The Evolution of Family – Introducing the Kenya International Cello Festival
The inaugural Kenya International Cello Festival will take place January 3-12, 2022 in Nairobi, Thika, Nyeri and Nanyuki Kenya. Born out of a deep dedication to the students of Korogocho and Ghetto Classics, the festival’s classes and performances will speak to a wide tapestry of compositional voices - all in the hopes of reflecting the interwoven cultural fabric of Kenya. Robert Howard and Rebecca Merblum, Artistic Directors. Anthony R. Green, Composer in Residence. It began so simply. One phone call to Elizabeth Njorge. Within two days I was working with students. And within a week I was part of the family. I should say that I had followed Ghetto Classics for quite some time and was keenly aware of Quartuor Ebène’s visit on their Beethoven World Tour. That said, I [...]
Robert Rund Joins CelloBello as Executive Director
Please join us in welcoming Robert Rund to our team as CelloBello's new Executive Director! Robert has spent his career at the intersection of business, education and the arts, having led organizations in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. He brings to CelloBello extensive fundraising, product development, arts management and music education experience. He received his undergraduate degree in music education from Westminster Choir College, a master of arts in arts administration from Goucher College and an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Finally, he was one of 50 arts leaders internationally, chosen by National Arts Strategies for a fellowship at Stanford Graduate School of Business in their Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts. "I am thrilled to be coming on board with CelloBello. The [...]
Gary Hoffman Joins Curtis Institute of Music Faculty
From The Curtis Institute of Music: The Curtis Institute of Music welcomes renowned cellist Gary Hoffman to the faculty, starting in Fall 2021. Mr. Hoffman will hold the Nina and Billy Albert Chair in Cello Studies, which had been held by Carter Brey, principal cello of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Brey, who joined the faculty in 2008, will officially step down from his teaching activities at Curtis at the end of the 2020–21 academic year. “I have enjoyed a rewarding relationship with Curtis and its outstanding students for many years now and it is with feelings of great pride and honor that I expand my role by joining the esteemed faculty,” says Mr. Hoffman. “I am equally privileged to follow in the footsteps of my friend and colleague, Carter [...]
Remembering Anner Bylsma (1934 – 2019)
With heavy hearts we share the loss of Dutch cellist, Anner Bylsma. His presence and artistry have made an enormous impact, profoundly influencing the lives of generations of cellists. Over the course of his career, Bach played a significant role in Bylsma's life as reflected in his performances, writings, and the two sets of recordings of the complete Cello Suites he made in 1979 and 1992. In fact, his first recording was the first ever to be recorded on gut strings, achieving a significant stride in the period performance movement. Bylsma was a strong believer in the essential accuracy, and therefore sanctity, of the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript of the Cello Suites. He accepted there were some mistakes but not that all performance indications were suspect and therefore optional. In [...]
CelloBello Seeks to Hire a Director of Development and Communications
Job Title: Director of Development and Communications Background Launched in March of 2010, CelloBello.org (a website), has been led by its Founder and Artistic Director, cellist Paul Katz, and Director of Operations Jussi Reijonen, who serves as webmaster and efficiently supervises a small part-time paid staff, volunteers, and 3 work-study students from New England Conservatory. CelloBello seeks a Director of Development and Communications, a dynamic, creative, and highly organized professional to work as a strategic and creative partner with the CelloBello Artistic Director with the goal of short-term growth and long-term financial sustainability. The Director of Development and Communications reports to the Artistic Director with regular written reports to the Board of Directors (e.g. monthly). Our board of Directors is an active and committed group of experts from the fields [...]
A Conversation with George Neikrug
In honor and in memory of George Neikrug we are pleased to share with you the following interview by Tim Janof. ______________________________________________________ Tim Janof: You studied with Diran Alexanian for a year. What was he like as a teacher? George Neikrug: He was brilliant, musically speaking. He particularly stressed the harmonies of pieces we worked on. No matter what was being played, he would accompany me on his cello, playing all the correct harmonies and explaining how the tension and relaxation influenced the interpretation of the music. When it came to technique, however, he got me into such trouble that, even though he had given me a personal scholarship, I left him without a word. I had played a recital after studying with him for a year and my friends [...]
Remembering George Neikrug (March 7, 1919 – March 9, 2019)
With heavy hearts we share the loss of George Neikrug who passed away yesterday at the age of 100. George Neikrug was teaching at Boston University where he had been professor of cello for the past thirty years. The latest CD featuring Mr. Neikrug is "Great Moments in Cello Playing," selected from eighty years of treasured recordings, recently released by Cello Classics. He gave master classes in Germany, Italy, Austria, Australia, Iceland, Hawaii, Canada, and extensively in the United States. He played solos with major symphonies all over the world. In addition to the cello repertoire, his virtuosity enabled him to perform some of the most technically demanding works for the violin on the cello. His many performances of the Paganini Violin Concerto in D Major with the Sauret cadenza [...]
