by Aaron Von Cello

HONORS and AWARDS

Inclusion in the International Who’s Who of Professionals, 2004
Inclusion in Who’s Who In America, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000
Winner of ASCAPLUS Award/Grant, from ASCAP, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001,2000
Offered Professor of Cello position at the State University of New York at Potsdam, 2001
Accepted as voting member of NARAS (the Grammys), 2000
Composer for two time Nova Award winning video, "So, You’re Having A Baby", 1993
Winner of two Certificates of Merit, Billboard Song Contest, 1990
Composer for experimental/documentary film "Dream City", Silver Award for Experimental Film, Houston Film Festival, 1989, Jury Award, New York Exposition of Short Film and Video, 1989

ENDORSEMENTS

Yamaha Electric Cello
D'Addario Strings
PegHeds Cello Endpin

PERFORMED WITH MUSICIANS

Rock Musicians: David Bowie, Patti Smith, The Plasmatics
Classical Conductors: Edo de Waart, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Gerard Schwartz, Lukus Foss
Singers: Tony Bennet, Mel Torme, Al Martino, Roberta Peters, Birgit Nilssohn

CD RELEASES

Von Cello Rules, Orange Dawg Productions, 2002
Breaking The Sound Barriers, Orange Dawg Productions, 2000

PUBLICATIONS

Judaic Concert Suite for solo cello, Oxford University Press, 2003
Pacific Northwest Suite, Oxford University Press, 1998
Ten Young American Ensembles, Oxford University Press, 1995
Three American Pieces for unaccompanied viola, Oxford University Press, 1991
Three Concert Etudes for unaccompanied cello, Oxford University Press, 1990
Three American Cello Duets, Oxford University Press, 1989
Ten American Cello Etudes, Oxford University Press, 1988

CURRICULUMS (That Include Minsky’s Music)

American String Teachers' Association Curriculum
A Guide to the Standard Cello Repertoire, by Jeffrey Solow
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Curriculum, United Kingdom
New York State School Music Association Manual

REVIEWS

Positive reviews in many publications including:
Sheet Music (U.K.), 1996
The American String Teacher, 1995
The Strad (U.K.), 1989
Strings Magazine, 1988
Music Journal of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (U.K.), 1988

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

"FOX and Friends", the FOX cable network's morning news show, 2002
Kanawhapalooza Music Festival, Von Cello Band, Charlottesville, WV, 2002
American String Teacher's Association, New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ, 2001
Rock Against Violence, outdoor benefit concert for the victims of the 9/11 attack,
Star Spangled Banner with Phil Carnevale (drums), Harrisburg, PA, 2001
Nashville New Music Confernce, Von Cello Band at Springwater club, TN, 2001
Conducted the NYSSMA Directors' Orchestra and gave clinic, Albany, NY, 2001
Sixth American Cello Congress, University of Maryland, MD, 2001
Yamaha Performance and Clinic, Maine Music Educators Association, ME, 2001
Regis and Kelly Show, ABC Television, NYC, 2001
Yamaha Performance and Clinic, New York State University at Potsdam, NY 2000
World Cello Congress III, Towson University, MD, 2000
New Directions Cello Festival, University of Connecticut, 2000, 1998
Interactive Music Xpo, Javits Convention Center, NYC, 1999
Interviews and performances on Reuters, Associated Press & FOX, 1999
Ithaca College Suzuki Festival, Ithaca College, 1997
New Directions Cello Festival, Knitting Factory, NYC, 1996
100th Anniversary Concert, Music Publishers’ Association of the United States, NYC, 1995
First World Cello Congress, University of Maryland, 1988

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by Aaron Von Cello

Am I a rock musician or a classical musician? The answer will vary depending on when someone knew me.

Bands
1. The Sound Smashers - was my first rock band. In sixth grade, we were a smash at our elementary school talent show (although Neil’s “kazatski” dance gave us some competition).

2. Hang Nail - was my junior high school band. In those days, bands had their names neatly printed on the bass drum skin. We just threw green and purple paint all over ours. Despite this, we won an award from the Knights of Pythias. (Who was Pythias anyway?)

3. Spunk - was my first professional band. I joined in tenth grade. We did the sweet sixteen and party circuit, playing in back yards and catering halls. A good cover band.

