Featured article, February 2020

Spotlight On...The Brobst Violin Shop

I recently visited Brobst Violins to meet the owners of this business who have been supporting Cellospeak for many years, and to learn a few things that would be of interest to our readers. The music I heard when I first walked into the store was irresistibly beautiful, even though it clearly did not come from a cello. In one of the large showrooms, Gerald Brobst was playing a violin, which he promised to tell me more about later. During our conversation he explained how this family business evolved over the past five decades,...

Featured Article, December 2019

Transition for Cellospeak

Introducing Cellospeak’s New Administrative Director, Susan "Sue" Manus

The Cellospeak Board was very disappointed that Susanna Mendlow decided to move on from her administrative role with Cellospeak to bigger and better things, but we are thrilled to announce that we have a new Administrative Director, Sue Manus! Sue, a resident of Arlington, Virginia, has a BA in Music from the Pennsylvania State University and an MA in Arts Management from American University. A well-trained musician, she is a violinist and freelance performer in the Washington, D.C. area, including with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and various chamber groups. She is...

Featured Article, September 2019

Workshop Chronicles

Like a well-oiled machine, the 2019 Cellospeak workshops took place at Bryn Mawr College from July 21 until August 3. Artistic director Bomin Collins and Executive Director Susanna Mendlow delivered another sterling two weeks of cello instruction, ensemble playing and musical delights with the help of the dedicated faculty and Gary Fitzgerald. This year’s workshops were somewhat saddened by the passing of Cellospeak’s founder, Dorothy Amarandos, on June 22, 2019. Nineteen years ago, Dorothy started the workshops to give adult cello students and players an opportunity to share their passion with, and learn from, a...

Featured Article, May 2019

Cello Chat at Potter Violins

If you have attended any of the past Cellospeak workshops, you will surely know Potter Violins, a company that has been a benefactor of Cellospeak for many years. The company was founded by Dalton Potter, whose reputation as expert of string instruments spans more than 30 years. He dedicated his business to the notion that one can succeed in life by helping others to succeed. After two decades in Bethesda, Maryland, Potter’s found its new home in the historic Blair Mansion in Takoma Park, Maryland. It is delightful to visit this new store, which...

Featured Article, March 2019

Stand Partners

There is a wonderful definition of a “stand partner” in an article available online, “The special bond of being a stand partner,” which was written by Max Raimi, a violist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Here is Mr. Raimi’s definition of a stand partner: If you play a passage particularly well, often your stand partner is the only person who knows it. And if you miscount, or play a wrong note, or play something that is dreadfully out of tune, your shameful little secret is entrusted to your stand partner. The best stand partners are supportive and not...

Featured Article, January 2019

Lime-Light Fever

Cold and flu season is here, but lime-light fever has nothing to do with winter ailments. The malady  many of us occasionally struggle with is what Italians and Germans respectively call febbre della ribalta and Lampenfieber. These expressions directly translate into English as stage-fever or lamp- and lime-light fever. Merriam-Webster's definitions for fever are “a state of heightened or intense emotion or activity,” as well as “a contagious usually transient enthusiasm.” Is it a cultural difference, or are Italians and Germans onto something when they use more benign terms for stage fright and performance anxiety? Their stage related “fevers” don't have such negative connotations and...

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Workshop Chronicles - 2018

We always seem to think that the current Cellospeak workshop year is the best ever, and that remains true with the 18th annual workshops, held during the first two weeks of August 2018 at bucolic Bryn Mawr College. Our indefatigable and immensely talented leadership team of Artistic Director Bomin Collins and Executive Director Susanna Mendlow, along with Accompanist/Conductor Gary Fitzgerald and our stellar faculty, delivered once again. This year we enjoyed the return of veteran faculty and welcomed Katlyn DeGraw and Natalie Spear to the team. Both Skill Builder Week and Ensemble Week were filled...

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