Lovers of the cello, take note. After a three-year Covid hiatus, the International Cello Institute's CELLOici recital series is returning this month with three recitals on successive Friday nights by internationally acclaimed cellists in the beautiful Art Gallery of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church.
All three cellists –– Blaise Déjardin, Santiago Cañón-Valencia, and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir –– are serving as master faculty at this year's International Cello Institute (ICI) summer program, held in Northfield on the campus of St. Olaf College from July 8-29 for aspiring cellists ages 15-23.
Santiago Cañón-Valencia, a native of Colombia, is a "superstar soloist and something of an international phemom," according to Laura Sewell, ICI associate director and Isles Ensemble cellist. His July 21 recital is expected to be sold out, but there will be room for a few walk-ins, Sewell says.
Cañón-Valencia's program includes works by Bach, Ravel, Ginestera, Garreth Farr, and a piece of his own, "Acenso Hacia lo Profundo." Jee-Won Oh, distinguished collaborative pianist and an ICI faculty member, will accompany him.
Icelandic-American cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir's career as a soloist, chamber musician and teaching artist has taken her to many of the world's most prestigious venues. On July 28 she will alternate movements from the Bach cello suites with movements from unaccompanied cello works by other composers in what Sewell calls a creative and very interesting program. (Blaise Déjardin, principal cello with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, played on July 14.)
Recitals begin at 7:30 p.m.
For more information, go to www.internationalcelloinstitute.com/celloicirecitals.
