From Improvising in Caves to Spoken in Waves
Spoken in Waves is a new piece for cello and string quartet by Chris Beroes-Haigis, commissioned by cellist Cicely Parnas. The video performance was premiered in December of 2023. In this blog post, Cicely and Chris tell us a bit about the backstory of the piece, the journey to recording the piece, what it's like to perform the piece and more. The video performance can be found below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML40XGq2qI4 In 2019, I was on tour with my cello rock band and found myself in El Paso, TX, the city where my good friend Chris Beroes-Haigis lived. We had met two years earlier as fellows at the Sitka International Cello Seminar in Alaska, and I remember I was struck both by Chris’s beautiful music-making on the cello, and that [...]
Building Reputation as a Classical Musician
In the world of classical music, reputation is part of what determines the relationships a musician has with the people and organizations that can move their career forward. A reputation is "the opinion that people in general have about someone or something, or how much respect or admiration someone or something receives, based on past behavior or character" (Cambridge Dictionary). People form opinions about another person early on—they notice if you show up on time to the first rehearsal, and they register the tone of your emails and how you respond to constructive feedback. Each interaction builds on the next, and soon you have a "brand"—the way people view you and what they expect of you. Your brand spreads within the professional community, and it's a major determinant of [...]
A Cello Journalist’s Journey
In 2001, I found myself sharing a taxi with Dutch cellist, Anner Bylsma, who was perhaps best known and loved for his performances and recordings of the Bach Cello Suites. We were on our way to the Royal Northern College of Music’s Cello Festival in Manchester, which was the première cello celebration in the world at the time. As we discussed what his detractors were saying about his book, Bach, The Fencing Master, I couldn’t help but note how surreal it was that this was actually happening – that I was spending time with one of my cello idols. It had been 15 years since my cello professor and former Leonard Rose student, Toby Saks, had first played his revelatory 1979 Bach Suite recording for her studio. Having grown [...]
Playing the Cello: The Best Icebreaker
Reprinted with permission from Interlude. You’ve probably heard the cello on numerous occasions either because you love its deep baritone sounds or because the cello is used whenever someone dies in a movie. The cello—its vibrant sounds so close to the human voice—is the perfect instrument to portray a melancholy or heartfelt or gripping mood. What if I told you the cello is the best icebreaker too? Wilhelm Kaiser: Lindemann Mambo for Six Cellos https://youtu.be/_V4STcRqSjY We cellists never get used to the endless quips, (Don’t’cha wish you played the flute?) and the original jibes (that’s bigger than you are!) Large trunk for cellos Traveling with a cello is never without issues. When you’re a member of an orchestra and you go on tour, large trunks—coffins we [...]
What Is the Role of the Musician in the Face of Systemic Injustice? – by Paul Katz
I am writing to you from Boston, one of the U.S. hotspots for the coronavirus, and yet another city where large, peaceful protests are rightfully calling for justice following the killing of George Floyd and countless other innocent black people. Music is a calling that absorbs us, floods our hearts and minds and can remove us from the everyday world and its suffering. But as I look today at a world in chaos, I ask myself, what is the relevance of music, the cello, of culture and the arts in general? What is the role of CelloBello at a time such as this? What can/should we be doing as musicians? While I have been blessed by a long career, I have been continually questioning, as a classical musician, how to [...]
A Much Maligned Cellist: The True Story of Felix Salmond and the Elgar Cello Concerto (Part 4) — by Tully Potter
Blog photos courtesy of the Tully Potter Collection. This blog is a continuation of a multi-part series. Revisit it from the beginning in Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. The original article first appeared in the Elgar Society Journal. THE EMIGRATION Early in 1922 the Salmonds left England for New York with their two children: Lillian had borrowed money to help pay for their passage and their living expenses while Felix established himself. On 29 March he made a successful recital début at the Aeolian Hall with Frank Bibb at the piano; but it soon became apparent that he would not earn much more as a soloist than he had in England, and that he would have to take a teaching post in order to make ends meet. He [...]
A Much Maligned Cellist: The True Story of Felix Salmond and the Elgar Cello Concerto (Part 3) — by Tully Potter
Original image provided by the Salmond Family. This blog is a continuation of a multi-part series. Revisit Part 1 here, and Part 2 here. The original article first appeared in the Elgar Society Journal. The next development in the saga was that Fred Gaisberg of HMV wanted to record the Concerto—he had obviously not been put off by the première. As had happened with the Violin Concerto, just four 12-inch 78rpm sides would be available, but the more compact Cello Concerto would not need to be cut quite so drastically—the Scherzo would require only a small excision and the Adagio would be accommodated complete on one side. Sadly Salmond was under contract to Vocalion, so could not be considered. Guilhermina Suggia was approached but wanted too high a fee. The [...]
A Much Maligned Cellist: The True Story of Felix Salmond and the Elgar Cello Concerto (Part 2) — by Tully Potter
Blog photo courtesy of the Tully Potter Collection. This blog is a continuation of a multi-part series. Revisit Part 1 here. The original article first appeared in the Elgar Society Journal. The fiasco that never was Just how much of a disaster was the premiere? Let us review some of the salient points, starting with the soloist. All those who knew him were agreed that Felix Salmond had a phenomenal memory, so there is every probability that he knew the cello part intimately by the time he arrived at Queen’s Hall. As the son of a singer, he had early imbibed the virtues of a singing line and good breath control. As a virtuoso he was no Feuermann or Piatigorsky but the few discs which document him in fast-moving music [...]
