The Portland Cello Project

The Portland Cello Project

At The Doug Fir July 12

Featuring Pt Juncture WA, The Blue Cranes and more TBA

Adam Shearer and Stephanie Schneiderman

"Highly talented, highly collaborative and highly experimental, the Portland Cello Project is a dream team of instrumentalists." Anika Sabin, Willamette Week, Portland.

Walking

"To say that this is not your father's cello ensemble is a vast understatement." Barbara Mitchell, Portland Tribune.

Doug and Tony at Crystal Ballroom

"The Portland Cello Project liberate the cello and bring it back to the common folk. Kind of like those High Life commercials where the distro driver self-righteously shoplifts beer, but, you know, with cellos." Ezra Caraeff, Portland Mercury.

Skip Von Kuske Solo

"Nobody brings chamber music to the masses like the Portland Cello Project." Alison Hallett, Portand Mercury.

Rehearsal

"No longer are cellists hiding in the wings, reliving memories of traumatic junior-high orchestra performances. Gone is the discomfiture of lugging around a huge stringed beast." Paige Richmond, Willamette Week.

Doug, Sami and Justin at Holocene

"Throw out everything you ever thought you knew about string ensembles. " The Portland Tribune.

Sonja Myklebust

"Comfortable asses or not, a PCP performance is always something to base your week on." The Portland Mercury.

At the Wonder Ballroom

The Next Portland Cello Project Shows Are:

A PCP quartet to appear with Japanese Tsugaru-Shamisen Masters

May 17th, 2008 by admin | 0

A quartet of PCP cellists has been invited to open for Japanese Tsugaru-Shamisen virtuosos, The Yoshida Brothers, at The Aladdin Theater in Portland next Tuesday, May 20.

From the group’s website:

“Superstars in their native Japan, young Tsugaru-shamisen virtuosos Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida-The Yoshida Brothers-have effected nothing short of a cultural revolution with a muscular reinvention of the ancient three-stringed instrument, giving it the fiery passion of a rock ‘n roll guitar. Online world music portal World Music Central notes, “Clad in formal, ceremonial attire of kimonos and hakama pants, but sporting the dyed light brown hair that is trendy among Japan’s savvy youth, the Brothers play the age-old Tsugaru-shamisen-an instrument akin to a rustic three-stringed banjo-with the fervor of Jimi Hendrix.”

Seems like a fitting combo, doesn’t it?

Our quartet will consist of Skip Von Kuske, Justin Kagan, Douglas Jenkins and Kevin Jackson, and we will play a fully acoustic set of music, which we hope eclectically fits the occasion.

Tickets available at the Aladdin box office or online

Tuesday May 20.
Doors 7 | Show 8

PCP Quartet to Play Arvo Pärt tonight at Classical Rev PDX

May 15th, 2008 by admin | 0

Thursday May 15, 2008.

In preparation for a recording session next week, a PCP Quartet (Justin Kagan, Anna Fritz, Kevin Jackson, Douglas Jenkins) will run through Arvo Pärt’s Summa tonight at Costello’s Travel Cafe, which is a beautiful little cafe on 2222 NE Broadway as part of Classical Revolution PDX.

So, if you’re looking for something to do tonight, come on down to Classical Rev PDX. As always, Classical Rev is totally free and is all-ages.

We’ve been working on this piece for while, experimenting with all sorts of bowings and dynamics. We even tried playing it once backwards (from last note to first) while holding our bows at the tips. (Though it didn’t yield any interesting result or mystical message…)

And the location of Classical Rev tonight is great: Costello’s travel cafe. It has Plasma Screen Televisions, but NOT for watching sports! Instead of Arena Football, the TV’s at Costello’s play scenes from your favorite, picturesque cities around the world, all in high-definition Plasma-Vision. It’s so good to know that the plasma we donate as starving artists goes to such a great cause!

Doug

Portland Cello Project Explained with Math!

May 14th, 2008 by admin | 0

The awesome people over at the “You Are So Relevant” blog came up with a math equation to define the terms and principles of The Portland Cello Project!

