CelloStream Artist Master Classes – Fall 2015
Streamed live from Pierce Hall at New England Conservatory in Boston COMING THIS FALL 2015 MARCY ROSEN Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 10 am EDT LLUÍS CLARET Sunday, October 11th 2015 1 pm EDT GARY HOFFMAN Sunday, October 18th 2015 1 pm EDT PETER STUMPF Tuesday, October 27th 2015 7 pm EDT 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. […]
Beneath the Surface of Brahms — by Brant Taylor
Brahms' 3rd Symphony Cello Excerpt A successful audition performance involves showing many different sides of yourself, musically, in a condensed period of time. Therefore, it is useful if not imperative to conceive each excerpt on a list in its own distinct world of character and color. Despite being works from the same composer, the well-known cello audition excerpt from Brahms’ Second Symphony, which we previously discussed, and the cello audition excerpt from Brahms’ Third Symphony, which is the subject of this post, present quite different opportunities. While these suggestions are not the only solutions to the challenges presented by this excerpt, they are a starting point for practice and discussion and illustrate some of the details that must be carefully considered in any successful performance. Sound Production In thinking about [...]
The Britten Cello Suites (Part 5): An Interview with Steven Isserlis — by Aron Zelkowicz
Your 1992 recording of Britten's Third Suite is widely known, due to its pairing with John Tavener's "The Protecting Veil" (which has been called a "cult" recording). Do you have any approximate idea of how many copies that album has sold? I don't know—quite a few, anyway. I wonder how many people have listened to the Britten, though! There's another connection: the very first time I went to see John Tavener with my cello, I played him the passage in the coda of the Britten where the cello breaks into a chordal version of the chant for the dead—like a Russian Orthodox choir. I remember him saying how wonderful that music sounded on the cello. Much later, John heard me play the whole suite, and—rather to my surprise, because it [...]
The Britten Cello Suites (Part 2): An Interview with Steven Doane — by Aron Zelkowicz
My first live encounter with a Britten suite was an in-your-face experience. Steven Doane played the First Suite, Op. 72 as a “dry run” for a group of students as we crammed into an Eastman studio with barely enough floor space to not get poked with an upbow. Mr. Doane’s association with the piece has only grown, leading to a brand new recording of the complete suites to be released this year. I asked Mr. Doane about his thoughts and experiences playing this demanding work over the years. Do you remember the occasion of learning the Britten First Suite for the first time? It’s a piece that I discovered late - I was in my mid thirties when I started working on it, and it was revelatory. It was an [...]
CelloStream Masterclasses 2012-2013
LAURENCE LESSER March 27 2013 2-5 pm EST Laurence Lesser is a prizewinner of the Tchaikovsky Competition and was President of NEC from 1983-1996. He performs as a soloist and chamber musician globally. Many of his former students have concert careers as soloists or members of chamber groups and many occupy important posts as orchestra members and teachers. View video of Laurence Lesser master class YEESUN KIM February 6 2013 2-5 pm EST Yeesun Kim is a founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the New England Conservatory. She teaches cello and chamber music at NEC and also teaches at the Taos School of Music every summer. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the NEC. NATASHA BROFSKY January 23 2013 2-5 pm EST Natasha Brofsky [...]