In the Practice Room with Brant Taylor
What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/Regfkiv1UiM What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/neIt_yb0hYc Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/gDuModB0VO0 How do you cultivate inspiration in the practice room? What motivates you? https://youtu.be/pyN0D2lwaW4 How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/7Tv4EAeAPtE In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Regfkiv1UiM https://youtu.be/MAxveqAY5oI What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/pLVxnguxoS4 What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/F3ha0jwZGOM How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/as5W_gi6tlA How [...]
In the Practice Room with Jan Vogler
What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/JswhAsx3kkA What is on your music stand? https://youtu.be/rHybqTPRuoA What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/x_tlqo6aeDs What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/1rVZVbzNcZQ When do you feel the most inspired in the practice room? https://youtu.be/eWkJEtgBx_g Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/guW6r90BN2w What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/ZrEkl2LqHSA What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/gzvNZknCoXE How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/K-vwv7TDo2I With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/P7Vgl4hy2Eo How do you start learning a new piece? [...]
In the Practice Room with Amos Yang
What is on your music stand? What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/j2UprmXuKHA Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/uyRoihCEpcQ When do you feel the most inspired in the practice room? https://youtu.be/qfqR7FtbQqg How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/UJ6zIOvn7TM In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/QBj4xUBEKfk Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/aWziSVbS5n8 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/nvkbfqoCEe8 How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/MF2C0XPYric With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/Xb-IYAm6GTk How do [...]
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 [...]
A Brief History and Analysis of Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo
Introduction At the tender age of ten, Ernest Bloch wrote a vow that he would become a composer. He then built a mound of stones in the shape of an altar and burned the paper over the stones in ritual fashion. Before age 15, he made good on his vow, having composed both a string quartet and an Oriental Symphony. However, it was with the composition of his epic Schelomo: Rhapsody for Violoncello and Large Orchestra, that he proved to the world that he had indeed become a composer of world class ability. After a performance in November of 1923, the San Francisco Chronicle review affirmed the accomplishment, reporting: "Schelomo is a magnificent work by one of the greatest living composers. Splendid as it is in brilliant coloration, it is not in the vivid pictures 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 [...]
In the Practice Room with Julia Lichten
What is on your music stand? What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/NQveC_g1obo Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/A83d7hlJf1s How do you go cultivate inspiration? https://youtu.be/lUSyaGCz4kQ In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/mUCa2v09_7E Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/QYa9fY0QIMY How many hours a day should one practice? https://youtu.be/bAZz3zzqybQ What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/6AQk74UIXzg What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/MFbf-eRbvcw How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/rt5B2LeosnQ With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/FSUCcT-PxOE [...]
In the Practice Room with Austin Huntington
Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/fyamIbQ1_CM What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/I9cUZQpPRH4 What's on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/YqliVUNn01M How do you go about deepening your musical imagination? https://youtu.be/-z6osWAf7Vg In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Pg1sxCnTYh0 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/NNdSjzkHqM4 What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/qon0C3NpJJc How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/NNg7X7BvRMw How has your practicing evolved over the years, or even recently? https://youtu.be/Bv4hX30eYYg
In the Practice Room with Michael Haber
What's on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/zXnE9O5u4ec What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/Ee5QTrThKU4 Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? https://youtu.be/GbBtU4uuhIA What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/LJ0CLr_2LZI How do you cultivate inspiration in the practice room? https://youtu.be/GRqq0Bl1bec In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/hcj0Y8wD3BA Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/xUJpfvFVVcw What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/nrH40qfgsAc What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/L36UMRi3MpQ How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/PbEEHJL226M How do you start learning a new piece? https://youtu.be/lKvv6ytQY2Y How has [...]
Solidarity Rather Than Pity
One of the challenges of fundraising for Ukrainian musicians internationally is conveying the experiences of actual people going through the war while refraining from “war porn.” Wrecked tanks and dead bodies scattered around the once peaceful city streets; entire apartment blocks torn down by Russian missiles; women, men, and children, shell-shocked and with blood and soot on their faces, trying to escape this hell—these graphic images certainly travel fast and get instantly carved in memory. This is what Ukraine has come to be associated with over the past year. All these images show the reality of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, but they don’t give you the full picture. Hundreds of thousands died, millions lost their homes and had to flee; but there are as many—in fact, even more—people [...]
Expanding the Cello Repertoire to Include Women Composers
Several years back I discovered a recording of a beautiful concerto written by the French pianist and composer, Marie Jäell. I immediately fell in love with it’s infectious melodies and knew I wanted to be able to play the piece. I discovered it was unpublished but the manuscripts were housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg. A friend helped me obtain them so that I could prepare a score for cello and piano. The Jäell concerto is the first known cello concerto written by a woman. Marie Jäell wrote the concerto in 1882 and dedicated the concerto to the cellist Jules Desart who performed the premier. One may assume that he helped her understand cello technique as the work is in a very comfortable key for cello [...]
Interview with Tiffany Poon, Founder of Together with Classical
CelloBello is very excited to begin a new partnership with Together with Classical, an organization that strives to empower people of diverse musical backgrounds to learn and share their experiences with classical music, through online community engagement, grant-giving, interviews and educational videos. Today we begin with CelloBello founder Paul Katz interviewing the founder of Together with Classical, pianist Tiffany Poon. Be sure to check out the Together with Classical Blog for Tiffany's interview of Paul Katz! PK: Tiffany is the founder of Together with Classical. She's a pianist with a concert career. She's done a lot of playing with cellists, particularly with Jan Vogler but also Guy Johnston and Harriet Krijgh. So, welcome to CelloBello! Let's start by you telling us a little bit about yourself: where were you [...]
In the Practice Room with Zlatomir Fung
What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/3q5J63LDfB8 What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/C89OAY5MU-s What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/i1hkEubvKbY How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/kIYTEkPtelE What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/1ZNM7KDmiMs How do you go about deepening your musical imagination? https://youtu.be/4b7aJo8wRFc In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/4e5oFe_FLi4 How many hours a day should one practice? Quality or quantity? https://youtu.be/rde85_02Pg4 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/8ET5esbCVnk What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/xe-8YubBfGg How has your practicing evolved over the [...]
In the Practice Room with Edward Arron
In our third installment of this series, we get an inside look into how Edward Arron approaches practicing. What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/L2q6chbDQrY What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/zXs9XfzE85w What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/BwCBbFDkQQg In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Dw92UGiatjM How has your practicing evolved over the years, or even recently? https://youtu.be/49kOrlWa4qM How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/GjH0_HPhsdw How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/j8QjSCAI3Ho