Sensuous Cello Next Weekend In Newtown

Greeting the arrival of spring, the Newtown Friends of Music (NFoM) will bring back one of its audiences’ most beloved performers, cellist Ole Akahoshi, who will be accompanied by pianist Elizabeth Sawyer-Parisot during a concert at Edmond Town Hall on Sunday, March 25.

Charming audiences with its velvet tones and rapturous moments, the cello has been in existence since 1560. Known then as the violoncello, successor to the viola de gamba, the instrument merely filled the bass part of the orchestra until the first sonatas were written around 1689.

Bach and Haydn made important use of the violoncello as a solo instrument and since the time of Haydn, it has steadily gained in favor, second only to the violin.

Today’s foremost proponent of solo cello is surely Yo-Yo Ma, while a generation ago it was the internationally acclaimed cello master Pablo Casals. Many other artists have made a career of eliciting the most beautiful tones of the cello for a great number of devoted audiences.

The richness of the instrument emerges in strength according to the strength of the bond held by the player. Such a player is the German born Ole Akahoshi, who began studying the cello at the age of four. At age 11, he was the youngest pupil ever to be accepted by the late distinguished teacher Pierre Founier, with whom he worked for four years.

In  1989, Mr Akahoshi moved to the United States to further his studies with Janos Starker at Indiana University and then with Aldo Parisot at Yale University. He has been a teaching assistant to both Mr Starker and Mr Parisot and has since joined the faculty at the Yale School of Music.

Mr Akahoshi has been soloist with many international orchestras, has been a top prize-winner in numerous national and international competitions. He has collaborated with many chamber music groups. He has appeared more than once before for Newtown Friends of Music and has been asked back repeatedly thanks to strong demand from the audience.

The pianist Elizabeth Sawyer-Parisot received her DMA from Yale School of Music in 1973 and has served on the faculty since 1977. She has appeared in solo and chamber music concerts throughout the world, performing at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall in New York; Kennedy Center and the National Gallery in Washington D.C.; Queen Elizabeth Hall in London; the Hispanic Institute in Madrid; the Jerusalem Center in Israel, and many of the better-known summer festivals on this continent and abroad.

With her husband, the famed Brazilian cellist Aldo Parisot, Ms Parisot has toured extensively, joining him in sonata performances. She has also accompanied cellist Yo-Yo Ma during in some of his recitals.

The program for the March 25 concert will start with the “Adagio” from Toccata in C by Bach, followed by Sonata in A Major Opus 69 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

After intermission, Mr Akahoshi will perform the “Adagio” and “Rondo” of Carl Maria von Weber, Sonata in G minor Opus 19 by Sergei Rachmaninoff; and Hungarian Rhapsodie in D Major by David Popper.

Children are always welcome at Newtown Friends of Music concerts, and this particular concert has special appeal to all students of string instruments. At a reception following the concert, the audience will have the opportunity to meet with the artists.

Free parking and handicap access are available at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown. Tickets will be available at the box office in the theater one hour before the start of the concert, or can be reserved in advance by contacting NFoM president Ellen Parrella at 426-6470 or friendsofmusic.snet.net.

Tickets for adults are $14, while seniors and students pay $12. Children between the ages of five and 14 are welcome and admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.