By Brett Lee
Brigham Young University’s School of Music welcomes guest artist Rhonda Rider who will perform a cello recital Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall.
Admission is free and the public is welcome to attend.
Rider will perform some newly commissioned pieces inspired by the Grand Canyon, as well as a piece by Jonathon Harvey. BYU faculty artist Michelle Kesler will also perform a partita for solo cello by Turkish composer A. Adnan Saygun. Following these numbers, Rider and Kessler will join the BYU Cello Choir for “Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1.”
Rider has a bachelor’s degree in music from the Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s degree in music from the Yale School of Music, where she received instruction from renowned cellists Aldo Pariscot, Zara Nelsova and Richard Kapuscinski. She now is the chair of chamber music at the Boston Conservatory and a member of the cello faculty of Boston University.
Rider explained her experience working on the Grand Canyon Project.
“In 2010-2011, I had the honor to be named artist-in-residence at Grand Canyon National Park. For my residency I asked ten celebrated composers to write pieces inspired by some aspect of Grand Canyon. The result was a group of fantastically imaginative and explorative new works for solo cello. I am indebted to these wonderful composers for the time and talent they have given to this project,” Rider said.
