The cello is often described as the instrument which most closely describes the human voice. You probably know the instrument is the standard part of a symphony orchestra but the group coming to the California center for the arts this weekend is breaking the tradition performing at clubs and bars and played music that is unusual for the cello from heavy metal to hip-hop. Here is a sample of the Portland cello project. This is Diane Chaplin I am the director of educational outreach for the parliament -- Portland cello project. Would like to say that we were started sort of accidentally as all good things. We had a good group of people that decided it would be fun to hang out and play music together as cellists which is not something that often happens a Multiplan orchestra. Most of us play in small chamber groups are solar kinds of things and you don't get to hang out with other cellists as much unless you make them all cellist group. And got taken into a public clubs and everybody really liked it The mission of the cello Portland project -- Portland cello project is to bring the music into places you might not hear it like punk bars or block arteries on loading docks as well as performing a centers and to play music on the cello's that you normally would not expect to hear on the cello. Something that would resemble a regular show is usually a mix of a lot of different kinds of genres. For instance we might play a classical piece followed by a jazz piece followed by a heavy metal piece. Maybe another classical piece there is usually a wide variety of different styles and genres that we portray in our concerts. This is approximately the range we can really cover all of the vocal ranges and because of that we can also cover what would be like a full course of voices or her kestrel instruments. This can be done in a way that a lot of instruments can't. We have a lot of things planned in the program that we have coming up in Escondido we are playing our classical rest try and we hit a lot of the classical repertoire there. We have pieces that are purely cello pieces. One of the things we have done fairly recently is put out Elliott Smith music. This is an interesting example of the kind of work that we like to do. Half the album is covers of Elliott Smith songs. This is carried over from the Portland area. He definitely had a lot of sorrow and pain and his wife which makes his music very poignant and it translates well to the cello. Half of this Avenue is Elliott Smith covers and we will be playing those in Escondido. The other half of the -- it is loosely based on Elliott Smith music. This is really cool because we got to collaborate with you composers We are very excited to be coming to play in Escondido we are really looking forward to it and the audience will really love the program. That was Diane Chaplin this will be coming to the California center for the arts in Escondido this Sunday. The story was produced by Melissa Carrere. Be sure to watch KPBS evening edition at five. Join us again tomorrow for KPBS midday edition starting at noon I am Maureen Cavanaugh and thank you for listening.
Portland Cello Project
When: Sunday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: California Center for the Arts
Cost: $30-$45
The cello is often described as the musical instrument that most closely resembles the human voice. Its range is very similar to the range of the of the human singing voice. Cellists are able to reach notes mirroring the lowest bass to the highest soprano voice.
An all-cello group from Portland is taking that range to new heights and putting a modern spin on the classical four-stringed instrument.
The "Portland Cello Project" has been taking the cello into clubs and punk bars, playing music that's unusual for the cello, from hip-hop to heavy metal.
Diane Chaplin, a member of the "Portland Cello Project," discusses Wednesday on Midday Edition, the group's mission and what to expect at their upcoming show in Escondido.
