Interviews Archives

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 [...]

By Paul Katz|2022-11-28T14:42:28-05:00November 10th, 2022|Categories: Artistic Vision, Beyond the Traditional, Interviews, Performance|Tags: Paul Katz, classical music, Interviews, Together with Classical, Tiffany Poon, Community Building|

Conversation with Yosif Feigelson (1995)

Interview by Paul Tseng PT: Please describe your association with Rostropovich. JF: In terms of my association with Rostropovich, I studied with him for three years from 1971 to 1974. It was after I took the first prize in the Concertino Prague Competition. Rostropovich also won first prize in a competition with Daniel Shafran [Prague Spring Festival]. He heard about me from a friend. I remember he held an audition in his flat in Moscow and I actually came a year earlier to the conservatory because I had to graduate a year later. But he said I should take a one year extension in my studies. At that time he had gotten involved with Solzhenitsyn and it was a difficult time because he wasn't concertizing very much. But for me [...]

By Paul Tseng|2021-01-06T20:59:58-05:00December 9th, 2020|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Artistic Vision, Interviews, Performance|Tags: Technique, Rostropovich, prokofiev, Interviews, Expanding the Repertoire|

Conversation with David Tonkonogui (May, 1993)

Interview by Tim Janof For those of you who haven't heard of David Tonkonogui, he is the most recent addition to the Seattle Symphony cello section. He is also an active chamber musician in Seattle and has won the hearts of all who have heard him. For those of you who have not heard him play, I highly recommend you go to any chamber concert in which he plays. TJ: First of all, please pronounce your last name. DT: Tonkonogui (Tawn-ko-no-gee) TJ: Where does your name come from? DT: It's derived from Russian. I admit that it's an unusual Russian name. I've never met anybody in Russia with the same last name. But I have met several people in Seattle who trace the origin of their names back to my [...]

By Tim Janof|2020-12-09T21:04:37-05:00December 2nd, 2020|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Artistic Vision, Auditions, Orchestra, Performance|Tags: Interpretation, musicality, Yo-Yo Ma, Natalia Gutman, Interviews, Genuine Performing|