The concert began with a student group, The Folk Arts Quartet, a string quartet of fiddlers from Scotland, Canada, and the US. The FAQ (Hannah Read, Ivonne Hernandez, violins, Julie Metcalf, viola and Liz Davis on cello) charmed the audience with three original pieces showing their great grooves and stylistic mastery and diversity.

Then the orchestra took the stage with "Wonderwall" by Oasis, arranged by Berklee grad Helen Sherrah-Davies featuring rocking solos by our concertmistress Sue Buzzard and Canadian fiddler Trent Freeman.

Next came the premier of "Sapphire," a rollicking and melodic piece in 7/8 time I composed for my wife Wendy.

Our featured guest for the evening was Chris Berry, an amazing mbira (thumb piano) master, singer and drummer. We inserted into the program three pieces featuring Chris with Jamey Haddad on percussion, Dave Tronzo on electric guitar and myself on cello.

Then came "African Solstice" by Darol Anger with the strings together with Chris, Jamey and Dave featuring student violin soloist Tai Fitzpatrick. Tai played an enchanting solo where she doubled her improvised lines with her voice. Together with the magical colors from Jamey, Chris and Dave, this quiet groove became a very special musical treat.

Our finale was Ya-Una, a piece Chris brought back from an aged mbira master in Africa. Chris transcribed the many lines played by a traditional African mbira ensemble, and we crafted a version for strings and soloists which changed quite a bit with each performance. Using hand signals to direct each section of the orchestra to numbered parts, we were able to create a dynamic performance which had the audience clapping along to a thundering conclusion. Student soloists were Mariel Vandersteel - an Irish fiddler who improvised a very grooving jig inside the African 12/8 - and Chris Marion who offered a deep understanding of the 12/8 from a contemporary jazz viewpoint.

Throughout the performance, Chris's beautiful mbiras, fresh vocals and original music brought something quite new to the Berklee audience. Dave Tronzo created a multitude of other-worldy effects and great solos on slide guitar. Jamey Haddad always brings a mystical quality of music making to an event, everyone seems to play better when he just walks in the room and last night was a perfect example of that.

This fall's edition of the Berklee Jazz/World String Orchestra was really excellent with a variety of great soloists and ensemble players. The group continues to grow and I'm really excited that we are adding an extra rehearsal next semester which will make even more possible. We are also planning a spring tour, our first, for early May '09.

It was a great pleasure to perform with Oscar again, and he brought his extraordinary orchestrations, arrangements and original compositions to this evening with a fantastic rhythm section and full orchestra in the Berklee Performance Center. Oscar’s program included what people consider to be the first bossa piece, Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade,” and included many familiar tunes in brilliant new concert versions. We were joined by Jetro da Silva on piano, vocalist Teresa Ines, Oscar Stagnaro on bass, Bertram Lehman on drums, Fernando Brandao on flute, Ricardo Monzon on percussion along with the Berklee String Orchestra.

After six decades of traveling the world Oscar still has more energy and invention than anyone in the room, and his personal warmth and humor added a profound dimension to an unforgettable evening. Then, after traveling from California, two days of non-stop rehearsals, workshops, socializing, and a high energy performance, Oscar was surrounded by fans, but when he saw my wife Wendy he jumped off the stage and ran to the back of the hall so he could adore our two sleeping 7 year-old daughters!

This August was my third visit to the Rio International Cello Encounter. This year I was honored to solo with the wonderful string orchestra from Montreal, Quebec, I Musici de Montreal conducted by Yuli Turovsky. I performed a program of bossa nova classics scored for cello, piano and strings in Rio’s beautiful concert hall, Sala Cecilia Morales.

Wendy and I also had a chance to meet an impressive group of young dancers in a special arts program for under-privileged teens. Under the direction of director Roberto these kids performed an eleven minute piece to music improvised by Rio percussionist Silvio and myself. You can see more of this, and learn about our foundation, Sono Terra, at: http://sonoterra.org.

russell@chicagocelloworks.com

tel: 1-847-475-5110

The Cello Encounter in Rio is a warm gathering of cellists from Europe, Brazil, Canada and the US, as well as soloists and chamber ensembles. David Chew, the principal cellist of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in Rio, is the artistic director and visionary of this wide-ranging festival in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I was given an evening to showcase my music and friends. Since Rio is a place of extraordinary music and musicians, I had some wonderful choices, including the harpist Cristina Braga, harmonica player Jose Staneck and from Sao Paulo, my favorite singer, Renato Braz.

