All-Cello Orchestra

Pablo Casals 150th Birthday Celebration

The cello speaks—perhaps more than any other orchestral instrument—in a way that feels human. Its range overlaps with the human voice, players share space with and embrace their instrument, and its warm, resonant sound expresses bittersweet emotions—longing, melancholy, grief—with authenticity and weight.

Conducted by Eugene Friesen, the 48-cello orchestra honors the 150th birthday of cellist and humanitarian Pablo Casals with arrangements of works by Casals, Villa-Lobos, and other beloved favorites.

Program

Carlos Gardel  Por Una Cabeza
Boston University ensemble; Michael Reynolds, director

Gabriel Fauré  “Pie Jesu” from Requiem    
Longy School of Music of Bard College ensemble; Christine Lamprea, director
 
Heitor Villa-Lobos  Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5  
Nicole DiPasquale, soprano
Dimitri Cervo  Toro-Lobiana
Boston Conservatory at Berklee BoCoCelli; Rhonda Rider, director

Pablo (Pau) Casals  Nigra Sum, arr. Carles Gumí
New England Conservatory of Music ensemble; Lluís Claret, director

Casals  El cant dels ocells per a orquestra de violoncels [Bird Song]
Lluís Claret, soloist
Faculty ensemble: Kee-Hyun Kim, Mark Churchill, Nancy Hair, Rhonda Rider, Andrew Mark, Christine Lamprea, Mike Block
 
Mike Block  When the Birds Sing Along in the Morning (2019), inspired by Pablo Casals’ memoir “Joys and Sorrows” 
Mike Block, vocals, cello; Lluis Claret, cello  

Casals  Sant Martí del Canigó (1943), transcription by Enric Casals
Lluís Claret, soloist; Eugene Friesen, conductor  
Faculty Ensemble: Kee-Hyun Kim, Mark Churchill, Nancy Hair, Rhonda Rider, Andrew Mark, Christine Lamprea, Mike Block
                        Andrés Mejía Rojas, Francesca McNeeley, Robert Mayes, Shoshonah Israilevich, Mina Kim,
                        Javier Caballero, Michal Shein, Bithyah Israel, Rhea Gibson
 
Blaise Dejardin  Aquarela do violoncello  (2012) 
Kee-Hyun Kim, soloist
Casals  Sardana per a orquestra de violoncels (Sant Felix, 1927)
All-Cello Orchestra (48 cellists), Eugene Friesen, conductor
Berklee School of Music, Boston Conservatory of Music, Boston University, Longy School of Music, New England Conservatory students
and faculty ensemble

Presented with thanks to Lizbeth & George Krupp for their leadership of Vivo Performing Arts' programming in Roxbury.

Additional support for this performance is provided by the
Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation.

This performance is made possible in part by support from Vivo Performing Arts'
Amy & Joshua Boger Innovation Fund.