Next Level Cellist Musicality Issue

Publisher’s Note
What an incredible feeling it is to be writing to you, the
newest members of the Next Level Journals family. I
started Next Level Bassist a year ago to bring double
bass players together, and to help share wisdom and
experience with everybody. The goal of Next Level
Journals is really to create a community among people
who have one very important thing in common.
For cellists, it’s playing one of the most versatile and beautiful instruments
humanity has ever created. I am personally so excited to spend time speaking
with, learning from, and even inspiring cellists, our brothers and sisters from
the low end!
Our first issue is about musicality - the art of conveying our emotions and
statements through our instruments, the essence of why we all put in the long
hours and spend so much time focused on self-improvement. Hopefully, we
can all remember that very first moment when we got swept away by the music
we were playing, fully committing to the sound of the group and the notes
coming out of the instrument. It’s the adrenaline of an amazing performance,
or the quiet pleasure of accomplishing something we knew was impossible only
weeks ago.
I am so excited by the content of this journal. Alisa Weilerstein has had such
a stellar career, and her explanation of the “impulse” is information that is of
critical importance to every single musician. While not everyone shares her
incredible musical background, we can all benefit from the wisdom of her
perspective. Efe Baltacigil, a great friend and an unbelievable cellist, shares his
thoughts on the fundamental building blocks of musical sensitivity, as well as
the story of a musical family that is making quite an impression on the world.
We are also including a regular feature from the bass journal, a spotlight on a
great cello section. This time around, we heard from the Chicago Symphony’s
Brant Taylor on his 16 years as a member of the cello section which is an
11-person force of nature! As we all aspire to play with the best musicians
we can find, it helps to know that life at the top is wonderful and fulfilling.
I am so excited to be including a page of my latest composition, a duet for cello
and bass called Just One Dance. As a celebration of the launch of this journal, I
hope this duet will unite the low strings and allow us all to share in the wisdom
that every player brings to the table. I am truly honored to be in the company
of so many new people in the cello world - may we all inspire one another and
never lose the impulse!
RANAAN MEYER
Publisher Next Level Journals
SPRING 2014 NEXT LEVEL CELLIST
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