4. We’re Only In It For The Money - was my next high school band. This band was full of creativity and humor. We got the strangest looks from parents (who were hiring us on recommendation of their kids) when they asked us our name. (Our unofficial name was The Steven Epstein Band because our bass player, Steven Epstein, was the weakest player. The amazing thing was that he had a way of making his sound so bassy that you couldn’t tell!) Kids loved our band because we were good musicians and even better pranksters. My favorite thing was to start a paid gig with a noisy atonal improvisation and then, just as the parent who had hired us would start heading toward the band stand to scream at us, we would break into Johnny Be Good: the parent would stop dead in his tracks, the kids would jump to the dance floor, and the whole place would go nuts! (The other band members were Steve's brother Mitch and Perry Seigle who is mentioned several places on this site.)

5. The birth pangs of Von Cello - By this time I was very well known as a lead guitarist but I wanted to do something truly original. When I stopped playing gigs to sit home all day practicing the cello, many people were shocked. They would say, “You’re a great rock guitarist. Everybody in the neighborhood loves to hear you play. How can you just quit and start playing the cello?” To which I would reply, “Because I am Von Cello!” What could they say to that?! They started calling me Von Cello.

6. The Plasmatics - yes the real Plasmatics of Wendy O fame. Come to think of it, this was my debut as a rock cellist. I saw an ad at my college from a rock band looking for a string quartet. I put together a quartet and we passed the audition. Wearing butcher robes, sunglasses and headphones, we played the Calderon and the Ritz. We were scheduled to play the Capitol Theater next but the guitarist broke his leg jumping off the stage. So ended my promising career with the Plasmatics. (That’s rock n’ roll for ya!)

7. The Adams McDowell Band - was my first post college band. They were successful songwriters who came up with an acoustic rock music they called Classical Pop. The band had promise but lacked the necessary determination. We did however play many New York clubs. Our most prestigious gig was at Brooklyn College, opening for Phyllis Diller. (Hey, its not funny!)

8. Band That Never Got Out Of The Garage - No, that’s not the real name, in fact we never did have a name, but I spent a year in a two cellist band, managed by (Jefferson Starship’s fiddler) Papa John Creach’s manager, which never played live.

9. Steve Ronson - was a very intense illusionist/ musician who had a connection with Sid Bernstein (the guy who brought the Beatles to Shea Stadium) but it all went up in smoke.

10. Dear France - had a good pop sound and played many clubs but lost steam after a while. I was recently contacted by the founder who now has a website (www.dearfrance.com).

11. Smooth Groove - was founded by three of the Dear France alumni. After years of going nowhere playing cello in off-center bands, I switched back to guitar and played jazz inspired dance music. We had a Latin female singer and later a Black female singer. We got some respect in the music biz but by then rap was in and we were told we weren’t “street” enough (a code word). Actually I think we were ahead of our time.

12. Tex Matthews - Giving up on multi ethnic crossover, I took my “guiter” and joined a country band, but not a normal country band. Tex was this guy from Queens, N.Y. who had ideas like shooting the video for the song First Train To Memphis on a New York City subway. It was funny stuff. Too funny, I reckon.

13. The Aaron Minsky Trio - I reentered the world of rock cello with this short lived trio. We played at the University of Connecticut and got such a great response that it even surprised me. The band broke up after the gig, but it got me thinking.

14. Von Cello - After all of my attempts to fit into established musical formats I have finally returned to my original goal. Now, just like in those days when I first shocked my rock friends, I’m now shocking my classical friends. Von Cello rides again!


Singer-Songwriter
During high school I also played gigs as a singer-songwriter. I started writing songs at age 12 and by 14 I had some pretty good ones. I played at festivals, clubs, and community centers. My four most memorable performances were as follows:

1. My first paid gig was at a famous coffee house called Pips, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. I was 13 years old.
2. I opened for Pete Seeger at an environmental street festival in Seaview Park, Brooklyn, when I was 16.
3. At 17, I worked at French Woods Music Festival for the summer. At the end of the season I gave a concert in which I played guitar and sang songs I had written during the summer. One was about a girl in the camp, which brought tears to her eyes. Everyone was surprised to hear such songs from someone they thought of as a cellist. One of the teachers even offered to introduce me to a friend who was recording Frank Sinatra, but by then I was committed to learning to play the cello. (Makes you wonder though.)
4. At my high school graduation ceremony I played a movement of a Vivaldi Sonata and then flipped the cello over my knee giving my first performance as a singer-songwriter-cellist! One parent told mine, “Your kid is going to make it. Anyone who has the guts to do that has got to make it!” I couldn’t understand the fuss. I was just doing what came naturally.


