![]() ![]() The cello was his weapon of choice.” A CELEBRATION OF PUERTO RICO CONCERTS CELLO RECITAL: NINE ALL-STAR SOLOISTSįriday, October 18, 2019, at 8 pm (7:15 PM pre-concert talk) His entire career was a celebration of the power of beauty to tame the demons of violence. Casals joyously expanded the cello's repertoire and technique and the ways in which music could overturn cultural barriers. The birthplace of his mother Pilar, Puerto Rico offered the right conditions for him to travel, conduct, and teach during the last 16 years of his life. Historian and Casals scholar Pedro Reina-Pérez says, "To honor Pablo Casals and his Puerto Rican heritage in a city so musical as Boston is splendid. Casals said: “ Before being a musician I am a human being,” and we all should feel like him in these days! To invite now the Boston Puerto Rican Community to join us for this tribute is a great feeling for me, as a quite fresh Bostonian but with a life-long relationship to Pablo Casals.” Every cellist should be proud to honor Pablo Casals, and performing his music will bring the event to an even higher level.”Ĭlaret continues by saying, ”Everybody should also know how much was Casals involved, during and after World War II in helping people and refugees, regardless of their condition and origin. As a cellist, I think that Casals is not only my godfather but the godfather of all cellists since he developed a new approach to the instrument and a very personal and unusual way to make music through it. Lluís Claret, Chair of Strings at the New England Conservatory and godson of Pablo Casals says, “This tribute to Pablo Casals has for me many meanings. “Our season-long focus on the music and artists of Puerto Rico showcases local artists of Puerto Rican heritage, features rarely-performed works by underrepresented composers, honors the legacy and Boston connections of renowned cellist Pablo Casals, and celebrates the vibrant Puerto Rican community in Boston today,” says Robin Baker, Celebrity Series Associate Director of Community Engagement. Conversations expanded to include an ever-wider group of collaborating cellists, including Neighborhood Arts cellists Mike Block (Silk Road Ensemble) and Aristides Rivas (master El Sistema teaching artist), Boston Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Blaise Déjardin, New England Conservatory string department chair Lluís Claret (also Casals’ godson), president of the Boston Cello Society Robert Mayes, and others. The Casals Festival continues to be a source of tremendous pride in Puerto Rico today.Ĭelebrity Series began exploring ideas for this project in conversations with Casals scholar Pedro Reina-Pérez and Neighborhood Arts collaborating partner Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. In 1957, he was invited to lead a new music festival bearing his name his leadership and presence in Puerto Rico also spurred the establishment of a symphony orchestra in 1958 and a conservatory in 1959. In the wake of the Spanish civil war, Casals spent much of his adult life in exile and in 1955 relocated to Puerto Rico, his mother’s native land. Casals was born in Spain in 1856, learned to play the cello and violin at a young age, and made his Boston debut on November 26, 1901, during his first tour of the U.S. Pablo Casals is perhaps most well-known for rediscovering and popularizing the Bach cello suites, now a staple of the cello repertoire and performed all over the world. This special project will feature a recital by nine prominent local cellists, a cello orchestra concert featuring 56 cellists, and performances by youth ensembles at the Dorchester and Roxbury Stringfests. This year-long tribute is anchored by two public concerts honoring the legacy of legendary cellist Pablo Casals and his connections to Boston and Puerto Rico in A Boston Tribute to Pablo Casals. ![]() Celebrity Series of Boston Neighborhood Arts embarks on a season-long celebration of Puerto Rican music and artists throughout the 2019-2020 performance season. ![]()
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