inspiration Archives

Teaching at Cello: An American Experience — by Mark Summer

As a founding member of the Turtle Island Quartet, I am grateful to Paul Katz for asking me to contribute to CelloBello. As a conservatory-trained, improvising cellist, I hope I can bring a unique perspective to this forum with thoughts on performing, teaching, and traveling with my cello. This past summer I enjoyed five days of intensely rewarding teaching and performing at the summer music program, Cello: An American Experience. The program attracted 18 young cellists from around the country, and is held at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, 44 miles south of Minneapolis. Left to right: Avery Johnson and Mark Summer My introduction to Cello: An American Experience began with a Facebook message sent to me from the director, and my old colleague, Anna Clift. Anna [...]

By Mark Summer|2017-10-04T03:00:10-04:00October 4th, 2012|Categories: Chamber Music, Performance, Teaching|Tags: participants, coaching, rehearsals, transition, string quartet, traveling with a cello, inspiration, conservatory, improvisation, Teaching, local unions, beauty, perspective, Mark, ensembles, chamber music, recitals, Practice, Summer, freelance, Quartet, University, Travel|

Stage-dreaming — by Mickey Katz

A few days ago I was on the Symphony Hall stage, playing Brahms’s A German Requiem in concert. While playing the second movement, I started thinking about what I was going to make for dinner the following night. The last time I cooked it, I thought, it came out a little dry. Maybe this time I should… But wait a second, I was playing one of my favorite pieces in one of the world’s best halls, with a great orchestra and a great conductor, how could I not be completely absorbed in what I was doing? Was I the only one on stage whose mind was wandering, and if not—did anyone in the audience notice? I was aware that I was a part of a great concert, and the audience [...]

By Mickey Katz|2022-04-24T13:11:05-04:00April 26th, 2012|Categories: Artistic Vision, In the Practice Room, Orchestra, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: concentration, Mickey, Symphony Hall, Brahms, performers, expression, performance, inspiration, practicing, cello, Technique, cellobello, Katz, musicianship, Symphony, Practice, distractions, Preparation, Boston|

Passing It On — by Brant Taylor

A few weeks back, I was having a post-concert drink with my friend and colleague Joshua Gindele, cellist of the Miro Quartet, and the conversation turned to teaching. Though we are both associated with ensembles that perform dozens of concerts every season, teaching the cello is an important component of both of our musical lives. (Josh teaches at the University of Texas at Austin, and I teach at DePaul University.) Discussions on the general relationship between performing and teaching often give rise to interesting questions, some without straightforward answers. Many performers teach even though the skill sets required for good teaching and good performing are far from identical. If great teaching is something that is learned, when and how are the skills acquired? If a performer is a big star [...]

By Brant Taylor|2017-08-08T01:49:47-04:00February 20th, 2012|Categories: Bernard Greenhouse, Interpersonal Relationships, Janos Starker, Teaching|Tags: Paul, Brant, Greenhouse, Experience, Development, Taylor, Quartet, Janos, inspiration, Awareness, Starker, Teaching, performance, cello technique, cello, Gregor, cellobello, David, Piatigorsky, Katz, perspective, Popper, music, Bernard|

Bernard Greenhouse: January 3, 1916-May 13, 2011

Bernard Greenhouse left us May 13, 2011. Please scroll to the bottom of this posting and add your personal recollections and tributes for Bernie in the comment box. Bernard Greenhouse, one of my true cello heros and a man I loved and admired, passed away this morning in the middle of his 96th year. It was a peaceful death, middle of the night, in his sleep. It was not unexpected, yet it is so hard to accept. Thousands of friends, family and colleagues, generations of students will be saddened by this loss, for his music, his teaching, the legendary warmth of both his cello sound and his personality, have truly inspired the love and devotion of untold numbers. I had been eagerly looking forward to an upcoming visit to Bernie’s home on [...]

By Paul Katz|2011-05-13T23:30:38-04:00May 13th, 2011|Categories: Bernard Greenhouse|Tags: singing, weight, vibrato, celebration, cellobello, Cleveland Quartet, Katz, dynamics, Paul, elegance, imagination, experiments, character, frustration, collaboration, Greenhouse, alignment, perfection, inspiration, Beaux Arts Trio, recording, Teaching, Bernard|

I Found my “Dream Quartet” in an Unexpected Industry — by Margo Drakos

My love for string quartets drew me to the cello, or rather, it motivated me to practice. It isn’t just the repertoire—I was hooked by the music the first time I ever heard the early Guarneri recording of the Cavatina and Grosse Fuge. I love the idealist concept of a quartet, and the feeling of playing an individual voice that joins together with three other voices to form a single interdependent expression. I also love the cellist’s role in a quartet, as it requires a multitude of skills. At once the quartet cellist is the anchor, sometimes quietly without notice, sometimes with declarative strength, sometimes a supportive counterpart, yet at other times is the prominent, docile melody. I have taken great pride in seeking the seemingly unattainable perfection of [...]

