By Jonathan Shifflett Students and teachers can have a mutually beneficial influence. When Rainer Crosett, a Master of Music candidate at USC Thornton School of Music, took on beginning cellist Robert Francis, a retired aerospace engineer, they not only bonded over a shared love of the instrument, they overcame new musical challenges. In this third installment…Continue Reading Cello Stories, part III – Robert Francis and Rainer Crosett
Tag: Piatigorsky
From The Piatigorsky Archives – Part 1
By Carol Merrill-Mirsky When Jacqueline Piatigorsky died at the age of 100, much of Gregor Piatigorsky’s personal archive was donated to the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. Over a hundred boxes of correspondence, orchestral scores, original manuscripts, concert programs, clippings, recordings, films, books and ephemera needed to be sorted, inventoried and properly stored. As…Continue Reading From The Piatigorsky Archives – Part 1
When Lesser Met Benny
By Jonathan Shifflett Few people know that the Second World War turned Los Angeles into a hotbed of classical music. Musicians fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe arrived in Hollywood to fill spots in the prosperous film studio orchestras and caused a striking transformation. A city that was once a cultural desert was suddenly flooded with some of…Continue Reading When Lesser Met Benny
Q&A with Amit Peled
In the second installment of our festival artist Q&A series, we spoke with Israeli-American cellist Amit Peled. From a rural upbringing in Israel to performing at Carnegie Hall, Peled is a strong personality and an engaging performer known for breaking down the audience/performer barrier by explaining the pieces or telling stories. Peled studied with Laurence…Continue Reading Q&A with Amit Peled
Q&A with Festival Artist Jeffrey Solow
The first in an ongoing series, meet the exceptional artists who will descend on Los Angeles for the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, a 10-day cello extravaganza in May, 2016. By Jonathan Shifflett This May, the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival returns to USC for a 10-day cello extravaganza that will showcase over 25 artists from around…Continue Reading Q&A with Festival Artist Jeffrey Solow
What’s a cello festival all about?
The answer is, it’s about many things. Sometimes it’s about Beethoven and sometimes it’s about rock-and-roll (take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Byqon5e4Y!). Always it’s about cellos, cellists, cello music, and those who love the sound of the cello. People may come because they want to hear the Schubert Quintet—a string quartet plus a second cello….Continue Reading What’s a cello festival all about?