I will be playing a bunch of original songs LIVE for YOU this Saturday, Oct 24 at 8:30p ET in celebration of my new album release this weekend! Hope to see you through the screen! :)
You can watch via https://www.facebook.com/BlockCello/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/BlockCello/live
Read MoreToday we are premiering a gorgeous new music video for my song "Hills of Arkansas", illustrated by my longtime friend and collaborator, Kevork Mourad, for the release of the 3rd and final single from my upcoming album of original songs, The Edge of the Atmosphere, which will be released on Oct 23.
“Hills of Arkansas’ is inspired by an actual memory of a picture-perfect summer day of horseback riding in the Ozarks. The experience was so simple and so beautiful, that it left me with the lingering feeling that it was just too nice to be real - maybe I didn’t really belong, or even deserve to have such a luxurious experience. Contemplating that feeling made me wonder how I might react if I found myself in heaven, and what it means to really feel ‘at home’ somewhere.”
Read MoreTHIS Sunday at 3p ET, I’ll be hosting the virtual CelloBello Gala Fundraiser, featuring exclusive performances and conversation with 5 of the greatest cellists in the world: Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alisa Weilerstein, Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, and Pieter Wispelwey! Tickets at CelloBello.org
Read MorePLAY FOR THE VOTE is organizing musical performances at polling locations across the country on Election Day with the goal of increasing voter turnout by providing a more positive voting experience.
We just went public at www.PlayForTheVote.com, and are now accepting signups from musicians of all backgrounds who are interested in performing! Join us!
Read MoreYou can now listen to my new original songs “If I Can Help It” or “Tenfold” on Spotify!
Read MoreMy new album GUZO debuted at #9 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart! Its hard to complain about ranking behind Yo-Yo and fricking STAR WARS! get your copy of GUZO here: https://www.brightshiny.ninja/guzo
Read MoreGuzo is out now! Each cross-cultural composition on this album represents an artistic risk. We stretched the environment for the cello beyond traditional limitations through cultural juxtaposition, and I stretched my own compositional language and performance comfort zone too. I can't wait for you to hear it.
Please check it out and order yours today!
Read MoreYo-Yo and the renowned children’s entertainer Raffi teamed up for a brand new song, and asked me to write another arrangement for Yo-Yo to play - this time we went with a fun trio of parts to support Raffi’s beautiful message of gratitude in “For All You Do”. Listen Here.
Read MoreNew (and FINAL?!) Bach in the Bathroom video posted, of Prelude from the 6th Suite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwvHAR4ZGE&feature=youtu.be I've now made it through all 36 movements in the bathroom BachInTheBathroom.com
Read MoreEarlier this month, over 200 participants from 13 countries joined 16 Faculty on Zoom for a week of activities and classes for the Mike Block String Camp ONLINE 2020 experience, and we are excited to share our remotely-collaborative music video that we filmed/edited during camp to commemorate our time together, and to pay tribute to our beloved friend/collaborator/teacher Emy Phelps, who passed away a few weeks before camp. We performed the Haitian song “Fey-O”, which Emy taught the MBSC vocal class in 2011, and we hope that this video helps continue the spreading of joy and love through music that was a hallmark of Emy’s life. This video includes 2020 MBSC Faculty Darol Anger, Natalie MacMaster, Casey Driessen, Hanneke Cassel, Natalie Haas, Joe K. Walsh, Trina Basu, Arun Ramamurthy, Lauren Rioux, Melissa Brun, Taylor Morris, Colin Cotter, and past teachers who knew Emy well: Kimber Ludiker, Clay Ross, and Jeremy Kittel.
Read MoreJUST RELEASED today! Yo-Yo Ma performs my zany multi-cello arrangement of the beloved children song with Raffi himself! :) Watch the video HERE.
Read MoreALL 16 Faculty-Artists performed for our our annual Scholarship Fundraising Faculty Concert. You can watch the whole concert HERE!
Read MoreSilkroad’s Global Musician Workshop was cancelled due to COVID-19, but all of the faculty is sharing online performances/discussions with Q&A all this week and next week at NOON ET each day! :) Join us at www.Facebook.com/SilkRoadProject
Read MoreMike Block String Camp ONLINE 2020 is a "GO" for launch, July 6-11! :) Our hope is to make the virtual experience as meaningful as possible by maintaining our level-based classes, community-building activities, the ever-popular Elective Classes, as well as nightly play-along jams, and performances by both faculty and students. All students this year will be together in the ONLINE TRACK, and when you enroll, you will gain access to "Member Only" pages of the website, which is where we will share elective class options, and Zoom meeting links to all the classes. Students will even be able to create a profile and connect with each other through our member directory. :) http://www.MikeBlockStringCamp.com/
Read MoreJoin me this Friday, May 15th at 8:30-9:30p ET for a special Facebook Live concert fundraiser to help raise funds for Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic house built in the late 1930s. Fallingwater, recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. is unable to host visitors and lead tours at this time, preventing them from bringing in the necessary funds for regular care of the house, its collection, and the natural landscape. All of their major restoration projects are on hold.
Watch on Facebook, or Youtube.
Read MoreI’ve been doing a lot of arranging for an upcoming collaboration between Yo-Yo and Angelique, for which I’m serving as Music Director. Even though we can’t be together in person, we were able to release this virtual collaboration of the traditional song Blewu that I arranged - WATCH IT HERE!
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