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Eugene
Friesen
Grammy-winning Cellist and Composer
eugenefriesenmusic.com
The String
Institutes
Program Offerings
Trio
Globo
World Solstice
Celebration
The Cello/Piano Project
The Great Big Piano Trio
Children's Programming: Celloman
"Transcending all
categories, Friesen's music stirs the soul with a passion and sense of 'bright
moments' that are nothing less than inspiring."
- Jazz Times
Eugene Friesen’s gift for the responsive
flow of improvisatory music has been featured in concerts all over the world
with the Paul Winter Consort, Trio Globo,and with poets Yevgeny Yevtushenko
and Coleman Barks. He won a Grammy for the 1994 Paul Winter Consort album, Spanish
Angel, and received grants from the Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Fund and Continental
Harmony to compose a symphonic setting of Carl Sandberg's Prairie. His compositional
credits include five albums of original music. Grasslands, a symphonic/oratorio,
and numerous works for choral and chamber ensembles. Eugene is on the faculty
of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is an artist-in-residence at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. 
Read a feature article in the Rutland Herald The Enterprise
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Grasslands Symphony
The world premiere of Eugene Friesen's Grasslands Symphony was performed by
the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus in June 2006 at the Tallgrass
Prairie National Preserve.
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| Praise for the Grasslands Symphony | |
| Read 'Voices of the Prairie' - an article about the premiere |
Additional Compositions
Music
for String Orchestra -
listen to Maracaibo (mp3)
Workshops
The String Institute with Eugene Friesen
Recent News
Eugene will be one of two featured artists in the
2008 Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.
Eugene Friesen & Tim Ray
The Cello/Piano Project
Musical passion, sweeping melody and rocking rhythm mark one-of-a-kind evenings with Eugene and Tim. Contemporary jazz, Brazilian classics and American folk tunes are the soil from which the duo’s joyful interplay blooms, and chamber music is changed forever. As featured players with the likes of Paul Winter, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt and others, both have cultivated unique styles; together in concert, they honor the sonorities and dignity of classical music, while enlivening the form with bright rhythms, exotic scales, new colors, and improvisation. Programs include original compositions and music by Jobim, Miles Davis, Egberto Gismonti, Thelonius Monk and more.
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The Great Big Piano Trio
Eugene Friesen, cello
Philip Aaberg , piano
Tracy Silverman, violin
Philip Aaberg: "Phil is one of the most gifted people
I have worked with." - Peter Gabriel
Tracy Silverman: "The greatest living exponent of
the electric violin. - BBC Radio
Eugene's newest project brings together three giants of musical innovation. Their debut album, Three-Part
Invention, will be released in 2008.
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Eugene
Friesen Ensemble
World Solstice Celebration
Come mark the cycle of the sun with
hauntingly beautiful music from centuries past in both traditional and contemporary
settings. Featuring ancient carols and airs of the passing seasons, The World
Solstice Celebration sets stories and verse from pre-Christian Rome, Russia,
Scandinavia, the British Isles and native peoples of North America with music
both new and old. Eugene Friesen's rapturous and fiery cello, the crystal soprano
and soothing harp of Áine Minogue, the sparkling piano of Tim Ray and the exotic
and mysterious percussion of Satoshi Takeishi add depth and motion to an evening
of song and story celebrating the origins of our modern holidays and celebrations.
Both winter and summer solstice programs are offered.
Listen to an audio sample.