Laura Sewell talks about becoming a cellist, her family’s remarkable talent and the upcoming Isles Ensemble concert on Mother’s Day.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in South Minneapolis. In 2001 my parents built a home on Cedar Lake, where they have been ever since.
Your family has produced several artists. What’s the Sewell secret?
I don’t know if there is any “secret,” but I do know that my parents always encouraged both my brother and me to pursue whatever interested us. They never discouraged the notion of considering a career in the arts.
My father was a violinist, and my mother was a singer. My brother is a dancer and choreographer and is the Founder and Artistic Director of James Sewell Ballet.
How did you come to play the cello?
My parents started me on the piano when I was six but I wasn’t crazy about it and I had to be “encouraged” to practice. A few years later I announced that I wanted to try another instrument, and my father suggested the cello. As it turned out, from my very first lesson I absolutely took to the cello! It felt so much more natural to me than the piano ever had, and my parents never had to tell me to practice. I just loved it and I had a very strong desire to be good at it.
What was your education?
In addition to taking cello lessons while growing up, I also played in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony. After graduating from high school, I had the unique opportunity to study in London with the legendary cellist, Jacqueline duPré.
Not only was it eye-opening for me to live in a foreign country, but spending time with Jacqueline duPré was transformative. She had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about five years before I met her and was no longer able to play the cello. However, her ability to teach and to be an encouraging and inspiring mentor was undiminished. Being around someone who handled her life circumstances with such grace was also a wonderful example for a young person.
Following my year in London, I attended The Juilliard School where I got my Bachelor’s Degree, and then the Cleveland Institute of Music where I received my Master’s Degree.
What is the Isles Ensemble?
The Isles Ensemble was founded in 2004 and has been based at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church since its inception. The group of eleven musicians is comprised of current and former members of the Minnesota and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras, faculty members at the University of Minnesota and other local colleges and universities, and former members of several nationally recognized string quartets.
We perform four concerts a year at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, as well as additional concerts throughout Minnesota. We also do one fundraising concert a year for a “cause” of our choice. Both this year and last we performed benefit concerts for Ukraine. Last year we were able to raise over $80,000, and so far this year we have raised over $32,000 for Ukraine!
You have a concert on Mother’s Day, May 14. What is its theme?
This season’s overarching theme has been "resiliency" (in response to coming out of the pandemic). The May program will highlight mental illness and the many artists who have dealt with it and contributed to the world in spite of their internal struggles. The featured work of the concert will be "Angels Sang to Me," a piece for soprano and string quartet by a young Minneapolis composer named AJ Isaacson-Zvidswa.
Maria Jette will be our guest soprano for this program. Maria and I were part of the group that premiered this piece two years ago and we have performed it many times since then, including a featured program last year on TPT. The rest of the program will include two beautiful songs for viola, piano and soprano by Johannes Brahms, and the program will conclude with Robert Schumann's gorgeous quartet for piano and strings. Schumann is one of the artists AJ references in her work earlier on the program. In fact, the title, "Angels Sang to Me," is a Schumann quote.
Even though this will be a program about artists who have struggled mightily, it will not be a downer in any way. AJ's piece is inspiring and even funny at times and ends very hopefully — as does the Schumann at the end of the program.
What is your role in its production?
I am the curator for the May 14 program.
How are people with lived experience with mental illness engaged in the performance?
Composer AJ Isaacson-Zvidswa struggled with mental illness for years in her teens and twenties but has learned how to manage it very successfully. In her piece, AJ uses texts by various artists who struggled with mental illness (Emily Dickinson, Robert Lowell, Hector Berlioz, Edgar Allen Poe, among others) and also quotes from her own diary. It is an extremely effective work that has garnered a lot of attention over the past two years.
What are the program details?
The concert is at 4 p.m. on May 14 at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church (2020 W. Lake of the Isles Parkway).
Admission is $25, or pay what you can. Children and students are free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at Eventbrite. For more information go to: islesensemble.org/tickets
