P.O.Box 522
Townshend VT 05353
USA
(802) 365-9220
Email:
Website:
www.celloman.com
Travels to: International
Biography:
Eugene Friesen was born in 1952, the son of Mennonite parents who emigrated from Russia as children. He began cello studies in elementary school at the urging of his father, a church musician and conductor, and participated in his father's choral and orchestral productions of major sacred works from the age of 12. The use of symphonic instruments in the pop music of the 1960's was another influence. This duality remained strong throughout Friesen's college years, when he played both in a jazz-rock band, The Modern Fur-Bearing Orchestra, and the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. It was in Fresno, in 1973, that Friesen first met Paul Winter at one of Winter's music workshops. So impressed was Winter with this young cellist that five years later Friesen, by then a graduate of the Yale School of Music, was invited to join the Consort. As a member of the Paul Winter Consort since 1978, Friesen's gift for composition as well as the responsive flow of improvisatory music has been featured in concerts throughout Europe, Japan, Brazil, the United States and Canada.Since then, Friesen has toured with the Consort, as well as with TRIO GLOBO, also featuring Howard Levy and Glen Velez. His credits as a composer include three television scores aired on PBS and as a collaborator with Richard Peaslee for the Obie award-winning score for The Garden of Earthly Delights. His Earth Requiem: Stories of Hope had its 1991 premiere at Southern Connecticut State University, and Grasslands, a major piece for the Paul Winter Consort, orchestra and choir, was premiered in Kansas in June of 1997. Sabbaths, a cycle of poems by Wendell Berry scored for choir and solo cello received its premiere in Vermont in 1999. He has performed and recorded with the Paul Winter Consort, with whom he won a Grammy award in 1994 and 1995, with TRIO GLOBO, and with such diverse artists as Dave Brubeck, Toots Thielemans, Betty Buckley, Anthony Davis and Scott Cossu.
CELLO MAN, Eugene's one-man show for young audiences, features a wide variety of music on solo cello: classical, jazz, blues and rock. Created in collaboration with maskmaker/choreographer Robert Faust, CELLO MAN uses masks, nature recordings, and stories to reveal the inner workings of music in a show which is energetic and visually stimulating. Eugene Friesen is on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Wendy, and children.
Beginning Jazz on Strings
An Introduction For All Ages and Levels Eugene will begin this workshop with the elements of ³swing² bowing. The blues will be introduced and demonstrated as the simplest and most authentic starting-point for the aspiring jazz player, and the blues scale and blues phrasing will be combined with swing bowing to create a safe and easy context for a player¹s first steps into jazz. The use of the metronome and general practice techniques will also be discussed.
The New Cello
This class explores the expanding possibilities of the cello as a solo instrument, as well as new techniques for accompanying more rhythmically and harmonically. New pizzicato techniques, expressive uses of vibrato and non-vibrato, ornamentation, vocal-style phrasing and glissandi, and other techniques are demonstrated.
String Pedagogoy Mastereclass
With an emphasis on strings, Eugene discusses and demonstrates instrumental technique, rhythm studies, orchestral techniques, electronics and techniques in new music including jazz and pop.
Performance Masterclass
This class for all instruments features informal student performances in a forum for discussing and demonstrating performance techniques such as style, drama, dynamics, _expression, clarity, instrumental technique, etc.
Free Improvisation
In this class, players are given a "safe" context for taking their first steps into improvisation. The rule here is: "there are no wrong notes." Students are taught how to move between playing rhythmic and soloistic "roles," and are encouraged to imitate, converse musically and have a great time while losing inhibitions about playing their instruments with no sheet music in front of them.
Developing Improvising Skill in Jazz, Blues, and World Music
Specific practice techniques are discussed and demonstrated in this class. Students are shown the way toward mastery of chosen musical paths through listening, practice and jamming.