Musicians come to USC for Piatigorsky International Cello Festival

The USC Thornton School of Music and the Los Angeles Philharmonic brought some of the best classical musicians together for the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, a ten-day music festival from May 13 to May 22 that showcased talent from all around the world.

The festival brought various events and workshops to both the Walt Disney Concert Hall and USC’s campus, kicking off with an inaugural performance by world-renowned cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, the artistic director of the festival. He also serves as the chair of the strings department and the Gregor Piatigorsky Chair in violoncello at the Thornton School of Music. Other events ranged from concerts from the L.A. Phil, Baroque Conversations, lunch series, Colburn Celebrity Recitals, master classes, workshops and more.

On Sunday, USC hosted the Cello Festival’s Gala Opening Concert at Bovard Auditorium with a wide array of musicians. Among the performers were Cello Duello, a cello duo from Germany, and Giovanni Sollima, a cellist and composer from Italy. Later in the evening was a performance of cellist Antonio Lysy’s Te Amo Argentina.

Te Amo Argentina is a multimedia act that includes cello performance, dance, film and visuals that all explore themes of Argentinian culture, with Lysy bringing the audience on a journey through the country’s past. Also gracing the stage for Te Amo Argentina were ballroom dancers Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo, who wowed the audiences with their effortless dance moves and gravity-defying stunts while performing various tango pieces along with Lysy.

Following the USC Gala Opening Concert was one of the Colburn Celebrity Recitals at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma was accompanied by pianist Kathryn Stott. The performance featured various pieces from many different composers that left the crowd on their feet. Other standouts of the festival included a dramatic and beautiful performance Wednesday night in Bovard Auditorium by Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta, who was accompanied by pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald, which ended with an encore performance that shined as bright as Sol. Later that evening was an intense second act with David Geringas, a Lithuanian cellist who previously won the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and studied under Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists of all time.

Geringas appeared the following night for the Evening Concerto Concert in Bovard Auditorium, featuring cellists Li-Wei Qin and Raphael Wallfisch, conductor Uriel Segal, and the USC Thornton Chamber Singers and Wind Ensemble for a full and lively night. One of the most memorable pieces came from Li-Wei Qin, who performed Gulda’s Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra. The piece featured the full wind ensemble as well as electric bass and guitar, which was a breath of fresh air amidst a week of almost all classical pieces, many of which only featured piano and cello.

After a week full of concertos, sonatas, master classes and unforgettable performances, the Piatigorsky Cello Festival concluded with the Beethoven Gala Closing Concert in Bovard Auditorium on Sunday night. Cellists included some of the world’s best players, including Ronald Leonard, Laurence Lesser, Thomas Demenga, Colin Carr, Matt Haimovitz, Mischa Maisky, Andrew Shulman and Jean-Guihen Queyras, who performed many of the masterpieces composed by Beethoven for cello and piano. The festival was a reminder of the power of music and its ability to bring together an international community to celebrate the beauty of the violoncello.