Remembering Aldo Parisot (September 30, 1918 – December 29, 2018)
With heavy hearts we share the loss of Aldo Parisot, extraordinary performer and beloved pedagogue. A legendary figure in the music world, he was the longest-serving member in history at the Yale School of Music, mentoring and inspiring young artists for the past 60 years. At the age of 99, this past June, he retired from teaching. Acknowledged as one of the world's master cellists, Mr. Parisot led the career of a complete and well-rounded artist as concert soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, and devoted teacher. He was heard with many of the major orchestras of the world, including Berlin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Rio, Munich, Warsaw, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh, under the batons of such eminent conductors as Stokowski, Barbirolli, Bernstein, Mehta, Monteux, Paray, de Carvalho, Sawallisch, Hindemith, and [...]
A Letter from Tim Janof, Editor for the Internet Cello Society, December 2018
Dear ICS Friend, As you may already know, after more than twenty glorious years, the Internet Cello Society is saying good-bye: We now believe it is time to hand the reins over to somebody else, and CelloBello seems to be the perfect match. CelloBello has taken things to the next level, with videos and live presentations, in addition to publishing its own wonderful articles by acclaimed artists. It has been my view for quite some time that CelloBello has taken the baton from the ICS, but now it's time to make it official. —Tim Janof, Internet Cello Society CelloBello salutes ICS Founders John Michel and Tim Janof for their pioneering use of the internet, and for beginning a global community of cellists and cello lovers that thrives to this [...]
Behind the Scenes with Brannon Cho
We are thrilled to introduce you to Brannon Cho, First Prize Winner of the 2018 Paulo International Cello Competition. In this conversation Brannon takes us behind the scenes offering insight into his preparation, mindset, and aspirations. Blogmaster: Can you give us insight as to how the competition felt for you? Did you play as you aspired to? Brannon Cho: The competition was quite exhausting. As opposed to other competitions I’ve done in the past there was almost no time to rest between rounds. In some ways I appreciated it because it was similar to the concert schedule of a touring soloist. As a soloist, every two days you have a big concert. In contrast, in Belgium last year I would sometimes have a week before I played the next [...]
CelloBello Hires First Executive Director
CelloBello is proud to announce that Greg Evans has been appointed the inaugural chief executive of CelloBello.com, an educational website and social hub for the cello world. Paul Katz, our founder (Cleveland Quartet, New England Conservatory…) will continue as Artistic Director with Greg taking over the day to day operations and development efforts, increasing CelloBello’s presence on the international scene as the one-stop destination for all things cello. With expertise in organizational structure, web experience and a wide knowledge of the repertoire, Greg will work with Paul to expand CelloBello’s global impact, offering educational advancement, inspiration and information to a worldwide cello community. A graduate of Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, Greg began his professional life as a horn player in New York City participating in almost every [...]
Isang Yun International Cello Competition Announces 2018 Prize Winners
Isang Yun International Cello Competition Winners Announced! Christine Jeong Hyoung Lee of Korea and Sang Eun Lee of Korea share the First Prize in the 2018 Isang Yun International Cello Competition. When the scores of an international jury of nine were tallied, the two received mathematically identical scores. Each received $25,000. Lev Sivkov of Russia received Third Prize and $10,000 for his performance of the Dvorak Concerto. Christine Jeong Hyong Lee performed the following program in the three rounds: First Round Program J. S. Bach: Prelude and Sarabande from Suite for Cello Solo No. 4 BWV 1010 Benjamin Britten: Suite for Cello Solo No. 1 Op. 72 (7th, 8th and 9th movements only) Isang Yun: Glissees for Solo Cello (1970) Second Round Program Isang Yun: EspaceⅠ(1992) L. v. Beethoven: Sonata for Cello [...]
New England Conservatory Cellist Brannon Cho Wins the VI Paulo International Cello Competition
HELSINKI, FINLAND Oct. 25 -- Twenty-three year old cellist Brannon Cho of the United States was awarded First Prize at the 2018 Paulo International Cello Competition. Joint 2nd prize was awarded to 19- year-old Zlatomir Fung of the United States and 23- year-old Minji Kim of South Korea. Joint 4th prize was awarded to 24-year-old Timotheos Petrin from Greece, 19-year-old Leonardo Chiodo from Finland and 21-year-old Bryan Cheng from Canada. Brannon Cho: A graduate of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen, and current Artist Diploma student of Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory, Brannon is a former major prize winner at the Naumburg, Cassadó and Johansen International Cello Competitions – and in June of last year, was awarded a prize at the inaugural Queen Elisabeth International Cello Competition, in Belgium. Cho [...]
Updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
(July, 2017) — CelloBello has updated its Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, take a look and stay informed. https://www.cellobello.org/terms-of-use/ https://www.cellobello.org/privacy-policy/
The CelloBello Fund Drive is Here!
Dear CelloBello Friends, It’s that time of year again! We’re so excited that we got to kick off our yearly fund-drive yesterday with a special live-streamed masterclass with our founder Paul Katz (see it again here)! We are thrilled and proud of the projects and milestones we have achieved in 2017: unveiling our new and improved website, hitting over one million views on our YouTube channel, the success of our month-long Bach Celebration which included our first livestreamed performance from Amsterdam by Pieter Wispelwey (see it again here), not to mention our wide spread of CelloChats, blogs and masterclasses from coast to coast! Please stay tuned for a special announcement about our 2018 projects…. Our fund-drive is critical and important for us here at CelloBello. It’s your contributions, regardless of [...]