How this got started

In 2015, I taught at a chamber music summer camp at Wake Forest University. There, a cello ensemble was formed, comprising of 8 cellists from the camp.  Inspired by the pop cello duet 2 Cellos, we played Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which I had freshly arranged. When these cellists were tasked to play all parts high and low, we experimented with creating timbres of pop music; we improvised, and in general felt free to make mistakes as we stretched the boundaries of our instrument.

During our concert, one cellist in the heat of his improv stood up to play. He sashayed toward the audience, twirling his cello, then dropped onto the floor, twitched like an upside down bug as he played the climax of the piece — all without warning from prior rehearsals for what he was doing in concert. The rest of us kept playing with big grins on our faces — knowing in that moment that cellists will always have each other's back.

That’s the spirit with which this cello retreat began.

Grace Anderson, Director