Violinists Bella Hristova and Joel Link; cellists Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos and Yu-wen Wang; and violists Vicki Powell and Roberto Dìaz perform at the Curtis Institute [click to enlarge].

The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, one of the leading music conservatories of the world, has begun a new initiative with students, faculty, and alumni of the august institution playing concerts together on tour. The opening salvo of this undertaking was fired on Monday night, with a concert given at the Curtis’ Field Concert Hall. Curtis’ president and alumnus, violist Roberto Dìaz; alumna Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos (former principal cellist of the OSO), and four current students performed chamber works by Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, and Antonin Dvorak. The concert was also filmed by WHYY for future telecast.

The good news is that you can hear the concert via an archived stream over the internet. Just go to InstantEncore.com to listen to the concert [registration may be necessary, but is free]. Enjoy!

Tim Scott, one of my cellist colleagues from the Oregon Symphony, emailed me a link to the labyrinthine web site of Italian period specialist cellist Claudio Ronco. He looks a bit like Lucian Pavarotti after a few months on Jenny Craig, and he’s clearly got a lot going on with baroque cello. Lots of sound files, instrument pictures and other stuff that defies categorization.

Claudio Ronco site.