Eugene Friesen

Eugene Friesen (born 1952) is an American cellist and composer.

Friesen is a graduate of the Yale School of Music.^[1] He has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort since 1978, and performs with Howard Levy and Glen Velez as Trio Globo.^[2] He received a Grammy Award as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for the 1994 album Spanish Angel^[3] and again in 2006 for the Consort's Silver Solstice in 2007 for "Crestone," and in 2011 for "Miho: Journey to the Mountain." Friesen has won 4 Grammy Awards to date.

Friesen has broken new ground for the cello, using it in a wide variety of non-classical settings and creating new techniques to expand its role as a solo and accompanying instrument–although he cannot improvise melodically through chord progressions. He has also performed thousands of concerts for young audiences on cello and electric cello as "Celloman."^[4]

In 2012, Friesen's book, "Improvisation for Classical Musicians" was published by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard.

He is a Professor at the Berklee College of Music^[1] in Boston, Massachusetts and lives in Vermont. Among his prominent students are Rushad Eggleston, Mads Tolling, Lindsay Mac, and Nathan Leath. Friesen also runs a nonprofit production company, Sonoterra Productions, producing concerts, recordings and workshops.

Discography

As leader

1989 - Arms Around You (Living Music)
1998 - The Song of Rivers (FiddleTalk Music)
2003 - In the Shade of Angels (FiddleTalk Music)
2005 - Sono Miho (FiddleTalk Music)
2008 - Pure Water, Poetry of Rumi with Coleman Barks (FiddleTalk Music/Maypop Books)
2009 - Colorful Transitions

With Paul Halley

1986 - New Friend (Living Music)

With Dream Theater

2003 - Vacant (Dream Theater's Train of Thought)

References