with
Eugene Friesen & Marta Roma
Welcome to the Creative Cello Workshop! Our goal is to nurture the improviser and composer in every cellist. With "classical" training as our base, we aim to embrace and eventually transcend musical styles with personal expression that's born from both study and intuition - rigor and surrender.
The cello has unique challenges and advantages in contemporary applications. By applying music theory to the cello fingerboard – chords, modes, scales, cadences – and integrating the treasures of
“Black Atlantic Rhythm” – African-born rhythms of the Americas –
a new breed of cellist is emerging, bringing our soulful instrument into the 21st Century.
“Integral” means that we merge our various backgrounds, training, and contemplative practices into a creative whole. Valuing the framework of our traditions, we seek expression that is trans-traditional,
music that integrates a wide range of creative tools and practices -
including personal spiritual experiences -
to reflect the contemporary moment.
Following the success of our initial online offering, “Your Fullest Expression,” - a five-week course focusing on the cello fingerboard through the lens of chords with over 60 participants from 10 different countries – we’re pleased to present two courses beginning in August:
Modal Meditations - (begins August 4th)
• Tuesdays at 11AM-12PM Eastern Time (New York) • Available 24/7 via video recording.
George Russell’s seminal book, “The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization” published in 1953 influenced some of the era’s greatest improvisers to create a repertoire and way of playing that came to be known as “Modal Jazz.” This way of relating to diatonic harmony has resulted in some of the most lyrical and approachable improvising by artists such as John and Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and many, many others.
For new improvisers, creating music within the confines of a single diatonic setting can be a liberating experience, a way to integrate hand, ear, and heart, while expanding our sensitivity to new melodic color.
Modal Meditations presents new ways of incorporating modes of the major and harmonic minor scales into our free play and tonal improvising. Using drones, rhythmic play-alongs, and call-and-response, this participatory experience provides a recurring hands on practice of modes in 12 keys along with free play, group discussion, and a contemplative approach to improvisation.
Modal Meditations - 12-week course – One one-hour class weekly
Crossword Arpeggios - (begins August 6th)
• Thursdays at 11AM-12PM Eastern Time (New York). • Available 24/7 via video recording
Having an intimate familiarity with chords and how to instantly convey the sound of a chord in various ways is a skill that is still extremely rare among string players. In this recurring online workout the focus is on chord awareness, drilling multi-chord hand shapes, approach notes, and a step-by-step method of using new knowledge in improvisational settings. Creating pizzicato and arco chordal accompaniments will also be discussed and practiced.
Crossword Arpeggios – Ongoing course - One one-hour class weekly
Private Lessons
For those who are enrolled in Modal Meditations or Crossword Arpeggios, 30-minute private lessons with Eugene are available at a reduced rate. Please inquire in Registration below.
The Online Experience
While our online classes were initiated out of necessity, we’re finding that participants enjoy some important advantages in working from their homes:
• The practices we teach involve a kind of re-tooling of our mental processes. Many of us feel especially vulnerable as we begin anew, especially those of us with years of professional training and activity behind us. It is a comfort to take these initial guided steps without an audience, and at our own pace.
• Traveling across the country - or the world - with our cellos can be an obstacle for many of us with professional and family obligations.
• Easy sharing of sheet music, recordings, and videos make organizing class materials easy.
• The accessibility of class video recordings makes multiple viewings possible and convenient.
“Musician, heal thyself.”
These words, altered from an ancient proverb, point to the necessity of a new practice for those passionate about creating new music in new settings. Traditional musical training has been largely devoid of both creative practices and reflection, the wellsprings of musical vitality. Some musicians even carry a kind of trauma from their musical past that keeps them from fully communicating in the language they love best.
Creating music in the 21st Century involves blending multiple streams of the diverse musics of the world. Contrary to notions of “high art” or “low art,” the Creative Cello Workshop agrees that “all music is world music*.” The ability to cross artificial boundaries of style is essential to creating new musical communities and reaching listeners with a new message of inclusivity.
Contemplative practice is a personal, subjective experience that celebrates silence, stillness and all the revelations they bring to a person. Improvisation is the creative culmination of our musical practices greatly enhanced by the motivation, focus and mental clarity which are marks of a contemplative practice.
* Edward W. Sarath: ”Improvisation, Creativity, and Consciousness,” SUNY Press 2013
• Tuesdays at 11AM-12PM Eastern Time (New York) • Available 24/7 via video recording.
