The Sitka International Cello Seminar will be held in Sitka this month, with an array of live performances through the end of July. The seminar brings together top collegiate cellists from around the world for an intensive 3-week immersion course. Master Teacher, Dr. Melissa Kraut, and seminar student Lydia Rhea joined KCAW’s Brooke Schafer in the studio. Listen here:

Violinist Alex Gonzalez and cellist Ian Greenberg join host Brooke Schaffer to discuss their musical backgrounds and this weekend’s upcoming programming. Listen Here:

The Sitka Music Festival will host two concerts this weekend at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Friday’s performance will include a piece written by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Saturday’s performance will feature a New World Symphony quartet recital. for more information, visit Sitka Music Festival’s website.

Zuill Bailey and Richard Dowling join KCAW’s Brooke Schafer to talk all about the 47th annual Sitka Summer Music Festival, which kicked off last night with a free cafe concert at the Mean Queen. This is Bailey’s seventh year as the artistic director of the festival, and his thirteenth summer in Sitka.

The first days of the music festival explore Beethoven’s often overlooked string trios. At various events around town, Bailey will play all five of the trios with Kurt Nikkanen and Scott Rawls. Looking for an excuse to leave to office during lunch? Catch three of the trios today at 12:15pm at the Odess Theater. And don’t miss Dowling playing the best Scott Joplin tunes you don’t know about (yet) at Centennial Hall tomorrow night.  Find programming for the rest of the festival here.

Zuill Bailey demonstrates the musical qualities of his Luis & Clark carbon fiber cello for the Sitka Chamber of Commerce (and for a television audience). The owner of a 325-year old Goffriller, Bailey says that instrument (though extraordinary in concert) is “limiting” in the field. He tells kids that the Luis & Clark is “made from the same thing as Batman’s car.” (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

What do Zuill Bailey and Johnny Cash have in common?

The artistic director of the Sitka Summer Music Festival and the country music legend are both Grammy winners — but there’s something else, and you’ll want to be prepared the next time you play music trivia.

Downloadable audio.

Find complete information about the 2018 Sitka Summer Music Festival here.

Zuill Bailey is sitting just a few feet away from me, performing an excerpt from an Allemande by Johann Sebastian Bach for the Sitka Chamber of Commerce.

He performed this piece in its entirety just this past April, at a concert venue made famous in 1970 by Johnny Cash.

(A Bach Allemande)

Recorded in 1969, Johnny Cash’s “Live at San Quentin” was a seminal album of 1970. The feelings his “captive audience” connected with were different than those produced by Bailey’s performance: Prison officials feared a near-riot during songs like “A Boy Named Sue.”

Bailey performed this piece at the San Quentin Prison, in California.

As he ended, Bailey noticed that one of the inmates was sobbing.

“And he stood up and said my name is blank-and-blank, and my number is such-and-such, and I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Bailey recounted the moment. “But the sound of that cello is making me all tore up. It’s breaking me, and I haven’t cried in 26 years, and I’ve been in here 27. Just literally shaking. ‘Why is this happening to me?’ And I stood there, and I didn’t know what to say.”

Bailey did finally come up with a satisfying answer, which I’ll share in just a moment, but it’s important to understand that Bailey has always been somewhat fearless about musical outreach — performing in remote Alaska and other places, like the Hiland Correctional Center in Eagle River — that are not the usual touring venues for artists of his caliber.

His greatest worry has always been his instrument — his 325-year old Goffriller cello. Bailey talks about the limitations of the old cello as if it was as disagreeable as Green Eggs and Ham.

“I can’t play outdoors. I won’t play outdoors. I will not play in the sun. I will not play in the rain. If it’s hot, I won’t be playing,” said Bailey. “If it’s a place like the Mean Queen, I probably wouldn’t take it in there happily, because someone might drop a glass on it, or fall into it. It’s like carrying around the Mona Lisa.”

