowned string pedagogues
Engage with the ground-breaking pedagogical principles and techniques of Paul Rolland
Discounted Rates available to students and returning participants
June 27–July 1, 2022
Hosted by the University of Illinois School of Music
Offered Online
Based on the overwhelming popularity of the 2021 Workshop, which was presented in a fully online format, we are pleased to again offer the Rolland Workshop as an online experience in 2022. Livestream sessions will take place between 9am and 5pm Central Time. Sessions will also be available for later viewing. Register now to take advantage of these benefits:
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Flexibility regarding whether to engage in the Workshop synchronously or asynchronously
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5 days of synchronous lectures, demonstrations, panel discussions, and question and answer sessions on Paul Rolland String Pedagogy
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Three-week access to recordings of all Workshop sessions
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Up to 40 hours of Professional Development Hours
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Discount Code for one-year access of streaming of The Teaching of Action in String Playing films
1-5 August
2022 Iconnect PRogram
Virtual Program:
August 1st–5th, 2022
Minimum Level: Intermediate (Breval Sonata in C Major, Op. 40 or equivalent).
There is no maximum level, and advanced students are welcome.
Platform: Zoom
Tuition: $150
The virtual iConnect experience will include daily private lessons with ICI staff instructors, group classes, and a masterclass with a guest clinician. Additionally, students will have complimentary access to livestream broadcasts of ICI masterclasses and recitals presented by world-class cellists, and opportunities for online social interaction and mentorship with older ICI students.
Click here for more information and to apply.
1-7 August 2022
WALTHAM FOREST CELLO FEST 2022
The 4th WALTHAM FOREST CELLO FEST 2022 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 1st August till Sunday 7th August 2022 @ cca 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (cca 55 minutes slots), online via Zoom or Skype.
FRANTIŠEK BRIKCIUS – CELLO, CHAMBER MUSIC
ANNA BRIKCIUSOVÁ – CELLO
Book your One-to-One Cello OnLine Summer Course now (limited number of accepted students). It includes FINAL online performance meeting.
All ages (4-99), levels (Initial Grade, Grades 1-8) and abilities (beginner, student, advanced) are welcome!
For more details follow #WFCF22 @WalhamForestCelloFest, book your course https://WalthamForestCelloFest.eventbrite.com and visit https://www.Brikcius.com/WalthamForestCelloFest/
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.
Click here for tickets and more information.
Previous Concerts Still Available
Recording Available Following 7 May
Sterling Elliott Plays Haydn
Sterling Elliott, the youngest Sphinx Competition Winner in history, is featured on Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major. New York Concert Review acclaims “(The) very fine young cellist Sterling Elliott played …with perfect intonation, style, and total involvement.” Inspired by two great works of art, living composer Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury, sets the stage while Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen powerfully concludes the evening.
Tickets are $30.
Your Turn
Let us know about your favorite online events and concerts in the comments below. Have an event or concert you’d like listed? Please get in touch.
