Happy New Year!
Featured Event: Prize Giveaway
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Happy New Year from the Cello Museum! To celebrate the new year and this month’s interview with The Wong Janice and her meditation and journaling course(see below), we have a prize drawing to give away one of our new notebooks and two stickers at the end of the month.
Click here and scroll down to enter for a chance to win. We will do the drawing on 31 January.
Online Performances
Below are upcoming online events. Be sure to click on the source link for exact details of times, time zones, and ticket prices.
14 January 7:30 PM EST
Sophie Shao, Cello and Anna Polonsky, Piano
Mahaney Arts Center at Middlebury College Performing Arts Series
One hundred years ago this week, The Middlebury Campus headline read “Casals Captivates Large Audience: World’s Greatest Cellist Plays in Chapel,” when famed Catalan cellist Pablo Casals appeared during our Performing Arts Series’ third season. Sophie Shao’s 2022 concert will kick off our yearlong celebration of Casals and the cello. Our series’ favorite cellist has graciously helped us re-create Casals’ Middlebury program, including works by Bach, Beethoven, Berteau, Debussy, Godowsy, Granados, and Schubert—plus new additions to the program, including Casals’ Song of the Birds, his arrangement of Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Major, and Lera Aurbach’s 2015 work La Suite dels Ocells: Hommage à Pablo Casals. Shao—whose performances the New York Times has noted as “eloquent, powerful” and the Washington Post called “deeply satisfying”—will play her 16th Middlebury concert on an 1855 Honore Derazey cello once owned by Casals, and will be joined by celebrated pianist Anna Polonsky.
Streaming-only Tickets: $15 | $5 Middlebury students; 48-hour playback available
Click here to purchase tickets.
Click here for more information.
18 January 4 PM EST
Music in the Afternoon: Cello and Piano Recital
Angela Lee, Cello and Markus Pawlik, Piano
- Fanny Hensel, Two Pieces for Cello and Piano
- Robert Schumann, Three Romances, Op. 94
Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Piano and Violoncello, Op. 69
All registered participants will receive a livestream link upon registration. Registration ends 1/18/22 at 1PM. No refunds.
Tickets $20.
22 January 10:30 PM EST
Sonorità Duo – Concert with Judy Lou (cello) and Christina Tong (piano)
This concert is being presented in the virtual format only. You will receive a link in order to watch the concert 10 minutes beforehand. We recommend wearing headphones or listening on a high quality speaker system. The virtual concert will last 45 minutes and is available to watch at anytime if you can’t join for the live premiere .This concert is being presented in high definition audio and video.
Tickets $10.
Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
28 January 7:30 PM EST
Zoë Keating, Cello
Extraordinary Vermont-based cellist and composer Zoë Keating continues our cello celebration with a contemporary lens. A one-woman orchestra, she uses a cello and a foot-controlled laptop to record layer upon layer of cello, creating intricate, haunting, and compelling music. Keating has a devoted global audience and her self-released albums have reached No. 1 several times on the iTunes classical chart. She has composed music for ballet, theater, film and radio and lends her music regularly to film, TV, dance productions and commercials.
Streaming tickets: $15/5; 48-hour playback available
Click here to purchase tickets.
Click here for more information.
Online Programs and Events
10-14 January 11 AM PST
Make Your Practice Plan and Start to Sound Fantastic: Study the Five Pillars of Playing the Cello
Study with Cello Guru Marcie Brown during this free five-day masterclass series. Participants must register to reserve a spot.
13 January 11:30 AM EST
Cello & Mindfulness
Cello and Mindfulness combines the powerful vibrations of the cello with breath-work, mindfulness practices and is founded on community building.
With the world feeling a little crazier than normal these days, it’s now more important than ever to find time to breathe & ground in the present. Join me for a short respite from your daily stressors, and connect with a virtual community of fellow human beings.
What you can expect:
- -Breath work
- -Mindfulness practices
- -Live cello performance
- -Movement
- -Small group share
- -Expressive arts (writing, drawing, music, etc)
Cello & Mindfulness classes will be held on Zoom.
Please wear comfortable clothing — it is recommended to listen with headphones or good speakers to take full advantage of the vibrations of the cello.
For more information and to register, click here.
21 January 7:30 PM EST
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Musical Heritage: Pablo Casals
The great Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876–1973) stands alone as arguably the most influential and universally revered instrumentalist of all time. He was first cellist in history to recognize Bach’s “Six Solo Suites” as great music, and the first to record them. This was only one of the musical milestones of this extraordinary man, who not only dominated cello playing for more than half a century, but also served as an uncompromising and indisputable voice of social conscience.
Tickets: Free; 48-hour playback available
Click here for tickets.
Click here for more information.
22 January, 5 March, 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.
12 February, 9 April, 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.
27-28 May 2022 (1 February 2022 application deadline)
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.
Ongoing
Journaling for Grounding & Positivity: A 7-day Practice with Cello Meditation Music
The Wong Janice
Are you looking for an aid to feeling more grounded and positive and love cello music? Then this is the class for you.
Join The Wong Janice, Amsterdam-based sound meditation guide and cellist as she guides you through 7 themes she uses weekly in her virtual cello meditation concerts for companies all over the world. Now she is delighted to share these with you in this unique approach to journaling. The prompts and music will help transform your mood and inspire you to write with full awareness while harnessing the power of journaling for healing.
The themes covered:
- Gratitude
- Empowerment
- Freedom
- Love
- Acceptance
- Forgiveness
- Surrender
This course is for people with any level of journaling experience who would like to see how freewriting to the sounds of deep ambient cello meditation music can act as an aid in self-reflection and transforming one’s mood. Whether you’re a dedicated journaler or a complete newbie, don’t be afraid to give this class a try, as you never know what the combination of music and writing can bring! One thing is for sure: The Wong Janice’s deep ambient cello meditation music will leave you feeling undoubtedly more centred and calm.
In this class you will learn basic journaling techniques, starting with simple writing prompts to get you started in transferring what’s in your mind onto paper. We will then move onto longer format writing prompts to allow the words to flow from your heart freely. At the end of the class we will circle back and recap what we’ve learned.
By the end of this class, you will have covered 7 new journaling practices, and with daily practice, learn to express yourself better and understand who you are at a higher level, bringing more stability in your life, and feeling more grounded and radiating more positivity from within.
Once you have found your written voice, you will have the confidence and inner trust to express yourself on paper without the prompts, and use writing as a tool to help you feel more grounded and more positive whenever you need it most.
For more information on this course by The Wong Janice, click here.
Trad Cello – Tunes and Techniques with Natalie Haas
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!
ArtistWorks
Enter a drawing for a year of free lessons via video exchange with cellist Mike Block. Click here to enter.
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.