George Russell’s seminal book, “The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization” published in 1953 influenced some of the era’s greatest improvisers to create a repertoire and way of playing that came to be known as “Modal Jazz.” This way of relating to diatonic harmony has resulted in some of the most lyrical and approachable improvising by artists such as John and Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and many, many others.
For new improvisers, creating music within the confines of a single diatonic setting can be a liberating experience, a way to integrate hand, ear, and heart, while expanding our sensitivity to new melodic color.
Modal Meditations presents new ways of incorporating modes of the major and harmonic minor scales into our free play and tonal improvising. Using drones, rhythmic play-alongs, and call-and-response, this participatory experience provides a recurring hands on practice of modes in 12 keys along with free play, group discussion, and a contemplative approach to improvisation.
Modal Meditations - 12-week course – One one-hour class weekly
Crossword Arpeggios - (begins August 6th)
• Thursdays at 11AM-12PM Eastern Time (New York). • Available 24/7 via video recording
Having an intimate familiarity with chords and how to instantly convey the sound of a chord in various ways is a skill that is still extremely rare among string players. In this recurring online workout the focus is on chord awareness, drilling multi-chord hand shapes, approach notes, and a step-by-step method of using new knowledge in improvisational settings. Creating pizzicato and arco chordal accompaniments will also be discussed and practiced.
Crossword Arpeggios – Ongoing course - One one-hour class weekly
Private Lessons
For those who are enrolled in Modal Meditations or Crossword Arpeggios, 30-minute private lessons with Eugene are available at a reduced rate. Please inquire in Registration below.
The Online Experience
While our online classes were initiated out of necessity, we’re finding that participants enjoy some important advantages in working from their homes:
• The practices we teach involve a kind of re-tooling of our mental processes. Many of us feel especially vulnerable as we begin anew, especially those of us with years of professional training and activity behind us. It is a comfort to take these initial guided steps without an audience, and at our own pace.
• Traveling across the country - or the world - with our cellos can be an obstacle for many of us with professional and family obligations.
• Easy sharing of sheet music, recordings, and videos make organizing class materials easy.
• The accessibility of class video recordings makes multiple viewings possible and convenient.
“Musician, heal thyself.”
These words, altered from an ancient proverb, point to the necessity of a new practice for those passionate about creating new music in new settings. Traditional musical training has been largely devoid of both creative practices and reflection, the wellsprings of musical vitality. Some musicians even carry a kind of trauma from their musical past that keeps them from fully communicating in the language they love best.
Creating music in the 21st Century involves blending multiple streams of the diverse musics of the world. Contrary to notions of “high art” or “low art,” the Creative Cello Workshop agrees that “all music is world music*.” The ability to cross artificial boundaries of style is essential to creating new musical communities and reaching listeners with a new message of inclusivity.
Contemplative practice is a personal, subjective experience that celebrates silence, stillness and all the revelations they bring to a person. Improvisation is the creative culmination of our musical practices greatly enhanced by the motivation, focus and mental clarity which are marks of a contemplative practice.
* Edward W. Sarath: ”Improvisation, Creativity, and Consciousness,” SUNY Press 2013
"I've learned so much in one week, I feel like a completely different cellist.
I'm beginning to open my eyes/ears in a way that is unfamiliar to my normal way."
-- Brice Madden, Cellist and Educator / Detroit, Michigan
"A spa for your musicianship as well as your mind and soul."
-- Jeff O"Neil, Cellist and Educator/Boston, Massachusetts
"Eugene Friesen's teaching embodies generosity. At every lesson, Eugene lavishes students with his creative ideas, the specifics of his formidable toolbox, and warm light from his gigantic heart."
--Nicole Pinnell, Cellist/Salt Lake City, Utah
"The course is absolutely perfect. Everything is incredibly clear and progressive, making perfect sense to someone coming from within the classical “box." Your presentation comes from a place of kindness and inclusivity, and provides a truly safe space to explore new ideas and techniques. I am extremely grateful for all that this has offered me."
-- Alison Wells, Cellist/Glasgow, Scotland
"Eugene, you and Marta really created a warm and safe learning environment. These times in our world are uncertain but what we can control and expand upon is our art. The building of an artistic conversation with flow, diversity, and growth
is ever more important. We are a global world and your class really reflected that essence.
I'm looking forward to breathing in this work and seeing you again in the near future."
Elizabeth Byrd, Cellist & Composer/Portland, Oregon
"Thank you so much for this opportunity. What feels like a lifetime of pathways to explore are open to me. Perhaps they were available before, but now I have a sense of how to navigate and orient myself as I go. What you have presented is so flexible and deep; ways to think about problems, rather than just stuff to do."
