Daily Sitka Sentinel

'Seminar' Finale: A Convocation of Cellos

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

One of the returning musicians at the Sitka International Cello Seminar says she knew the first day she arrived in Sitka last year that she would come back.

“It was incredible,” said Robyn Neidhold, who studies cello performance at Indiana University. “There’s nothing like it.”

She and the nine other student and professional cellists in this year’s seminar will end their three weeks in Sitka by putting on a concert for the public, the Cellobration. It will feature music written and arranged for cello, sometimes with all 10 cellists playing at once.

Sitka Summer Music Festival sponsors the seminar, which began three years ago and is held  every year after the end of the festival’s June concert series.

This year’s Cellobration starts 4 p.m. Sunday at Harrigan Centennial Hall, with a pre-concert talk at 3:45. 

The young musicians attending the cello seminar spend their weeks here working with Dr. Melissa Kraut, founder and education director of the Seminar; and Festival Artistic Director Zuill Bailey. During the day, the musicians practicing, playing together, meeting townspeople, spending time outdoors and putting on regular concerts in small venues, such as restaurants, hospitals, the SAFV Shelter, Sitka Sound Science Center, Sitka Public Library and the Pioneers Home. Earlier this week a group performed at Dove Island Lodge, where they played for guests and were treated to dinner.

“After, they were so excited, they got out their instruments, and played again,” Kraut said in an interview this week.

Cicely Parnas talks about the music she and fellow cellist Christine Lamprea, at left, will perform during a free lunch concert Tuesday at the Sitka Sound Science Center's Molly O Ahlgren Aquarium. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The musicians are a diverse group, consisting of master’s and undergraduate students, coming from all over the world to study, and learn larger lessons about the world of professional classical music. Kraut said the young cellists let her know how much they benefit from the experiences in Sitka.

“They’re completely transformed,” said Kraut, who joined Bailey, a renowned cellist and artistic director of two music festivals, to establish the seminar three years ago. Kraut is co-chair of cello at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“I think they leave with a clearer sense of what they want out of this career they’re pursuing,” Kraut said. “They get a bigger perspective on what it means to be an artist. I see them leaving here confident and less stressed.”

Neidhold, 21, said last year’s seminar changed her from someone not particularly excited about playing to someone who is.

“The difference between this seminar versus other ones is that it’s not just about being competitive or a good cellist,” she said. “It’s not just about being a musician; it’s about being a person. ... I was finally happy to be practicing again and understanding why I hadn’t quit the cello.”

Also back for a second time is Isa Alnajem, who has just completed his first year of master’s studies at Boston University. In his native Bahrain he learned to play the classical string instrument of that country, the oud, before picking up the cello as a teen.

His father, who is a composer and conductor at the Ministry of Interior, was his first oud teacher. The younger Alnajem became so accomplished on that instrument that he won competitions, traveling around the Middle East and to Europe. He was a semi-finalist on the show “Arabs Got Talent,” appeared on other TV shows, and was his country’s representative at the Shanghai World Expo.

When he turned 18, he told his dad he wanted to study music.

“He was excited because he’s a musician himself,” said Alnajem, now 23. “He suggested I study classical music because of the rich history classical music has. His problem was finding a university that accepted an oud as a classical instrument.” His dad knew how his son loved a particular section of classical music featuring the cello, and suggested that as his new instrument.

His first instruction was mostly by way of the internet, but he applied to the Longy School of Music in Boston and was accepted. His successful undergraduate work led to his acceptance for graduate study at Boston University. The main challenge of mastering his newer, Western instrument? Adjusting from a microtonal instrument to one that is not, meaning notes that sound out of tune to Western ears sound like actual notes to him. 

“It’s been such a big struggle,” he said.

As to why he came back for a second year, he smiled, “It’s greed: I just want more, more knowledge. I’m getting more knowledge every day. Being in Alaska, being surrounded by students and Dr. Kraut and Mr. Bailey, the knowledge they give us is what we need to prepare us as professionals.”

Christine Lamprea, 27, grew up in San Antonio and now lives in Philadelphia. She is one of two “artist apprentices” at the seminar. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 2011 she earned a master’s from New England Conservatory of Music in 2013.

At the seminar, she has enjoyed learning from Kraut and Bailey, with Kraut focused more on “large concepts” from the pedagogue’s perspective. With Bailey, Lamprea said, “It’s more about polishing, getting a piece to top-level, performance ready.”

She also loves spending time with other cellists.

“They’re the friendliest musicians,” said. “It’s a great group, it’s a noncompetitive atmosphere, everyone’s sharing ideas constantly.”

The program of “classical and pop favorites” for the big Sunday concert is still coming together, Kraut said. One or more pieces will feature all 10 seminar cellists on stage at the same time.

Tickets are $10 at Old Harbor Books, at the door and online at SitkaMusicFestival.org.