Renato blew us all away with his effortless performance which always touches the heart, and we premiered some new arrangements of his repertoire with cello quartet and harp.

I was pirvileged to perform my arrangement of Dave Brubeck's "Tritonis" with a stellar cello quartet: Mats Lidstrom (London, England), Armen Ksajikian (Los Angeles) and Theo Weber (Newfoundland).

At the closing concert, we performed the beautiful Bachianas Brasileira #5 with soprano, excerpts from the rock opera "Tommy" arranged for rock quartet and 8 cellos, and my "Maracaibo" for 15 cellos, harp and percussion.

MIMO is an international music festival which takes place in a very charming small town in the northeast of Brazil near Recife. Olinda is perched on steep hills rising from the sea and features 14 ancient churches where most of the performances occur.

Egberto Gismonti, considered by some to be Brazil's greatest living composer, performed with Nana Vasconcelos, also a legend of Brazilian music. It was great to hear Egberto live again, reminding me of the first time I heard him in 1981 - a performance which shifted my entire career plan! I had never seen a musical creature like this, the relentless energy of the rhythm, the melodies which seemed to float past all boundaries, the original harmonic concept. And at age 60, Egberto is still redefining music and is a stunning performer.

Nana Vasconcelos is an almost shamanic figure who brings the mystery and power of the Amazon to everything he plays. I found him so approachable as a person that I invited him to perform with me on my concert there. His standing is such that when I invited him onstage, he received an immediate and spontaneous standing ovation. We improvised an eight-minute piece at the end of the program which brought the house down, the most tremendous reception for a piece of improvised music I have ever experienced!

I was really lucky to have the collaboration of several other world class musicians in Olinda, namely a string trio from the principal players of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in Rio, Ana d'Olivera - a virtuoso violinist and ferocious improviser, Neyran on viola, and new friend and great cellist, David Chew. It was also great fun to play some choros on that concert with the wonderful guitarist, composer and arranger from Rio, Caio Cezar.

Brazil is the home to the warmest music-loving audiences in the world - full houses and standing ovations seem to be the norm - and I can't wait to return, to perform and to work with some of the best players anywhere.

After my performance in Rio, I was approached separately by a number of highly accomplished professional chamber players and international soloists. Their comments and stories had a common theme: how can I transform the sense of sameness in my career? Am I too old to improvise? How can I create a repertoire which is personally fulfilling and challenging? How do I learn and integrate rhythms and styles from world folk traditions into concert music? "I hear a sound in my mind but I can't make it happen."

These are the questions which have guided my work for some time, and I feel that now, more than ever before, musicians are asking the same things. Obviously, the younger you are exposed to these concepts the more fluently they will be integrated, but it's NEVER too late.

I've also seen in my own experience how the process of improvisation has changed my interpretation of notated music as well as the way I listen and interact in an ensemble.

At Berklee I work with musicians who are already mostly committed to non-classical playing, and I love that. But I'm ardently looking for opportunities to share this with classical players. The link between playing and creating is right there for anyone who seeks it.

Thanks for stopping into the website. This space will be a space to share some of the highlights of my travels and projects as they happen.

I am really indebted to my website design team, Dede Cummings of DC Design in Brattleboro, VT and Bahman Mahdavi, good friend and ace webmaster, I send a big hug of thanks to you both for your inspired contributions and good sense.

On May 7th, the Berklee String Orchestra performed our end of semester concert, and I'm still high from it. The evening included several first performances of pieces written by and featuring students in the group. The large audience at the Berklee Performance Center greeted the new work and fiery performances with long applause, whistling and spontaneous standing ovation! I am so proud of this ensemble, the best yet in my history there and the largest at 43 players. (To check out what the group sounds like, and to sample our repertoire, go to SHEET MUSIC/String Ensemble and listen to the mp3's.)