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Booking

Gregg Little

New Frontier Touring

617-232-6152

gregg@newfrontiertouring.com

Publicity

Angie Carlson

Propeller Publicity

angie@propellerpublicity.com

Artistic Direction

Douglas Jenkins

doug@portlandcelloproject.com

Portland Cello Project Portland Cello Project

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About

In the fall of 2006 a group of 9 cellists got on stage at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge to perform western classical music in an informal setting.

Many of the cellists that night thought it would only happen once.

But slowly that one-off event became a second, and a third, cellists joined and left and rejoined the group again, to perform in Portland's most popular clubs. By 2009 the group had evolved into a nationally-recognized performing, recording and educational group with a revolving cast of cellists. Cello Project (or PCP as their fans affectionately call them) were quickly appearing anywhere and everywhere in North America, from punk rock clubs to symphony halls, from street parties to exclusive private events. By 2010 self-described horde of cellos were spending more than a quarter of the year touring, featuring a diverse repertoire that quickly ballooned to over 1,000 pieces of music.

Under the artistic direction of Douglas Jenkins, the group grew and evolved, working with an all-star group of cellists in the Pacific Northwest (Skip vonKuske, Diane Chaplin, Nancy Ives, Gideon Freudmann, Kevin Jackson, to name just a few...). The group developed a three-part philosophy that has mostly remained unchanged over the years:

To bring the cello places you wouldn't normally see it (from wild dance parties, to formal symphony halls, to street parties, to Millennium Park in Chicago...).

To perform music on the cello you wouldn't normally associate with the instrument alongside music from the Western Classical Tradition (from Pantera to Taylor Swift to Kanye West to Elliott Smith, alongside Bach, Rossini, and Saint-Saens, to name just a few...).

To build bridges between different musical communities through educational, community outreach, and through collaboration with myriad artists, from The Dandy Warhols to Garrison Keillor to Ural Thomas to Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) to Jolie Holland to Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary), among many others, and cellists such as Ben Sollee, Maya Beiser and Zoe Keating.

“It doesn't get much more genre-crossing than this.”

—MTV

“This indie orchestra gives classical music a jolt of energy.”

—Spin Magazine

“The PCP has come to epitomize Portland's offbeat music scene, one where boundaries are blurred and cellos are in abundance.”

—The Strad

“[PCP] concerts are purposely suitable for all demographics: boogie-ing grannies, head nodding hipsters, budding middle-school musicians and everyone in between because bringing everyone together in a spirit of collaboration only adds to the philosophy of diversity that PCP proudly upholds.”

—CMJ

Honoring Prince

Medley of live footage from 12/8/2019 at Revolution Hall in Portland.

TED Talk 2019

Performing Nina Simone, Elgar, and Taylor Swift for TEDx Portland 2019.

Radiohead's Natl. Anthem and How to Disappear Completely

Covering Radiohead's "National Anthem" and "How to Disappear Completely" featuring Nafisaria Scroggins, Farnell Newton, and Tyrone Hendrix.

Denmark

Gideon Freudmann's "Denmark" with video by Two Penguins Productions.

Performing Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off"

From a live performance at Portland's Aladdin Theatre. Featuring Diane Chaplin.

Elliott Smith's Between the Bars

Featuring video by Magaurn Productions shot in the Central Oregon high desert. Featuring Diane Chaplin, Skip vonKuske, Kelly Quesada and Kevin Jackson.

Night in Tunisia

Featuring Farnell Newton, Skip vonKuske, and Tyrone Hendrix.

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Radiohead's "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" featuring Patti King.

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