Renowned cellist Zuill Bailey to perform at USC this Thursday
Concert cellists are highly dedicated to their craft, often pushing themselves to the height of human ability. So, when someone is widely considered to be one of the best cellists in the world, that really means something.
This Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Koger Center of the Arts, the USC Symphony will host renowned cellist Zuill Bailey. His performance of the Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra will mark Koger's first performance of the semester.
Bailey, a Juilliard graduate, has had an extensive career playing all over the world. His past performances include Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center of the Arts in Washington, D.C. and concerts in Russia with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Along with his impressive resumé comes an always-earnest approach to one of the world's most sacred arts.
“Every performance is very, very different. Where you are in your life at that time and what it signifies at that moment,” Bailey said. “They mean such different things, and that's the whole idea of dedicating one's life to music. It's finding a way to express yourself, the composer's wishes, and the people in the audience.”
For such a dedicated performer, surprisingly, his self-expression regularly changes. With a life so devoted to one instrument, one would think that Bailey would be a man of constancy, but he insists his travels fill his life with variables.
Bailey's excited to play the Koger Center — conductor Donald Portnoy is an old friend he met in the 1990s on one of his many trips to South Carolina. Plus, he said, every group of people produces a different sound.
“To share this piece that we have not yet confirmed together will be very exciting," he said. "It is what live performance is all about: a balance of trust, excitement and adrenaline."
Thanks in part to Portnoy, Bailey is familiar with the Palmetto State among his tours throughout the U.S.
"I was able to work side-by-side with [Portnoy] in teaching the next generation of conductors," Bailey said. "I'm anticipating a lot of old friends and great excitement for this Russian masterwork.”
As you might expect, the virtuoso cellist is paired with an equally impressive instrument. Bailey's cello has quite a history, long surpassing his own many journeys throughout the earth.
“My cello was built in 1693 in Venice, Italy. It's one of two by the maker, Matteo Gofriller,” said Bailey. “It has a rose carved under the fingerboard. It is very large and has a very broad individual sound. I feel like the luckiest person on the face of this earth to play this music from this instrument.”
When he isn't performing around the world, Bailey is a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. Instead of disrupting each other, he finds that his life on the road and life in the classroom complement each other swimmingly.
“One of the great pleasures is to come back from a trip and tell [students] how it went," Bailey said. "Many of my students are working on similar pieces that I'm performing. I can tell them what works, what doesn't work. We share the process together.”