Cello Choir's "Celebrity Concert" featuring cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and the OCSA Orchestra

The program features Tsutsumi’s solo recital performing Bach and Cassado, and the cello ensemble with Tsutsumi and Bongshin Ko performing Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras and Pütz: Tango.
OCSA orchestra will be performing Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol

Cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, an artist who can “add something akin to a spiritual quality (The Herald Times)” to the music, is one of the most notable musicians of his generation and respected mentors of cello performance. Since the debut at the age of 12 with the Tokyo Philharmonic and winning the 1963 International Casals Competition in Budapest, Tsutsumi has performed with the renowned orchestras such as the ORTF, the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Concertgebouw, the Rotterdam, Munich and Warsaw philharmonics and the Chicago, Indianapolis and Vancouver symphonies. One of the most impressive appearances with many great conductors was a concert telecast worldwide at the United Nations with the Toho Gakuen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa. He is also a champion of premiering new music by Japanese composers, such as Toru Takemitsu, Akira Miyoshi, Toshiro Mayuzumi, just naming a few. Touring the globe as soloist, he also busies himself as an educator, leading master classes in US, France, Netherlands, Canada, Taiwan and other Asian countries. After the almost 20 year tenure as Faculty of the Indiana University, he contributed to his Alma Mater, Toho Gakuen School of Music as President for nine years. He is now Music Director of Kirishima International Music Festival(2000-) and President of Suntory Hall(2007-).

He is a recipient of National Academy of Arts Prize in music by the Emperor, Japan’s Medal with Purple Ribbon, the highest honor in Japan and awarded Person of Cultural Merit in 2013. He has been a member of the Japan Art Academy since 2009.

The CSUF Cello Choir, directed by Professor Bongshin Ko, has been in existence since Spring 2001. Its purpose is to introduce music students to the vast array of performance literature for cello ensemble and advance the performance practice of the cello choir. The group’s activities offer a combination of rehearsals, sectionals, workshops/master classes and concerts with guest artists and conductors. Members of the Cello Choir are full-time CSUF students and students enrolled through Cal State Fullerton’s Extended Education. High school students, age 16 and older, may audition for the ensemble.