Hooray! We have some exciting news for our Mike Block String Camp community: we're planning an IN-PERSON CAMP July 4-9, 2022.
You can enroll now at www.mikeblockstringcamp.com
We're eager to make music with YOU in 22!
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BIG CONGRATS to Yo-Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo for the 2022 Grammy Nomination for Best Global Music Performance for the track “Blewu”, which was an arrangement I made for them to perform as a duo, and is on Yo-Yo’s most recent album “Notes for the Future” :) :)
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GUIDED PRACTICE SESSIONS are starting up again! www.GuidedPracticeSessions.com
This September-December features 9 world-class teachers from Mike Block String Camp, each offering a different unit of weekly LIVE Guided Practice Sessions (all recorded for later viewing).
These aren’t typical workshops, but more like a regular group class at the gym, or a Peloton workout for musicians!
Each GPS leader brings different repertoire, style, and skills to work on, and each unit has a custom curriculum that progressively builds on the participant needs and interaction during Q&A sessions. We’ll all come out the other end with new skills, new inspiration, and new friends!
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Yo-Yo’s new album, “Notes for the Future”, features cello parts I wrote for him on 4 out of 9 tracks, including both singles “Blewu”, a collaboration with Angelique Kidjo, and “"Ha'oud", collaborating with the wonderful Lebanese band مشروع ليلى Mashrou' Leila. More info at https://www.yo-yoma.com/news/new-album-features-artists-from-five-continents/
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I was lucky enough to get to write the cello part for Yo-Yo Ma to record on a cover of one of my favorite Metallica songs sung by Miley Cyrus! If that wasn’t enough, Elton John played piano on the track, and the Grammy Award-Winning producer Andrew Watt spoke ridiculous sentences to me out loud that included phrases like “can you line up with Elton’s piano riff here?” #PinchMe
So, um, yeah … I’m pretty honored to contribute to this epic EPIC track … Yo-Yo is featured more in the second half, but the whole track is well worth a listen everyone sounds amazing. It deserves the over 10 million plays it’s already got in Spotify and 4 million views on Youtube….
https://open.spotify.com/track/43YC4iYmSsYueViJR4dBGA?si=cb6533947429400e
"Mike Block is one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene".... quite an opening line from the new review from Gramomphone Magazine/Songlines for my duo album with Sandeep Das, which they say has "an extraordinary variety of sounds, moods, and styles form just twin Indian hand drums and a cello". You can sget YOUR own moody album here: https://www.brightshiny.ninja/where-the-soul-never-dies
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Featuring Darol Anger, Casey Driessen, Natalie Haas, Hanneke Cassel, Zach Brock, Arun Ramamurthy, Trina Basu, Lauren Rioux, Colin Cotter, Joe K. Walsh, Taylor Morris, and our newest faculty member, Joe Troop, leader of the Grammy-Nominated folk band Che Apalache.
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The second video supporting my upcoming debut album with Sandeep Das is premiered today by the fantastic publication “I Care if You Listen”, from the American Composers Forum!
CLICK HERE to Watch the music video for my original composition “Fight or Flight”
CLICK here to pre-order the album!
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Watch our cello/tabla version of this Appalachian fiddle tune HERE!
You can pre-order the whole album HERE!
‘Glory in the Meeting House’ is a traditional Appalachian fiddle tune, learned via Kentucky fiddler Luther Strong, who recorded it for Alan Lomax in 1937. In addition to adapting the fiddle melody for the cello, I changed the tuning of my instrument to create low drone strings in the key of E, to broaden the rhythmic texture surrounding the melody. This track also marks the the first time in Sandeep’s career that he has experimented with using two separate Tabla's, tuned to different pitches, creating an untraditional percussive texture with multiple pitches. We hope you enjoy this rocking tune, with a a beautiful video by Luke Zvara.
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#PandemicDreamJob this week when I got to conduct a killer string orchestra recording an arrangement I wrote with Andrew Watt (who just won the Grammy for Producer of the Year!!) for a pop song he is producing. I will be excited to share the final product when possible ... !
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My pre-recorded performance with Malian musician Balla Kouyate in our collaborative 6-piece West African / American fusion band was presented by the Green Guest Artist Series of Depauw University this evening! You can watch the performance HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqne5dcfdow
After getting tested and rehearsed, we recorded it at the beautiful Shalin Liu Performance Center overlooking the ocean in Rockport, MA, and boy, did it feel amazing to play such invigorating music with such a powerful band after a year of isolation! If you’re able to check it out, I’m sure you’ll feel the joy and connection that we felt in the moment
Balla Kouyaté - balafon, vocals
Mike Block - cello, vocals
Sidy Maiga - djembe, vocals
Idrissa Kone - percussion, vocals
Luke Okerlund - guitars
Michael Rivard - bass, sintir
Are you in a pandemic practicing rut? Join me for daily Guided Practice Sessions, focusing on specific themes one week at a time!
Week 1: March 8-12 Relaxation and Healthy Body Use: A Technique Bootcamp - for cellists
Week 2: March 15-19 Rhythmic String Playing & Chopping - for bowed string players
Week 3: March 22-26 Improvisation - all musicians welcome
Learn more: https://www.mikeblockmusic.com/guided-practice-sessions
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I transcribed Jerry Seinfeld’s performance of “The Audience Decides”, and performed it on cello! Jonathan Wolff (the composer of the Seinfeld theme) called it “Brilliant” on Instagram :)
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Dec 3 was my final performance of the year, presented by The Celebrity Series of Boston, featuring myself and 3 other Boston-area cellists, performing a special folk-meets-classical program called “Global Inspirations”, featuring eight of my cello ensemble arrangements/compositions. You can watch HERE!
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The last music video for my recent album, “The Edge of the Atmosphere”, is released TODAY, for the single “If I Can Help It”! It was filmed during the pandemic in a safe environment, and came out quite fun :). This album was reviewed in a feature article in American Songwriter magazine, with the generous headline “Mike Block Exemplifies True Musicianship On New Record”. American Songwriter goes on to say “the record captures a truly exciting blend of world-class classical musicianship, undeniable pop hooks, and a genuinely dazzling sense of musical collaboration.” Read full article HERE. Buy the whole album HERE!
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You can watch the concert here! I performed with Sandeep Das (tabla) and Shaw Pong Liu (Violin/Erhu) in a beautifully produced performance from Futura Studios in Boston.
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Cellists can order it HERE! One of my last performances before the Covid-19 Shutdown included the world premiere of my trio arrangement of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 ... I finally finished revising it and got it printed up all nice - the sheet music is now for sale on the newly redesigned strap website at www.cellostrap.com!
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