Octocelliwill play a wide range of music, from Corelli to Jon Bon Jovi, in a free concert at 7:30 pm on March 15 at Kalamazoo College's Dalton Theater. Cellists David Peshlakai and Anne Sherfield talked about the music and the group's cameraderie with Cara Lieurance.
Many of Octocelli's members, including Peshlakai and Sherfield, play in the cello section of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia. A member of the music faculty at Hillsdale College, Peshlakai talks about the the physical and spiritual components of learning the cello, and the challenge kids face in staying focused with modern distractions all around.
Sherfield says a great teacher can make all the difference. In her experience as a substitute teacher, Leo Hazen and Silvia Sidorane gained her admiration for how much their students loved learning from them. She also remembers the loyalty Julius Stulberg earned as leader of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra. The Stulberg International String Competition is named for him.