- Ben Wyatt/Blacksburg, Virginia
"I think all of the workshop participants came away with new and renewed spirits
and affection for our instruments and for pursuing our own voices. Brilliant modeling,
great practice tools, strong guidance and encouragement for personal reflection,
helpful feedback ... WOW!"
-- Beth Youngblood, Violinist, Montana
"Oh, I see how this works. Yesterday you couldn't get me to play a solo,
and today you can't get me to stop!"
-- Janet Haarvig, Cellist and Composer, Montana
I'm beginning to open my eyes/ears in a way that is unfamiliar to my normal way."
-- Brice Madden, Cellist and Educator / Detroit, Michigan
"A spa for your musicianship as well as your mind and soul."
-- Jeff O"Neil, Cellist and Educator/Boston, Massachusetts
"Eugene Friesen's teaching embodies generosity. At every lesson, Eugene lavishes students with his creative ideas, the specifics of his formidable toolbox, and warm light from his gigantic heart."
--Nicole Pinnell, Cellist/Salt Lake City, Utah
"The course is absolutely perfect. Everything is incredibly clear and progressive, making perfect sense to someone coming from within the classical “box." Your presentation comes from a place of kindness and inclusivity, and provides a truly safe space to explore new ideas and techniques. I am extremely grateful for all that this has offered me."
-- Alison Wells, Cellist/Glasgow, Scotland
"Eugene, you and Marta really created a warm and safe learning environment. These times in our world are uncertain but what we can control and expand upon is our art. The building of an artistic conversation with flow, diversity, and growth
is ever more important. We are a global world and your class really reflected that essence.
I'm looking forward to breathing in this work and seeing you again in the near future."
Elizabeth Byrd, Cellist & Composer/Portland, Oregon
"Thank you so much for this opportunity. What feels like a lifetime of pathways to explore are open to me. Perhaps they were available before, but now I have a sense of how to navigate and orient myself as I go. What you have presented is so flexible and deep; ways to think about problems, rather than just stuff to do."
- Ben Wyatt/Blacksburg, Virginia
"I think all of the workshop participants came away with new and renewed spirits
and affection for our instruments and for pursuing our own voices. Brilliant modeling,
great practice tools, strong guidance and encouragement for personal reflection,
helpful feedback ... WOW!"
-- Beth Youngblood, Violinist, Montana
"Oh, I see how this works. Yesterday you couldn't get me to play a solo,
and today you can't get me to stop!"
-- Janet Haarvig, Cellist and Composer, Montana
Eugene Friesen
Four-time Grammy winner Eugene Friesen is active internationally as a cellist, composer, conductor and teacher. He has worked and recorded with such diverse artists as Dave Brubeck, Toots Thielemans, Betty Buckley, Will Ackerman, Joe Lovano and Dream Theater, and has been featured in concerts all over the world with the Paul Winter Consort, with Trio Globo (Friesen, Howard Levy and Glen Velez), and in his popular CelloMan performances for children and families. A graduate of the Yale School of Music and a pioneer in the teaching of improvisation to classically trained musicians, Eugene has led workshops throughout North America and around the world. His book, Improvisation for Classically Trained Musicians (Berklee Press) was published in 2012. Eugene’s newest CDs are: "The Essential Collection," released 2018; and "Down in Yon Forest" with vocalist Elizabeth Rogers, released in 2019. He is an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
"He's a world class artist and teacher." - Ellen Cohen, Body Synergy
"He's a world class artist and teacher." - Ellen Cohen, Body Synergy
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Marta Roma
Marta Roma is a wonderfully versatile cellist and singer from Barcelona (Spain), with a multifaceted background and experience in the music and the arts. Marta has developed her own personal and creative approach to improvisation and singing across different musical genres, styles and cultures, while performing with artists such as Gary Burton, Alejandro Sanz, Dream Theater, Susana Baca, A.R Rahman and many others. Marta tours internationally performing and teaching workshops and master classes in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, USA, Japan, Philippines and Dominican Republic. Marta completed a degree in Music Education in Barcelona (ESMUC 2011) and her Degree and Master's degree in Music at Berklee College of Music (2016), studying and performing with Joe Lovano, Eugene Friesen, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mike Block among others. Back in Barcelona Marta is an active performer and teacher around Spain. She released her first solo album in 2018 and her most recent project is the creation of an educational concert in the national Auditori of Barcelona as music director. |
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"Modal Meditations" - $240 (12-weeks)
"Crossword Arpeggios" - $100 (one month)
"Modal Meditations" - PAY IN EUROS
"Crossword Arpeggios" - PAY IN EUROS
