Saturday, June 25 2022- 7:30pm
$30 youth, $35 Senior/Student, $45 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
St. Alban’s and Calliope - East Bay Music and Arts are pleased to welcome back cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak for another epic performance of Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello. Isaac is well-known to St. Alban’s parishioners and music-lovers throughout the East Bay for his performances of the complete Bach Suites at St. Alban’s in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 as well as a memorable afternoon of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for cello and piano in 2017.
Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello command superlatives: they are easily the most well-known pieces written for the cello, and among the most challenging music for the instrument. Most importantly, the six suites are among the most intimately expressive and sublimely beautiful works of any epoch. The Suites are progressive in nature: from No.1, a pleasant 10-minute primer studied by most high-school cellists; to No.6, a sublime 40-minute behemoth that tests the performer’s mental and physical stamina. Moreover, Bach calls for a five-string violoncello piccolo for the sixth suite, writing soaring passages that sound more like a violin than a cello!
Many cellists include a single Bach suite in their recital programs; those that play all six Suites often scramble Bach’s order to alternate simpler and more challenging pieces. Isaac will perform this program the hard way: all six suites, in order, in a single night. More than two hours of playing, alone on stage, the most sublimely difficult music written for the instrument. Don’t miss this life-changing concert experience.
YOUR SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT TO OUR OFFERING THIS SHOW: Proof of full vaccination is required to attend, and a properly-worn mask is required at all times. Admission will be limited to 50% of capacity. All performers and staff are fully vaccinated.
Available In-Person OR Livestreamed!
Artist Profile:
Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements, as well as engaging deeply with his community as a conductor, educator, and nonprofit board member. He is Principal Cellist of Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony; Associate Principal Cellist of Stockton Symphony; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony, and Dayton Philharmonic. He spends his summers at the Eisenstadt Classical Music Festival in Austria and the Lake Tahoe Music Festival, and in the world of chamber music, performs with Black Cedar Trio and sonata collaborators Alison Lee and Miles Graber. As an educator, Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and teaches a small private cello studio. He sits on the Board of Directors of East Bay Music Foundation and Calliope – East Bay Music and Arts. isaacpastorchermak.com
