Fri 3/20 @ 7PM
The Cleveland Cello Society, with its mission to grow opportunities for cello players and audiences for cello music, is hosting its annual i Cellisti! extravaganza and fundraiser this weekend at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights.
And quite an extravaganza it is. In keeping with its theme of the season “Cello Plus One,” the concert features eight duos comprising cello and another instruments. And all of the musicians (15 including one who performs in two duos) in the duos are members of the Cleveland Orchestra, who have donated their services for this special event. Cellists include Principal Cello Mark Kosower, First Assistance Principal Cello Richard Weiss, Martha Baldwin, Ralph Curry, Tanya Ell, Dane Johansen and Brian Thornton. They’ll be joined by Principal Oboe Frank Rosenwein, bassoonist Gareth Thomas, flutist Mary Kay Fink, violinists Katherine Bormann and Jason Wu, violists Eliesha Nelson and William Bender, and bassist Charles Paul.
The music they’ll play is extremely diverse, ranging from repertoire regulars Mozart and Beethoven, to Gioachino Rossini and Heitor Villa Lobos, to a piece by progressive bluegrass musician Mark O’Connor. And Patchwork 2024 by Allison Loggins-Hull, a duo for cello and viola performed by Thornton and Nelson, will be getting its world premiere on this program. Loggins-Hull recently served three years as the Cleveland’s Orchestra Lewis Composer Fellow. The program will conclude with i Cellisti! 2026 artistic director, cellist Bryan Dumm, joining the other musicians for a cello octet.
All proceeds raised will benefit the Cleveland Cello Society’s scholarship fund for promising young players.
Get tickets here.