Fees & Registration | Workshops, Cello Big Band, Exhibition | Our Partners
Since 1995, New Directions festivals have been held in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Wisconsin, California. This will be our first festival outside of the United States. We have invited some of today’s finest non-classical cellists and their groups to be guest artists and we hope you will join us 3 days of great concerts, workshops, jam sessions, exhibits, Cello Big Band and more! We are grateful for the support of our partners and sponsors who help to make New Directions possible!
Our guest artists will play two concerts at 7:30 PM at the WDR Funkhaus:
Friday Evening Concert: Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Ségal, Martín Meléndez Trio and Reijseger Fraanje Sylla.
Saturday Evening Concert: Susanne Paul & Etta Scollo, Rushad Eggleston and Moulettes – Detours
The concerts are included in the festival fees. Concerts open to the public. Buy tickets: Concert 1 (Friday July 13) | Concert 2 (Saturday July 14).
Final Concert: Sunday July 15 (2.00 PM) at WDR Funkhaus (Wallrafplatz 5, 50667 Köln) with “Open Mic”, Festival Cello Big Band and RMS Cello Big Band & Cello Combo featuring Rupert Gillett (London). Admission free.
ABOUT THE GUEST ARTISTS:
Vincent Ségal
Vincent is known for the variety of collaborations and unusual projects he involves himself in. He has worked with Sting, Chilly Gonzales, Steve Nieve, Elvis Costello, Cesaria Evora, Blackalicious, Carlinhos Brown and Franck Monnet, to name but a few. One of the most enduring is his partnership with kora player Ballaké Sissoko, with whom he has played since 2009 and will bring to NDCF 2018. “Two souls, united by a sense of freedom and momentum, that melt into one another, finding echoes of Manding, Baroque, Brazilian, Gypsy and Undefinable Mystery in each other.” https://www.facebook.com/VincentSegal.officiel/
Martín Meléndez
Meléndez has collaborated on more than 40 albums and shared the stage with artists such as Pablo Milanés, Chano Dominguez, Interactive, Darol Anger, Yusa, Descemer Bueno, Antonio Rey, Kinan Azmeh, Alasdair Fraser, Rony Barak, Pasion Vega, Dave Samuells, among others, taking him on tours around the world. Some of his most recent projects are The Dreams of Ravel (jazz), Elephant Tiny Obsession (african jazz) and Caguama Trio (jazz).
Dutch cello phenom, Ernst Reijseger,
Reijseger is prolific and his work is incredibly varied. He has composed for the baroque orchestra Forma Antiqua, The Dutch Wind Ensemble, and Ensemble Modern. He has scored films for Werner Herzog (The White Diamond; Cave of Forgotten Dreams) and Alex & Andrew Smith (Walking Out) and released three solo albums (Colla Parte, 1997; Tell Me Everything, 2008 and Crystal Palace, 2014) to great critical acclaim. He has also contributed to and played on countless other albums.
Reijseger’s solo performances are a wonder to behold. He is in the rare company of performers whose live playing inspires outright awe in audiences – not to mention deep emotion and a sense of connectedness which only great music can inspire.
At the crossroads, nay – the roundabout – where a multiplicity of musical styles and a rich palette of deeply felt emotions intersect, that is where you will find the trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla. Like a collective whirling dervish, the trio effortlessly fuses jazz, free improvisation, original contemporary music, blues, African and more into a cohesive whole which ultimately, transcends classification. With piano, cello, m’bira, xalam and haunting, mystical songs sung in Woloff (singer Mola Sylla’s mother tongue), Trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla regularly moves audiences to tears. http://ernstreijseger.com/
Jazz and world cellist Susanne Paul
Susanne is the bandleader of the MOVE String Quartet and regularly shares the stage with Uwe Kropinski, Etta Scollo and the Julia Hülsmann Octet. She has also collaborated with Michel Godard, Arkady Shilkloper, String Thing, and Georg Breinschmid, and has recorded a number of CDs. She also teaches jazz, improvisation, and tango for string players (e.g. at the Bruckner-University Linz, since 2012) and has authored and published music and teaching material (e.g. “Groovy Strings”).