By Margo Drakos|2017-10-16T03:44:15-04:00April 29th, 2011|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Chamber Music, Interpersonal Relationships|Tags: cello, David, melody, cellobello, communication, organization, music, experiences, skills, opportunity, Soyer, Quartet, colleagues, strength, goals, support, motivation, respect, sustain, practicing, concepts, David Soyer, repertoire, dreams, inspiration, environment, career, string quartet, influences|

Tour Musings — by Alisa Weilerstein

I'm now a few days removed from one of the most exhilarating—and definitely the longest—tours of my life. I've grown accustomed to playing a different concerto every week, sometimes with a recital thrown in here and there. But I can't remember the last time I actually played only one piece for three weeks straight. However, that's exactly what I did in the last week of March and first two weeks of April; I played Shostakovich 1st Concerto fifteen times across the US with the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Yuri Temirkanov. I've had so many thoughts about this tour and am struggling to consolidate them into a coherent blog entry. I have to start by saying what an incredible musical and educational experience it was for me. There are players in [...]

By Alisa Weilerstein|2018-03-15T04:14:38-04:00April 22nd, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Cello Travel, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: inspiration, rehearsals, exhilarating, cello, Airplanes, recital, cellobello, Alisa, Rostropovich, orchestra, tour, Weilerstein, Travel, concert halls, experiences, Sound, Shostakovich, emotion, unique, performance, musicianship, Concerto, challenges, Cello Travel|

Practicing What You Preach: Some Thoughts on Balancing Performing and Teaching — by Natasha Brofsky

During my preparation for playing a faculty recital at NEC’s Jordan Hall at the end of March, I found myself thinking a lot about the challenges of maintaining a teaching and performing career. I always find it the most challenging to play for the “home crowd,” especially students and colleagues, because I hope that I will in some way be able to “practice what I preach.” As a cello teacher my listening is focused on how a phrase could be played in a different, more compelling way, and how technique can serve the music. I find that turning my critical teaching ear on myself can inspire me but also paralyze me, because while I am playing I am hearing all the possibilities for doing it better: all the ways I have taught [...]

By Natasha Brofsky|2018-11-19T02:48:09-05:00April 11th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Performance, Teaching|Tags: Preparation, Brofsky, perspective, expression, emotion, balance, inspiration, Natasha, possibilities, bow speed, performance, Listening, vibrato, challenges, quality, cello, focus, colleagues, cellobello, practice habits, solutions, NEC, practicing, New England Conservatory, students, Habits|

Practice Time: Inspiring and Productive? — by Natasha Brofsky

As musicians, a life spent practicing our instruments means that we need to be able to teach and inspire ourselves. The art of practicing well is essential in order to develop our own musical voice. The musical idea is everything. Awaken your musical imagination!! Is the phrase you are practicing lyrical or dancelike? Is it passionate? Melancholy? Stormy? Tender? Does a particular passage inspire a scene in your mind? What kind of a story does it tell? How do you want the audience to experience the music at that particular moment? Experiment! Try different bowings and fingerings for the same passage. What makes the music come alive?Remember that the phrasing and emotional impact of the music affect what techniques we use to play it successfully, so don’t decide on bowings or [...]

By Natasha Brofsky|2022-11-14T13:13:44-05:00March 16th, 2011|Categories: In the Practice Room|Tags: musical imagination, art, musicians, Brofsky, Natasha, context, performance, emotion, phrasing, experiment, productive, fingerings, success, inspiration, imagination, tempo, bowings, motion, cello, movements, Practice, musical|

Airplane Diaries — by Alisa Weilerstein

I think it's appropriate that I'm writing my first blog (ever—not only on this site) while flying between Madrid and Copenhagen. I've taken to telling people I live on airplanes lately, which is sort of true since I catch up on sleep most often while I'm in the air, and I've only been in my actual apartment for four days so far this year. I've been in Europe for a few days and for the first time in awhile am experiencing some serious transatlantic jetlag. I can't sleep before 4:30 a.m. and waking up in the morning (in other words, when the sun is up...) has been difficult, to put it mildly. I just finished three concerts in Madrid, playing Osvaldo Golijov's incredible Azul. Given my perpetually bleary-eyed state each [...]

By Alisa Weilerstein|2017-10-30T05:25:20-04:00March 14th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Cello Travel, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: colors, vibrato, focus, exhaustion, cello, practicing, health, cellobello, reality, ideas, orchestra, adventure, learning, air travel, adventures, Airplanes, Rest, control, Alisa, travel with an instrument, concentration, atmosphere, Weilerstein, audiences, inspiration, performance, character, shifting, energy|

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