A Much Maligned Cellist: The True Story of Felix Salmond and the Elgar Cello Concerto (Part 1) — by Tully Potter
Blog photos courtesy of the Tully Potter Collection. This article first appeared in the Elgar Society Journal. Tully Potter tries to lay a myth to rest. Sometimes a myth becomes so firmly entrenched in the public consciousness that the true facts are completely obscured. So it has been with that archetypal English cellist Felix Salmond, whose career is always woefully misrepresented. In his adopted country, the United States, he is remembered for teaching at Juilliard and Curtis and nurturing most of the prominent 1930s and post-war American cellists. In Britain he is indelibly linked with the premiere of Elgar’s E minor Concerto, an event now encrusted with fables. Felix Adrian Norman Salmond was born in London on 19 November 1888, to musical parents: his father Norman was a [...]
My First Lessons with Gregor Piatigorsky — by Paul Katz
In 1961, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky and William Primrose joined the faculty of the University of Southern California where I was a cello student studying with the highly inspiring Gabor Rejto. As fate would have it, Rejto was leaving on sabbatical that year and so I auditioned for Piatigorsky and was admitted to his first class at USC. Two amazing years with him followed—he was truly a creative genius, a great psychologist, and a supportive father figure that cared deeply about everyone that he taught. We were a new class of students, however, and as we entered the room that first day, none of us knew what to expect: Excited that I was going to be studying with the 'Great Grisha,' I bought a new short-sleeved, bright orange shirt for this special occasion. Made from [...]
The Amit Peled Peabody Cello Gang: Closing the Circle — by Amit Peled
Originally posted on Violinist.com. As a student, I was fortunate enough to experience the magic of performing music on stage with my great mentors Bernard Greenhouse, Boris Pergamenschikow, and Laurence Lesser, as well as see how each of them balanced their performing and teaching careers. The difference between listening to them explain how to create a phrase and actually forming that phrase with them on stage was huge and significant. Performing with my teachers was a vastly more effective lesson than a one-on-one in a studio, teaching me “on-the-spot” artistic decision-making, amending each performance to fit the energy of the hall. Ever since those transformative and magical moments, I knew that I would become a teacher and pass on the tradition of sharing music with my own students on stage. [...]
The Forgotten Live Video Recording: Du Pré & the Dvořák Cello Concerto, 1968 — by Tony Woodcock
The most wonderful video performance of the Dvořák Cello Concerto by Jacqueline Du Pré and Daniel Barenboim was added to YouTube just a few weeks ago. In this CelloBello exclusive blog is a moving, personal description by a young London musician, Tony Woodcock, who was 17 years old at the time. Below he recounts the unexpected political backdrop for this historic concert, which was hastily arranged in response to the 1968 Russian invasion of Dvořák’s home country of Czechoslovakia. Tony Woodcock, by the way, grew up to eventually become the President of the New England Conservatory of Music, and was a primary supporter of the founding of CelloBello.com. My heartfelt thanks to him for his role in making our website possible, and for illuminating us on an extraordinary history that [...]
Jules Eskin, Principal Cellist at Boston Symphony Orchestra, Passes at Age 85
Reprinted from the Boston Symphony Orchestra 11/17/2016 Jules Eskin, the legendary principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 53 years, passed away at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, after a long struggle with cancer. Mr. Eskin began his more than half-century tenure as BSO principal cello in 1964 and since 1969 occupied the Philip R. Allen Chair, endowed in perpetuity. He played for five different music directors, including Erich Leinsdorf, William Steinberg, Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, and the BSO's current music director, Andris Nelsons, and performed as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. He was featured as soloist with the orchestra in Richard Strauss's Don Quixote, Ernest Bloch's Schelomo, Brahms's Double Concerto, Beethoven's Triple Concerto, William Schuman's Song of Orpheus, and cello concertos of Samuel Barber, Antonín Dvořák, Franz Joseph Haydn, Camille [...]
How Music and Cello Changed My Life — by Nathan Chan
Hey CelloBello readers! My name is Nathan Chan and I’ve been playing the cello for over 17 years. Throughout this time period, my relationship with the cello has been an ongoing evolution in the way I see music as an incredibly powerful tool of expression and creativity. What started as a hobby in the beginning of my musical learning initially evolved into a battle for technical mastery and now has begun to blossom as a freeing medium for spontaneity and exploration. As a child born and raised in the 90s, my parents were very supportive of me. My father, a Hong-Kong born cardiologist who emigrated to the states for college, represented the discipline and detail-oriented leader in my early life. My mother, a Chinese-Canadian who is a Juilliard-educated pianist, was [...]
Announcing CelloStream Master Classes 2016 – 2017
Streamed live from Pierce Hall at New England Conservatory in Boston COMING 2016 - 2017: YO-YO MA Monday, October 24th 2016 2:00 - 4:30 pm ET LAURENCE LESSER Sunday, November 13th 2016 7:00 - 9:30 pm ET ANDRÉS DIAZ Tuesday, December 6th 2016 7:00 - 9:30 pm ET PAUL KATZ Sunday, February 19th 2017 7:00 - 9:30 pm ET JOEL KROSNICK Friday, March 31st 2017 1:30 - 3:30 pm ET To tune in for a live-viewing of a CelloStream Artist Master Class, please navigate to the CelloStream page at the appropriate time. To read bios of previous CelloStream master class artists, please see below. PREVIOUS MASTER CLASSES JOEL KROSNICK TRIBUTE Mar 23rd 2016 7:30 pm EDT Joel Krosnick has performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician around the world. As a member of the Juilliard String [...]