Grammy award-winning Cellist Eugene Friesen and Interlochen Cellist Crispin Campbell are teaming up for a “Cello Power” tour of Michigan in late June.

The pair have played together many times, most recently at the Clazz Music Festival in Tuscany in 2023. These are their first appearances in Michigan since 2017.

Eugene Friesen is a member of the Paul Winter Consort, the Grammy award-winning ensemble that created a genre of music which fused jazz, classical and world music sounds. With worldwide recognition, Eugene has performed in virtually all continents except Antarctica. His compositions bring a world of soulful expression to the stage- including vocals, the music of humpback whales, and Brazilian rhythms.

Crispin Campbell's musical style reflects his individuality. In a typical performance he makes seamless transitions from Bach to Frank Zappa to Django Reinhardt, earning him the label: "A musician who defies categories."

Crispin is involved with the the developing art of improvisation for string players. He is a member of the CLAZZ International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy, whose purpose is to incorporate improvisation into the life of classical string players. Campbell's latest improvisational efforts involve concerts with the Crispin Campbell Quartet, and with Eugene Friesen (cellist at Berklee College of Music), violinist Jeremy Cohen (Quartet San Francisco), violinist Helmut Lipsky (Montreal Conservatory), and tabla master Shawn Mativetsky (McGill University) among others. His debut solo recording “About Time” was released in February 2020.

Campbell was a faculty member at Interlochen Arts Academy for 38 years, where he mentored young musicians in classical cello technique and chamber music. A student of Margaret Rowell (Berkeley, CA) and George Sopkin (Fine Arts Quartet), he is well known as a performer and teacher throughout North and South America. He teaches at the annual Interlochen Cello institute in June, and is also a frequent guest artist for the Semana de las Cuerdas, a string festival based in Medellin, Colombia. He was the founder and Artistic Director of the Manitou Music Festival in Michigan, a chamber music and jazz festival. His recordings with the Neptune Quartet and Christian Matjias have been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered”.

Together these two musicians create a kaleidoscope of sound in their performances, ranging from the deep rich tones of the cello to soaring flights of improvisation. Expeiencing a Cello Power concert is both emotionally moving and exhilarating- not to be missed.

Doors at 5pm, show at 8pm

Tickets $25 General Admission, $20 Student with Student ID
https://urbanbeat.ticketspice.com/cello-power