Endorsements
Now that the word about Von Cello is getting out there, I have been offered several endorsement deals. Some are unofficial, meaning that I have received the artist deal on the equipment because the company sees value in having people see me using their products, however, news of the deal is not made public. Other companies have given me official endorsement deals, and other deals are still in the works. My current official endorsement deals are with the following companies:

Yamaha - Silent Electric Cello (see Updates!)
Gallien-Krueger - Amplifiers (I use the 350 watt 700RB.)
PegHeds - Cello End Pin (cuts through any floor!)
D'Addario Strings (as a bowed instrument artist and a rock artist, the only one in both categories!)

Education
1. Driving my parents crazy for music lessons at the age of four, they took me to the neighborhood guitar teacher. He said, “come back when you’re seven”. I came back when I was seven. He taught me American standards and show tunes. It wasn’t what I really wanted to learn, but in those days, rock was still taboo.
2. At age twelve I switched to a young hip guitar teacher. We spent lessons transcribing solos from Hendrix, Clapton and others. I started improvising and writing songs.
3. After a year with that teacher, he said he taught me all he could, so I continued experimenting on my own looking for a new sound until I realized that something really new would be to play rock cello!

Other Rock Credentials
1. Went to sleep away camp a few miles from the original Woodstock festival. I was too young to go, but being in that location that summer was a real eye opener.
2. Saw first live rock concert at age 13.
3. Traveled several states by all night bus to an outdoor all day rock festival at age 14.
4. Ran away to Height Ashbury...well I didn’t actually run away...and by then no one was there anyway...but at least I went!
5. Grew my hair, cut my hair, grew my hair. The rest is history!

Updates
To see what has been happening since 8/99, see the Official Short Resume above, and go to Updates.

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Classical and Freelance Resume of Aaron Von Cello

by Aaron Von Cello

For those of you who know me only as a rock musician, I present my history in classical and freelance music:

1. First Sign of Musical Talent - before my birth, my parents went to see West Side Story and I started kicking so hard in my mothers’ stomach that I knocked her out of her seat! (That was when my parents knew I would become a musician.)

2. Started being exposed to classical music in the crib. My father wanted me to like it. (Take note all you parents out there; it worked!)

3. Started to play the cello in the junior high school orchestra at age 11, without private lessons or proper instruction. (I had been studying the guitar since I was 7.) At age 15 I started experimenting with new sounds. Then I quit for six months to get rid of bad habits and start fresh with an expert cello teacher. (During those months, I plucked the cello’s strings once a day as a ritual and imagined myself as a great cellist.)

4. Started cello lessons at age 16. During my first cello lesson my teacher George Saslow said, “Sixteen is very late to become a professional cellist but you could always play quartets for fun or play in a community orchestra”. By the third lesson he said, “If the other kids are on a train, you’re on a plane. If you really practice hard you’ll make it”.

5. Later that year I played a concert with the New York All City High School Orchestra along side New York Philharmonic member Evangeline Bennedeti. She said, “one day you’ll have a job like mine”.

6. That spring I got accepted into Boston Conservatory of Music (with less than a year of cello lessons) and left in the fall to study with Boston Symphony cellist Jonathan Miller.

7. I was accepted into Manhattan School of Music the next year but chose to study intensely with Einar Holm, upstate in Ithaca, N.Y. (Two lessons per week plus orchestra and chamber music at Ithaca College, nothing else. The only other thing I did was practice all day, every day. In fact, I practiced for at least 4 hours every day for eight years straight, missing only 12 days, and those were due to emergencies!)

8. The next year I started studying at Manhattan School with David Wells, going straight through to a Bachelors degree and Masters degree (with scholarship) in music performance. My coaches included Lillian Fuchs, Arianna Bronne, Paul Zukofsky, Louis Bagger and Fritz Kramer. I also paid a lot of attention to my music history and composition classes. Some summers were spent studying with Juilliard cello professors Channing Robbins and Harvey Shapiro. Lessons were also taken with other well known cellists. I also owe a debt to Lorne Faraldi, my Alexander Technique teacher, who taught me a whole new physical approach to the instrument. I studied with many teachers because I didn’t want to be part of any particular school of playing. I wanted to know them all so I could develop my own.