Although Bailey played the Goffriller at San Quentin, he now takes a Luis & Clark carbon fiber cello on the road, especially when it’s off the beaten path somewhere in Alaska.

Listed at just over $7,000, the sleek, black instrument is not cheap — but it’s pennies on the dollar compared to his concert cello. And it’s cool: He tells kids that it’s made out of the same thing as Batman’s car.

In fact, he’ll hand it over and let them take it for a test drive.

“To be honest, I’ve found that kids are more interested in this cello, because they can’t comprehend a 325-year old cello,” said Bailey. “They’re not there yet. But they’ll say (in kid’s voice) ‘This is the coolest-looking thing. It’s awesome.’ And I’ll say, ‘Wanna play it?’ And that’s even more awesome. I’ve got more pictures of kids playing this cello — Have it! — I just need a spray thing of Windex when they’re done. (Laughter)”

In addition to his own personal Luis & Clark, the Sitka Summer Music festival has acquired a quartet of the carbon fiber instruments — a violin, cello, and two violas — so that the show truly can go on the road. Bailey is absolutely sincere when he says that he believes that chamber music is the people’s music.

More Bach…

Bailey says the San Quentin inmate did not really look like the sensitive type, as he asked — through tears — to understand what he was feeling. Someone handed the guy a tissue, though. And Bailey came up with an answer.

“I told that guy, when he cried, ‘You just reminded yourself that you’re human. Welcome back.’”

Welcome back. The perfect, and perfectly-unexpected, theme for a double-billing between a classical cellist and a country music great.

(Photos provided by the Sitka Summer Music Festival)

The Sitka International Cello Seminar is coming to a close, but they plan to go out on a high note. Cello student Isa AlNajem and Master Teacher Dr. Melissa Kraut talk about the upcoming Cellobration, which will book-end 3 weeks of hard work.

The performance will be Sunday at 4 pm in Harrigan Centennial Hall, and will feature a variety of cello techniques and arrangements.

Downloadable audio.

AlNajem and Kraut also discuss the background of the seminar, and how they’ve been preparing for their performance this weekend.

“If you’ve never heard the sound of a large group of cellos playing together, it’s pretty incredible,” Kraut said.

Photo provided by Sitka Summer Music Festival

Downloadable audio

Zuill Bailey, artistic director for the Sitka Summer Music Festival, and Melissa Kraut, master teacher at this summer’s Cello Seminar, joined us in the studio to discuss upcoming events. This summer’s Cello Seminar concert will be Tuesday, July 19.

Downloadable audio.

Zuill Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Sitka Summer Music Festival, was joined by Dr. Melissa Kraut, a co-founder of the Sitka Cello Seminar. In its second year, the seminar brings together promising cello students and cello instructors for 13 days of intensive cello study. The seminar is hosted at SSMF’s newly acquired Stevenson Hall.

Benjamin Francisco, one of the eight students participating in the seminar, talks about a day in the life and combining a love for the outdoors with music. Francisco is working towards a degree in Cello Performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

The seminar’s Cellobration, a final concert, will take place on Sunday, July 12 at 7:30 pm at the Odess Theater at Allen Hall. $10 tickets are available at Old Harbor Books and at the door.

Downloadable audio.

Zuill Bailey is a celebrated cellist and took over as SSMF artistic director for Paul Rosenthal in 2012. (Photo courtesy of SSMF)

Kayla Boettcher, the Executive Director of the Sitka Summer Music Festival, was joined by Artistic Director Zuill Bailey. Founded in 1972, SSMF is a month-long classical chamber music festival that begins today (06-02-15) and runs through Sunday, June 28.

Boettcher and Bailey previewed this month’s evening concerts, free lunchtime performance, movie screenings, and community gatherings. The full schedule can be found here. Bailey also discussed the performers – new and old – who he has invited to Sitka. Those include pianist Navah Perlman and violist Martin Sher.