’You can really focus on what’s most meaningful for you – be it solo performance, orchestral playing or pedagogy,’ says the Canadian cellist
I first heard about the Celloworld Festival through a family friend, who’s a singer at the Vienna State Opera. They told me about the festival starting and that the faculty looked really good, so I applied! For me, this course is unique because you can really focus on what’s most meaningful for you – be it solo performance, orchestral playing or pedagogy.
It was usually a lesson a day and you could sit in on other people’s lessons, too, while still having time to practise. And in the afternoon there might be a lecture or a masterclass. I went to sessions on Baroque cello playing, pedagogy and orchestral repertoire. There was a cello ensemble as well, which you don’t always get to do at other festivals!
There were attendees from all over the world – China, Europe, America – from 11–12 years old through to adults, so there is a very wide age range but all went well! As with any festival, it’s always cool to meet so many different people.
My favourite part was having the opportunity to play through orchestral excerpts for Péter Somodari, the principal cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic. His feedback was really invaluable! We also got to play at amazing venues like Mozart’s house, and went on an outing to the Weltmuseum, to see the evolution of orchestral instruments through the centuries.
Oftentimes, other festivals abuse the Vienna name just to get people to come, when the faculty might not be very good, but this really took advantage of everything Vienna has to offer. It’s expanding this year, so there’ll be another course in Spain that’ll look into cellists like Casals, who wrote for the cello as well as played, and there’ll be a composition component too!
The fact that this is an all-encompassing festival and you can choose what interests you most is the nicest thing. I’m done with studies and in that transitional phase of becoming a professional cellist, so to do something like this was important for me.
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