9. Direct from graduation I went to Venezuela joining the Filarmonica de Caracas. This was where I learned to hate dictatorial conductors. It was a great orchestra and we played great music, but after that experience I knew it was time to go back to my rock roots. But how?

10. Back in New York, realizing the difficulties of breaking into freelancing, I auditioned for, and was accepted into, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra of Israel, but decided to tough it out in New York.

11. For the next few years I played in many orchestras, such as:

First World Cello Congress Orchestra, section leader, Washington, DC
Haydn Mozart Chamber Orchestra, NY
National Orchestral Association, NY
Virginia Opera, VA
Virginia Philharmonic, VA
American Philharmonic, NY & Washington DC tour
Brooklyn Lyric Opera, NY
Hoboken Chamber Orchestra, NJ
Staten Island Symphony, NY
Waterloo Festival Orchestra (with New York Philharmonic members), NJ
Cosmopolitan Orchestra, NY

12. I gave many solo and chamber performances, such as:

Winner, St. Paul Recital Series Competition, NY
Trio performance for the Artist International Series, Carnegie Recital Hall , NY
Several Radio Broadcasts, The Linden Trio, WNCN - FM, NY
Chamber Recordings for feature films on channel 13, PBS

13. The freelance side of things eventually took off:

• A) Played in Broadway shows: Cats and Woman of the Year
• B) Worked with singers: Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Sergio Franchi, Al Martino, Roberta Peters, Birgit Nilssohn, Claire Barry, Schlomo Carlibach
• C) Performed for VIP’s: President Reagan, Senators Inouye, Hollings and Lautenberg, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Bill Bradley, Casper Weinberger, David Dinkins, Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Trump, Mariah Carey, Tommy Mattola, Bruce Springstein, Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, Daryl Hannah, Raoul Julia, Norman Lear, many others
• D) Performed for major corporations: AT&T, Merk, Pfizer, JP Morgan, Citicorp, International Paper Company, Deutschebank, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, American Express, Zeckendorf Real Estate, Metropolitan Life, Helmsley Real Estate, San Francisco Hilton, Mommessin LTD., Micheal C. Fina, Cartier, many more
• E) Performed for charitable organizations: Mothers’ March Against Aids, Theater Rehabilitation for Youth, Yad VaShem Memorial, B’nai Brith, many more
• E) Performed in top halls, venues and hotels: Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Wolf Trap, New Jersey Governors Mansion, University of Maryland, University of Connecticut, Brooklyn College, Manhattan School of Music, Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Javits Convention Center, Waldorf Hotel, Plaza Hotel, Pierre Hotel, St. Regis Hotel, The Rainbow Room, The Box Tree, The Bird and Bottle, Tavern on the Green, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York, Museum of the American Indian, Morgan Library, Lincoln Center Library, Citicorp Plaza, International Paper Plaza, Le Cirque, 21 Club, Metropolitan Club, Harmony Club, Union Club, University Club, Yale Club, Brook Club, many more
• F) Performed in rock venues: The Ritz, The Calderon, CBGB’s, Bitter End, Kenny’s Castaways, The Wave, RT Firefly, Scobeedobee’s, Fridays, many more

14. While all of this was going on, Oxford University Press was publishing my music. The pieces are now standard string repertoire, listed in the curriculums of prestigious local and international musical organizations and played by musicians throughout the world. (My 1999 tracking statement from ASCAP listed performances in South Africa, Spain, Austria and Britain.) In year 2000 I got a grant from ASCAP as a winner of their ASCAPLUS award. For more information about the books go to Compositions.

15. Top single engagement cellist in New York City:

Do to my unique ability to play chords, bass lines, and the melodies and harmonies of hundreds of songs from memory, as well as to improvise, I am the first call cellist of the top single engagement booking agents in New York City. I play around a hundred of these gigs a year.

16. There is no doubt as to my credentials as a classical musician, but deep down in my soul I love to rock and roll! My mission has been to create a new style of cello playing, and judging from the sales and acceptance of my books, it has been a success. Now I want to move to the next level, creating a new style of music. In the past there has been rock music that crossed over to classical and classical music that crossed over to pop, but now I am creating a music that doesn’t cross over to anywhere but is both rock and classical at once! I call it “New Classic Rock”. To hear what I mean, listen to my CD - Breaking The Sound Barriers!

17. Updates:

To see what has been happening since 8/99, see the Official Short Resume above, and go to Updates.

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