Menu
Edberg to present a ‘cellobration’ this Wednesday at Gobin
“Echoes Across Generations: A Cellobration” is this week’s free 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Greencastle Summer Music Festival concert in Gobin Church.
Critically acclaimed cellist and GSMF founder Eric Edberg will be joined by pianist Laura Brumbaugh to perform popular cello concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns (No. 1 in A Minor) and Edward Elgar.
Edberg’s deep connection with these works includes studying the Saint-Saëns concerto with Denis Brott, a student of the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky, and later auditioning with that piece for the great cellist Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he studied the Elgar concerto with Rose, who himself was taught by Felix Salmond, for whom the work was composed.
Edberg now passes on this rich heritage to his students and will honor the legacy by performing seated on a unique chair autographed by Rose in the 1970s.
“I’ll tell some stories about what these pieces and these teachers have meant to me, and what a privilege it is to pass what I have learned on to my students,” Edberg explained. “I talk to them often about their ‘cello grandparents and great-grandparents,’ most of whom are now our ‘cello guardian angels.’ Just as the GSMF is a celebration of community, of ‘friends making music for friends,’ this week is a celebration of multi-generational musical and educational communities.”
As with all GSMF concerts, there’s no admission charge. This week’s concert is sponsored by Bill and Lucy Wieland, in thanksgiving for the enduring spirit of the creative and performing arts. The festival is funded by community members like the Wielands, an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation and businesses including The Inn at DePauw, the Doc’s Inn, First National Bank, North Salem State Bank, Old National Bank and Tri-County Bank and Trust.
The festival continues next week on July 10 with singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer, joined by pianist Gary Walters, and on July 17 will present “An Evening of Jazz with Steve Snyder.”
Edberg is a critically acclaimed classical and improvising cellist (praised for “an excellent solo performance” by the Washington Post and “appealing tone” by the New York Times), concert organizer, workshop leader and drum circle facilitator committed to connecting and enlivening people through music. He has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Dedicated to music as a healing force and to bringing classical music to nontraditional locations, Edberg has played in nursing homes, schools, hospitals, prisons and even the New York City subways.
At DePauw University, where he is the Cassel Grubb Professor of Music Emeritus, he coached one of the country’s few non-jazz performing improvisation ensembles and taught courses on music entrepreneurship, innovative concert presentation, and leadership. He has also taught leadership courses at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.
Edberg attended high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts and also studied at Juilliard, Peabody, SUNY Stony Brook and Florida State University. His teachers have included the eminent cellists Denis Brott, Nelson Cooke, Bernard Greenhouse and Leonard Rose.
Laura Brumbaugh is a vocal coach and collaborative pianist with extensive experience in both teaching and performance. She currently serves as a repetiteur for vocal pops performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, including their acclaimed Yuletide Celebration. Previously, she served on the faculties of DePauw University, the University of Texas-Brownsville and the Savannah Voice Festival.
Equally skilled in instrumental collaboration, Brumbaugh has performed in recital with principal musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras. She has performed at national conferences for the National Opera Association, National Flute Association and the College Music Society.
A fervent advocate for contemporary music, she has collaborated closely with composers such as Mark Adamo and Gabriela Lena Frank. Brumbaugh earned her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012, after completing a double-degree program at Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2010, earning a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies and a B.M. in Piano Performance. Her principal teachers include Margaret McDonald, Mutsumi Moteki, Monique Duphil and James Howsmon.