Cello explorations: Postcard from Dublin

Dublin-based Spike Cello Festival – now in its fifth edition – is a celebration of the non-traditional cello that attracts such world-class performers as Abel Selaocoe and Ayanna Witter-Johnson and straddles a dizzying array of genres.

United by a shared interest in the cello ecosystem that extends beyond the classical, Mary Barnecutt and Lioba Petrie (who are desk partners in the City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra) were inspired to set up the festival after noticing how many of their fellow cellists were exploring the instrument in unusual ways. According to Barnecutt: ‘I saw a poster outside the Royal Irish Academy of Music for the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, and there was a tiny subsection of a couple of people doing non-classical cello – and I thought, that would be great! That led us to look at New Directions, which is a non-classical cello festival in the US and we realised we had enough people to get together for a day or two just in Ireland. After this, it just spread and people started approaching us.’