At New Directions 2018, Susanne will be performing with Sicilian singer-songwriter Etta Scollo, who beautifully blends Sicilian folklore, Arabic poetry, jazz and canzone. Paul often tours with Scollo’s quartet. Their duo is called “Scollo con Cello”. http://www.groovecello.de/
Rushad Eggleston
Says Rushad, “Binsnithio blynnegax thuberon…manskiolotas fwyoblanginate trummux, insnarthio vuulu-évitch m’skolkiagandros dwezzomine,” which, if I am correct in my interpretation of the language of Sneth, basically means “gransurisiness volointinusuras brindzle.” At least on Saturdays.
Suffice to say that experiencing Rushad’s cello playing and his workshops tend to leave NDCF participants changed, and for the better! https://rushad.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/rushad.eggleston
Hannah Miller:
For the New Directions Cello Festival 2018, Miller and regular Moulettes member, electric guitarist Raevennan Husbandes, are pleased to welcome Mike Simmonds (viola, violin & nyckleharpa) and Jules Arthur (viola; synths). Both are satellite members of Moulettes, and have also worked with Alice Russell, Nick Cave, Disraeli and the Small Gods, and Timothy Didymus. For this special show, the group is going by Moulettes-Detours. http://www.moulettes.co.uk/
Festival Pass: all workshops, concerts, Cello Big Band & exhibition (3 days)
- Full registration fee for adults: 270,- €
- Reduced registration fee*: 170,- €
Saturday Pass: workshops on Saturday, but all festival concerts, Cello Big Band & exhibition on 3 days
- Saturday registration fee for adults: 180,- €
- Reduced registration fee*: 110,- €
Early bird discount on fees above: 15,- € off for registrations until May 14, full fees from May 15
Young People’s Cello-Bration (ages 11-18): 3 special workshops, all festival concerts & exhibition
- Registration fee: 60,- € (Early bird discount for YPCB: 5,- € off for registrations until May 14, full fees from May 15)
10 % discount on all fees above with NDCA membership
The concerts at WDR Funkhaus starting at 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday are included in the festival fees. Concerts open to the public. Buy tickets: Concert 1 (Friday July 13) | Concert 2 (Saturday July 14).
*Reduced registration fees for young people (up to age 18), students with valid student ID, disabled people (50 % disability and more)
If you are interested in renting a cello please let us know. We will try to provide a small number of instruments for participants traveling by aircraft without their cello.
Register for the Festival
The Workshops
About the Exhibition
The exhibition is a place where makers of acoustic and electric cellos, electronics and other music related merchandise such as sheet music, strings, bows, etc. will be on display during the festival.
Young People’s Cello-Bration
The Young People’s Cello-Bration is a festival within the festival where young cellists, ages 11-18, can learn about ways to play the cello outside of classical music. There will be specialized workshops by international cello stars on improvisation, groove and non-classical techniques and styles for young cellists. All festival concerts are included. And you can visit interesting product presentations by companies taking part in the exhibition (el. cellos etc.).
The three workshops (probably with Ernst Reijseger, Susanne Paul, … ) will be on Saturday (July 14, starting at about 10.00 AM) and will be complemented by a short refreshing unit with cellist and Feldenkrais clinican Corinna Eikmeier.
Cello Big Band
The Cello Big Band (CBB) has been a feature of the New Directions Cello Festival for many years. It is a cello choir which plays compositions and arrangements which are non-classical in nature and usually have some sections for soloists to improvise with the group. The CBB will be directed by Gunther Tiedemann and is made up of festival participants, staff and guest artists. The Festival CBB (max. 50 cellos), rehearsing on each day of the festival, will perform together with the RMS Cello Big Band (Rheinische Musikschule Köln) at the final festival concert on Sunday noon at WDR Funkhaus. There will be more than 100 cellos on stage. Before the festival you will find information about the tunes, sheet music and playalongs on: www.gunther-tiedemann.de/NDCF-CBB.htm
Final Concert: Sunday July 15 (2.00 PM) at WDR Funkhaus (Wallrafplatz 5, 50667 Köln) with “Open Mic”, Festival Cello Big Band and RMS Cello Big Band & Cello Combo featuring Rupert Gillett (London). Admission free.
