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 12:30 PM EST

CelloChat with Santiago Cañon-Valencia. Enjoy a Q&A #LIVE from Bogotá, Colombia

Santiago Cañón-Valencia has been praised as one of the most promising young cellists of his generation. Born in Bogota in 1995, his major musical mentors have been Henryk Zarzycki in Colombia, James Tennant in New Zealand, Andres Diaz in the United States and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy in Germany.

5 February 14:40 GMT

13 February 17:00 GMT

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.

17 February 19:00 GMT

Join us on Friday 17th February at 7pm for our Make Your Own music writing workshop and learn more about instruments and composing with three Red Note players.

Make Your Own is a new workshop series, created to help make the world of writing new music accessible to all.

This is a hybrid online / live in-person session and will feature flute, cello and percussion. Join us in person at the Glad Cafe in Glasgow or online via Zoom.

This workshop is also designed as an introduction to Noisy Nights, an opportunity to compose for a concert featuring the same players later in the year.

The workshop will be fun, informal, friendly and informative, and designed to help everyone – whether a seasoned composer or a curious newcomer with no musical training – to write their own new music. You might even get the opportunity to write for our players during the evening.

If you are interested in learning more about the workings of these instruments and writing music for them, then register for a place to attend this workshop…

If you have any questions or would like more information about this workshop, please contact us at admin@rednotensemble.com

Register for this free event here.

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.

13 March 18:00 GMT

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

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