Watch!
A special presentation of the Royal Ballet's
"The Cellist"
celebrating the life of
Jacqueline du Pré
will stream on YouTube for 14 days beginning May 29.
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A Recap of Our First Virtual "Town Hall"
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Our first ever virtual "Town Hall", hosted by Artistic Director
Bomin Collin
s, was held via Zoom on May 9, 2020. Approximately 70 Cellospeak students and faculty participated! A detailed summary of the entire event can be found under the
"Events and Outreach"
tab on our website. It was a great success and wonderful to see everyone’s faces! It seemed to fill a great need for members of our community to stay connected.
The Covid-19 shutdown is challenging everyone’s relationship to the cello – some people have less time and/or motivation to practice. But others are enjoying the opportunity to take a break from orchestra rehearsals and go back to basics or enjoy “comfort playing” of familiar pieces, and even playing other instruments or trying their hand at arranging!
Lots of people are taking virtual lessons on Facebook, Skype and Zoom. Although not an ideal format, several participants reported that something is better than nothing. Lessons do help keep up the motivation to practice! The discussion revealed many tips and tricks on how to make virtual lessons more successful. Several people are also experimenting with various apps that offer virtual accompaniments and platforms for collaboration with other musicians. Details are in the summary.
In the absence of 2020 Workshops, Cellospeak is working on launching its own virtual offerings. Among other things, Town Hall participants seemed very interested in receiving more information on technique, repertoire, and performance playlists as well as having more access to Cellospeak faculty. In that vein, please read more below about the launch of the
Member Forums
on our website. You will hear more about additional Cellospeak initiatives over the coming weeks.
Throughout, we are intent on keeping the Cellospeak community together! We are definitely making plans for in-person workshops in 2021. In the meantime, we will reach out frequently and encourage you all to check in with us, and send us your thoughts to
info@cellospeak.org
.
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Announcing Cellos
peakeasies
!
Taking a hint from some of the suggestions on our Town Hall, and in the spirit of keeping everyone together, we have decided to launch a once-a-month, one-hour “Cello
speakeasy
” on Zoom. There will be no particular agenda, it will simply an opportunity for participants to see each other and socialize over Zoom! We hope to gather on the second Sunday of every month. We realize that not everyone can attend every time. Just come when you can! Please watch this space for an invitation to register to the first Cellos
peakeasy
on
Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 7:00 pm Eastern
!
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Cello in the Time of Covid-19
In the April NOTES, we included a few stories about how people are coping during this time of distancing, both with the cello and in other ways. Here are more stories, from
Louise Butler
and
Saadia Griffith-Howard
, and a special story about
Alán Saúl Saucedo Estrada's
talented family.
If you would like to share your own story in a future edition of NOTES, please send it, along with a photo, to
info@cellospeak.org
.
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Louise Butler
Isolation is the introvert’s dream. I’m having a wonderful time, working in my garden, giving the occasional Zoom lesson, enjoying the good weather, making bread (which I’m eating most of) and staying safe. Also, I started learning the kalimba, and practice the Bach a-minor Two-Part Invention every day on the piano. I flunked mask-making but I cut up a lot of fabric for others and I am thrilled to be able to do my bit to help. Right before most of us lost our jobs, I bought a new cello case. I’m in heaven because it is so light, but sad that I don’t get to take it anywhere at this point. Roll on, healthy world!
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Saadia
Griffith-Howard
I am [an Infection Control doctor], doing fine presently, working mostly from home and doing virtual care (telephone, video appointments) with my patients and helping my Infectious Diseases partners who are going to the hospital by doing on call phone duties at night so they can sleep.
My primary job has been administrative over the last few years. At this time, I have been heavily involved in my organization’s planning to be able to care for the increased number of patients, although not personally on the front line. The days are long with lots of meetings for planning and execution and I have NOT been playing my cello as I should. My husband is retired and is keeping a close eye on me and we are weathering the storm together. My daughter is still working at a local hotel, and has moved back home for now. Take care and my advice....lots of social distancing and hand hygiene.
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Saucedo Family Ensembles!
Family time means harmony in the Saucedo household!
Alán Saúl Saucedo Estrada
and his wife, pianist
Miho Sato
, have formed in-house ensembles with their children violinist
Sofia
(13) and cellist
Saúl
(10), and sometimes Alan’s sister
Cynthia,
a concert violinist. A wonderful April 2020 describes how the family has melded their musical passions and talents, and links to several videos of family performances, including a world premiere performance by
Sofia
and
Saúl
(self-titled
"S 8"
)
of their own original composition, a wonderful cello duet by
Alán
and
Saúl
, and the entire family playing Palchelbel’s Canon in D!
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Farewell to Sue Manus
We are very sorry to announce that, for personal reasons, Sue Manus has had to resign as our Administrative Director. In her short time with us, Sue has made substantial contributions to Cellospeak. Her cheerful efficiency and enthusiasm for our mission will be sorely missed. We wish her all the best. As of June 1,
Aileen Pisciotta,
Board President,
assumes the administrative duties until a replacement is found. Aileen can be reached at
info@cellospeak.org
.
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Renew Your Membership and Join the Member Forums
The
Member Forums
are open on our website! They are open to
Members only
, so if you haven’t done so already, now is a great time to renew your Cellospeak membership – and invite others to join! Unfortunately, we have experienced some technical issues on the website, so if you have trouble signing up, please let us know right away. Check out the Forums and add your own questions and comments on anything from Arranging to Cello Technique and Repertoire. The Forums will be a great place to stay in touch and exchange information with other Cellospeak members and faculty!
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Cellospeak, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and we rely on your support.
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Special thanks to the sponsoring vendors who help us thrive!
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