Calling all Cellists (ages 12 through adult)!
CELLO DAY
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 2025
TIME: 9:15 AM - 4:30 PM
PLACE: Baldwin Wallace University, Conservatory of Performing Arts, 49 Seminary Street, Berea, OH 44017
The Cleveland Cello Society, in collaboration with the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts, has planned a day filled with activities and experiences that will rock your cello world! A top-shelf array of professional cellists from northeast Ohio and beyond will present technique classes, masterclasses, cello ensembles, a movement workshop, a one-of-a kind Popper Etudes Extravaganza, and some cello history thrown in for good measure. Your cello chops will grow by leaps and bounds, you'll make new cello friends, be inspired and have lots of fun. Please join us!
Schedule for Cello Day:
9:15-9:45 AM – Registration
9:45-10:45 AM - Large Group Technique Class and Cello Ensemble
10:55 AM -12:10 PM – Masterclasses
12:15-1:45 PM – Lunch
1:50-1:20 PM - Cello ensemble sectionals
1:30-2:40 – Masterclasses
2:50-3:30 PM Popper Etudes Extravaganza (for Advanced participants) and Movement Workshop for (Intermediate participants)
3:40-4:30 PM Cello ensemble closing performance
The Details:
1. Based on the information provided in your online registration (see below), each participant will be placed in the INTERMEDIATE or ADVANCED Track.
INTERMEDIATE SKILL LEVEL: can play 2-octave scales (0-3 #’s and b’s), can read bass clef, and plays at Suzuki Book 4 or equivalent level and above
ADVANCED SKILL LEVEL: can play 3-octave scales (0-3 #’s and b’s); can play in thumb position; can read treble, tenor, and bass clefs; and plays at Suzuki Book 7 or equivalent level and above
2. A goal of Cello Day is for every participant to experience the joy of playing in a cello ensemble. To that end, Advanced and Intermediate Cello Ensembles will be formed with two or three pieces being played at the conclusion of Cello Day. Each participant will be assigned a part in their ensemble and a PDF of the assigned cello ensemble music will be sent in advance. Each participant will be expected to arrive on April 6th able to play their assigned parts. Do NOT fear! We have selected pieces that will come together easily and are not “killer” hard. We want this to be a fun and successful experience.
3. Listed on the schedule are morning and afternoon Masterclass sessions, allowing each participant the opportunity for a 15-20 minute lesson with one of our faculty members. We recommend you play a performance-ready piece (or excerpt from a larger piece) that’s 3-5 minutes in length, thereby allowing the maximum time for the teacher to share insights and tips. NOTE: Cellists will simply play the solo cello part. There are NO pianists for these sessions.
4. As the schedule reveals, the Advanced-level Track includes the Popper Etudes Extravaganza. Several years ago, Anne Wilson, Cleveland pianist and composer extraordinaire, wrote piano accompaniments for all forty etudes of David Popper’s High School of Cello Playing, Op. 73. We have decided to explore six of those etudes (#’s 1, 5, 6, 22, 25 and 36) during an afternoon session. Ms. Wilson will be present to play the piano part she composed for each of these six curated etudes and ALL cellists will have the opportunity to play along as one big happy family. So start working with your cello teacher now to see how many of these six etudes you can have in your fingers by April 6. Rest assured it’s fine to come prepared to play just one of the etudes, all six, or anywhere in between. All participating cellists will be sitting in one big circle for the whole session, either playing or listening to the etudes, all the while being enveloped in that wonderful sound world of multiple cellos!
5. While the Advanced Level Group is ensconced in the Popper Etudes Extravaganza, the Intermediate Level Group will attend a Movement Workshop lead by Ida Mercer. Dr. Mercer is a certified Paul Rolland String Pedagogy presenter and will guide the participants through a series of “actions,” relating issues of posture, left hand and bow arm techniques to simple movements of daily life. It’s a very compelling approach filled with many “ah-ha!” moments and brings welcome clarity to cello technique. There’s no advance preparation required for this class.
6. Box lunches will be provided for all participants by the Baldwin Wallace University food service. Select your lunch option when you register online for the workshop, at the Baldwin-Wallace website (see below).
7. A commemorative T-shirt is included in the registration fee. The online registration includes T-shirt size selection.
Sign up today for the Early-bird registration rate. Do not delay, because it is only $45 for early-bird registration now through February 1 (including box lunch and a T-shirt) … but $65 thereafter, until March 31, when registration closes. (And note that the lunch and the shirt are guaranteed only for people who register by March 28: for those registering March 29 and later, shirts and lunches will be provided only as long as supplies last.) But at either price we think a day chock-full of cello teaching, learning and playing is a great deal!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER (this will take you to the Baldwin-Wallace website to do the actual registration)