On March 17, Gregory Beaver will perform a mostly solo recital of cello music ranging from the 20th century masterpiece “Sonata for solo cello” by Zoltán Kodály in the 50th anniversary of his death to a Nebraska premiere. Kodály’s Sonata was the first major work written for solo cello since J.S. Bach wrote his 6 Suites in the 1720s, and it sparked a renaissance in pieces for solo cello. Damon Lee’s “Grace” for solo cello was commissioned by Mr. Beaver, and will receive its Nebraska premiere. 21 by Andy Akiho is a rocking duet with percussion and cello, and features Dr. Dave Hall along with Mr. Beaver and asks everyone to play some percussion, so Mr. Beaver will make his percussion debut playing kick drum along with the cello part. It will be an exciting way to spend St. Patrick’s day!

Gregory Beaver is the cellist of the internationally-recognized Chiara String Quartet in residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The quartet has received rave reviews around the globe, recently touring South Korea and China. Their album “Jefferson Friedman: Quartets” was nominated for a Grammy in 2008. As a soloist, Mr. Beaver won the 1997 Corpus Christi Young Artist’s Competition and was selected as one of the two quarterfinalists from the United States for the Australasian International Cello Competition in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In 2015, Mr. Beaver performed the complete Unaccompanied Cello Suites of Bach in a single concert in both Massachusetts and in 2016 he will perform them over live webcast. He has a BM cum laude from Rice University where he studied with Norman Fischer, an MM from The Juilliard School where he studied with Joel Krosnick, and an Artist Diploma in String Quartet Studies from The Juilliard School where he studied with the Juilliard String Quartet. His blog is a popular source of information on advanced cello techniques and has the definitive article on traveling with a cello by air.

Free and open to the public.