Eugene Friesen
Encyclopedia
Eugene Friesen is an American
cellist
and composer
.
Friesen is a graduate of the Yale
School of Music. He has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort
since 1978, and performs with Howard Levy
and Glen Velez
as Trio Globo. He received a Grammy Award
as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for the 1994 album Spanish Angel and again in 2006 for the Consort's Silver Solstice and in 2007 for "Crestone." Friesen has won 3 Grammy Awards to date.
Friesen has broken new ground for the cello, using it in a wide variety of non-classical settings and creating new techniques to expand its role as a solo and accompanying instrument. He has also performed thousands of concerts for young audiences on cello and electric cello
as "Celloman." He is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music
in Boston, Massachusetts and lives in Vermont with his wife, Wendy, and children. Among his prominent students are Rushad Eggleston
, Mads Tolling
, Lindsay Mac, and Nathan Leath. Friesen and his wife run a nonprofit production company, Sonoterra Productions.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Friesen is a graduate of the Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
School of Music. He has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort
Paul Winter Consort
The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group, led by soprano saxophonist Paul Winter. Founded in 1967, the group mixes elements of jazz, classical music, world music, and the sounds of animals and nature. They are often classified as new age music or "ecological jazz", and their unique...
since 1978, and performs with Howard Levy
Howard Levy
Howard Levy is a Grammy Award–winning, American harmonicist, pianist, composer, and producer....
and Glen Velez
Glen Velez
Glen Velez is an American percussionist, vocalist, and composer, specializing in frame drums from around the world. He is largely responsible for the increasing popularity of frame drums in the United States and around the world....
as Trio Globo. He received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for the 1994 album Spanish Angel and again in 2006 for the Consort's Silver Solstice and in 2007 for "Crestone." Friesen has won 3 Grammy Awards to date.
Friesen has broken new ground for the cello, using it in a wide variety of non-classical settings and creating new techniques to expand its role as a solo and accompanying instrument. He has also performed thousands of concerts for young audiences on cello and electric cello
Electric cello
The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built-in pickup can be installed...
as "Celloman." He is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston, Massachusetts and lives in Vermont with his wife, Wendy, and children. Among his prominent students are Rushad Eggleston
Rushad Eggleston
Rushad Eggleston is a contemporary improvisational cellist.Eggleston, a graduate of Carmel High School in Carmel, California, United States, played the cello as a member of the Youth Music Monterey orchestra in Monterey Bay. Later he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts,...
, Mads Tolling
Mads Tolling
Mads Tolling is a Danish-American violinist, violist and composer. Tolling won Grammy Awards for "Best classical crossover album" as part of Turtle Island Quartet's recordings 4+Four and A Love Supreme - The Legacy of John Coltrane . Tolling also recorded on Stanley Clarke's Toys of Men...
, Lindsay Mac, and Nathan Leath. Friesen and his wife run a nonprofit production company, Sonoterra Productions.
As leader
- 1989 - Arms Around You (Living Music)
- 1998 - The Song of Rivers (FiddleTalk Music)
- 2003 - In the Shade of Angels (FiddleTalk Music)
- 2005 - Sono Miho (FiddleTalk Music)
- 2008 - Pure Water, Poetry of Rumi with Coleman Barks (FiddleTalk Music/Maypop Books)
- 2009 - Colorful Transitions