Romancing Your Cello - Workshop with Erin Ellis
Details
The Atlanta Cello Project Presents a Workshop With Erin Ellis Romancing Your Cello Sunday, February 26, 2012 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
The 19th century: what a great time to be a cellist! Beautiful sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms, exhilarating concertos by Dvorak and Schumann, and even those nasty Popper etudes—we love them all. The Romantic period saw a sort of golden age of the cello, and it’s no coincidence that the bulk of our beloved repertoire comes from this time period. But it is even better to be a cellist in the 21st Century! This three-hour hands-on workshop will give you more reasons to love Romantic music and the lessons we can learn from it to fully embrace the instrument.
PROGRAM
Part 1 – 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm Erin will guide us through the Romantic period landscape including the composers and the highlights of the music they wrote for the cello. Then she will demonstrate exercises to sharpen the technical tools we need to play this music: vibrato, shifting, long phrasing, and legato bows.
Part 2 – 2:15 pm to 3:00 pm In the second hour, Erin will conduct a mini-master class with students performing music from the Romantic period, as further demonstration of what to listen for in this type of music and how to make achieve that fabulous sound.
Part 3 – 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm We all get to play, dividing into groups to work on applying Erin’s lessons to cello choir music from the Romantic period. As a finale, we will perform in our groups for each other. All levels of adult cellists are welcome (and younger students with their teachers). To prepare: Music will be available for downloading prior to the Workshop for Part 3.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Erin Ellis is cello-crazy. She earned her DMA in cello performance with a minor in early music from Eastman School of Music, and her bachelor and master degrees in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has played with the New Trinity Baroque and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestras, and currently serves as Prinicpal Cello for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. For more info: http://www.erincello.com/Site/Home.html
READ AHEAD
Check out imslp.org’s list of compositions featuring cello (all available for download—free!). http://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_Compositions_Featuring_the_Cello Of particular interest is Duport’s Essai sur le doigté du violoncelle where you’ll find that there are actually two parts to his etudes (one for student, one for the teacher). Also interesting is Romberg’s Theoretical and Practical School for the Violoncello, in particular the section on “Light and Shade” (p. 90). Don’t forget to check out original versions of etudes by Lee, Kummer, Popper, and other favorites!
TO REGISTER
Registration required - Fee: $25 for pre-registration by February 20. For Advance Registration: Atlanta Cello Project Members can register at the ACP Meetup Page. Not a member? Register and prepay at: https://www.meetup.com/Atlanta-Cello-Project-Workshops
Location: Church of the Redeemer 5185 Peachtree Dunwoody Road Atlanta, GA 30342