AT FIRST GLANCE, Fragments might appear to be another of Weilersteins explorations of Bach, a successor to her all-in-one-night performances of the six suites, her emotive recording of them on the Pentatone label and her pandemic streaming series. Its a constant challenge, too. She collaborated with conductor Daniel Barenboim, whose late wife, Jacqueline du Pre, was the standard-bearer for this work. I never liked that word. Reisers set stays constant, a deconstructed theater arrayed so that it evokes soloists constant struggles to create a room of ones own as they travel the worlds halls, Pulitzer said, and at the same time reawakens the spaces for the people who are familiar with them. Each composer has a specific lighting color, to give a sense of which fragments combine to make wholes. December 4, 2012 The celebrated young American cellist walks us through her recording of this "devastating" concerto written just after the end of World War I. 2023 Orchestre symphonique de Montral. This is what its about for me., A Cellist Breaks Music Into Fragments, Then Connects Them, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/arts/music/alisa-weilerstein-fragments-cellist.html. Youre playing these well-known, exacting pieces of music. Shes the same manager I have now, 20 years later. Weilerstein's artistry comes naturally. Alisa Weilerstein on What It Means to Be a Classical Musician Ive found that my happiest collaborations with conductors, where Im playing a concerto with them, have been times where you come together from very, very different places. November 6, 2012 Hear an excerpt of MacArthur "genius" cellist Alisa Weilerstein's excellent pairing of the Elgar Cello Concerto recorded with Daniel Barenboim, whose late wife Jacqueline Du Pre's name was synonymous with this piece and the cello concerto by Elliott Carter, who died yesterday at 103. Dont do it for anybody else. She has evidently thought hard about how contemporary composers can be given a fairer chance to break through to audiences, especially to those people for whom contemporary art, say, is an easier ask. Weilerstein and Jason Yoder ( marimba) perform Camille Saint-Sans 's "Le cygne" (The Swan) from The Carnival of the Animals at the White House Evening of Classical Music (November 2009) Problems playing these files? See media help. Alisa Weilerstein (born April 14, 1982) is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. [1] Cello virtuoso Alisa Weilerstein is always She was recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship in 2011. Thats a constant discussion. courtesy of the artist You try to treat the score as something thats living and breathing, and therefore, malleable. The Elgar was the signature piece of Barenboim's late wife, cellist Jacqueline du Pre. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of nine, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. Jamie Jung In this interview from the Harris Hall stage in Aspen, Performance Today's Fred Child talks with renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein about the Aspen experience, and what the school and festival means to her. It gives you a totally new tool. Concert evenings: noon to 8 p.m. I count myself incredibly lucky in that respector maybe I was just very stupid, I dont knowthat I wasnt afraid to be in front of people. Does the Pressure of a Pandemic Transform a Cellists Bach? Since Alisa Weilerstein was just 6, the three have performed together around the globe as the Weilerstein Trio. FC: Was it hard playing at home for your dad - this world-famous violinist - when you were just learning how to play the cello? She lives with her husband, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and their two young children. Since making her professional and Carnegie Hall debuts in her early teens, she has been in high demand as a solo All Rights Reserved. Renown cellist will play three of Bach's 'Unaccompanied Cello If Weilersteins response was a common one to a common crisis, the result of her reflections shines with uncommon ambition, so much so that it is hard to think of many soloists of a similar stature who would dare to bring anything like it to the stage. Alisa Weilerstein is an American classical cellist who began performing professionally at the age of 13. She was awarded the MacArthur genius grant in 2011. Then you come back to it with a new and fresh perspective. A multisensory production for solo cello, the six-chapter series sees her weave together the 36 movements of Bachs solo cello suites with 27 new commissions. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Gerardo Antonio Sanchez Torres/courtesy of the artist, Alisa Weilerstein Plays Elgar: Exploring Music With An Intense Past, Young Cellist With An Old Soul Plays Elgar, Elliott Carter, Alisa Weilerstein: Playing Bach With The Fishes, Around The Classical Internet: September 23, 2011, Cellist Alisa Weilerstein Among MacArthur Grant Winners, Alisa Weilerstein: From Bach To The Backstreets Of Buenos Aires, Band Of Gypsies: Haydn And Brahms At Spoleto Festival, Alisa Weilerstein: The Art Of Chopin's Cello. Theres also something beautiful and important about presenting different composers side by side, and behind a curtain, so that youre not focusing on their name, or whether or not theyre Bach.. Who are any of us next to Mozart? An ardent proponent of contemporary music, she has also premiered and championed important new works by composers including Pascal Dusapin, Osvaldo Golijov and Matthias Pintscher. Some did, she said, and some very much did not.. So Fragments is not, thankfully, another addition to the increasingly pass genre of response programming, in which composers are commissioned to write works on the dispiriting condition that they must speak to a piece by the masters of the past. Now, the youngest Weilerstein's profile as a soloist is being kicked into high gear. For me, the greatest honor of the MacArthur Grant was that its something given not only to musicians, but also to scientists and writers. Webby James Manheim. Caroline Shaw, whose Microfictions for Weilerstein is the second volume in a run of collected miniatures that she has also written for the Mir Quartet and the New York Philharmonic, said that her piece is not an explicit response to Bach, but that his influence was surely present in it. WebMini Bio (1) Alisa Weilerstein is known for If I Stay (2014), P.O.V. When youre playing with someone new, do differences in interpretation ever cause problems? | Disclaimer | Sitemap Its about communicating ideas which are inexpressible in words. Meet Fragments, a project whose first installment of six Weilerstein will perform at Zankel Hall on April 1. For aspiring classical musicians, what kind of advice can you offer other than practice, practice, practice? Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment and rare interpretive depth, she was recognized with a MacArthur genius grant Fellowship in 2011. Even when I was a very, sort of, unruly teenager, I still realized what he was telling me was good, so I took it (laughs). But for this upcoming performance, itll be my first time that I play it without a conductor, so it should be interesting. I realized that what he was telling me was very valuable. Alisa Weilerstein - MacArthur Foundation Alisa Weilerstein : NPR Cecilia BartoliI love virtually everything she does. I was 14 when I went with my manager. She is an ardent champion of contemporary music, and has premiered and championed important new works by composers including Pascal Dusapin, Osvaldo Golijov and Matthias Pintscher. Weilerstein wanted for the first thing that listeners hear to be the Prelude from the first Suite. Its tricky, especially if its a composer like Beethoven, who was specific about what he wanted. She was awarded the MacArthur genius grant in 2011. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR I know many people who say, I got inspired by such-and-such conductor when my school took me on a field trip to hear a concert, or such-and-such musician came to my school, and then I knew I loved classical music. The goal is not necessarily that theyll all become musicians, but just that this music will be part of their lives. So thats how I always looked at it. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein plays Bach and Golijov at an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. AW: No, she actually offered quite a lot of technical advice because - contrary to popular belief - the violin and the cello are really not that different, it's actually the same but just reversed. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Theyre chamber music players, which means that theyre listening to each other individually. Its very hard to write anything for solo cello and not have some subconscious relationship to Bach.. Image. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein, explaining her decision to retract an earlier promise not to play the pieces until she was older, says that the suites "present the player with infinite possibilities." Cellist Alisa Weilerstein. To shed the Rorschach inclination towards finding meaning in the program before hearing the music was a really important piece of the puzzle, Pulitzer said. Group Sales Request View Seating Chart (PDF) I havent played the Elgar in a long time. This is important for any musician. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein announces pregnancy | News | The Strad Alex Irvin / Courtesy Aspen Music Festival and School. Daniel Day-Lewis tour de force. Human beings are far more complex. For example, as recently as November, Weilerstein still planned to perform the complete Bach suites for cello in Santa Barbara in April of 2021. He was Dad (laughs). AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Pentatone's sound is a bit too close but catches the intensity and the controlled spontaneity of these readings. Since making her professional and Carnegie Hall debuts in her early teens, she has been in When she finally forced herself to play again, she found herself staring out of the window, wondering what her field might look like when, or if, performers returned to the stage. What did she as a violin teacher have to offer you? AW: I was 13 when I first came as a student, so that was 1995, and I studied with David Finckel, and also, I played for Dorothy DeLay quite a lot. Just making sure to get enough sleep, and to have enough space in between engagements, those are things Im not too good at. And I played in master classes for Zara Nelsovanand for Lynn Harrell. WEILERSTEIN HAS NEVER had the reputation of being a new-music specialist, but she has given her fair share of premieres, and few of her colleagues on the international circuit can list anything so bold as her recording of Elliott Carters Cello Concerto on their discographies. hide caption. She was just an incredibly encouraging presence. Alisa Weilerstein has won the MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." I had a real life. Im still going to always try to improve as an artist and to be a more insightful interpreter. She is married to Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, with whom she has a young child. This means people can now refer to you as a genius in an official capacity. 2023 Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I came to Aspen, I think, for 16 summers of my first 18 years of life, so I spent a lot of my formative years here, so it really feels like another home to me. Brava, brava, brava! (1988) and When Alisa Met Elliott (2012). En Espaol. The Law Office of Gretchen J. Kenney assists clients with Elder Law, including Long-Term Care Planning for Medi-Cal and Veterans Pension (Aid & Attendance) Benefits, Estate Planning, Probate, Trust Administration, and Conservatorships in the San Francisco Bay Area. I think its a fantastic resource, and he writes so beautifully.
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