PCP Math

LP Sneak Previews

May 14th, 2008 by admin | 0

There have been a few really wonderful blogs posting sneak previews of songs that will be on our LP that’s coming out August 12. Thanks to all of them for the kind words!

Mainstream isn’t so Bad

Bag of Songs

Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands

More details on the June 3 show

May 6th, 2008 by admin | 0

Portland Cello Project will be playing as the opening band for Pink Martini June 3 at The Crystal Ballroom!

We will be performing a nicely balanced set (we’re actually quite proud of the balance), with everything in it, from Bon Jovi, to tangos, to unusual jazz medleys, to silly things, to classical things.

Joining us on stage for collaboration will be Jessyka Luzzi singing Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras number 5, and Nick Jaina, doing a couple of his own pieces arranged by Douglas Jenkins and Ali Ippolito.

Tickets on sale now!

More Videos from the April 11 show

May 4th, 2008 by admin | 0

With much improved sound and everything (which is mostly thanks to the Musee Mecanique guys going on tour and lending us all their audio equipment), here are a bunch of videos from the Aladdin show, finally edited, including Heather Woods Broderick, Weinland, Stephanie Schneiderman and Keith Schreiner, Paul Turner and The Builders and The Butchers.

We’re posting our videos on Vimeo as well as YouTube now. I always wondered why localcut and Endhits always post their videos with Vimeo, but now I know — it’s because the quality, especially of the sound, is much better. In the words of Adam Shearer (Weinland) in an email to us yesterday, “Vimeo kicks YouTube’s face off.”

The Builders and The Butchers. “Golden and Green”


The Builders and The Butchers with The Portland Cello Project: “Golden and Green” from Douglas Jenkins on Vimeo.


Heather Woods. “Something Other Than”


Heather Woods and The Portland Cello Project: “Something Other Than” from Douglas Jenkins on Vimeo.

Weinland. “La Lamentor”


Weinland with The Portland Cello Project: “La Lamentor” from Douglas Jenkins on Vimeo.
continue reading » »

Why we love Zoe Keating…

May 4th, 2008 by admin | 0

What’s one of the many reasons we love fellow cellist (and for a brief time Portland resident) Zoe Keating?

Because she wants to put cellos in space!!

Zoe and Nasa

(You might need a MySpace account to view that.)

Surprise!

May 1st, 2008 by admin | 0

Tomorrow, Friday May 2, The Cello Project is going to make a surprise appearance as the “opening band” for Gideon Freudmann’s CD release party at Mississippi Studios. We’re moving the mains out of the way in this tiny venue to cram as many cellists in as possible (at least 7). This is a rare opportunity to see us en masse in such an intimate space!

The room seats 85, so we expect it to be full, but comfortable — there are seats throughout the venue and a really nice ambiance.

3939 N Mississippi Ave.

Advance tickets available here:
Tickets for the PCP and Gideon Freudmann

Or you can call and buy them over the phone at (503) 288-3895

We hope to see you there!

Portland Cello Project and Pink Martini 6/3!

Apr 22nd, 2008 by admin | 0

The Portland Cello Project will be playing with Pink Martini June 3 at the Crystal Ballroom right here in Portland as part of FundFest 2008 — a benefit-festival-thing. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased now at the Crystal Ballroom’s ticket booth or online.

Crystal Ballroom
Tickets available online on 4/26

The performance is a benefit for Friends of Trees, which is a non-profit which “brings people in the Portland-Vancouver area together to plant trees along city streets and in urban natural areas.”

Friends of Trees

PCP to be on this year’s PDX Pop Now! Compilation

Apr 22nd, 2008 by admin | 0

The Portland Cello Project and Heather Broderick will be on this year’s PDX Pop Now! Compilation! Does this mean we might be playing our favorite wonderful, free, all-ages, Portland music community-building event this summer (also put on by the great people at PDX Pop Now!)? We sincerely hope it’s a possibility.

Check out PDX Pop Now!