Selected Performances
Listen to a performance of my orchestration of Pilgrim Overture (1867) by John Thomas Douglass, Mannes Symphony Orchestra, Alice Tully Hall, March 8, 2023, conducted by David Hayes. Program notes. Partial PDF of the score. Contact me if you’d like to program with your orchestra.
Check out my video, “In Memoriam,” commemorating Juneteenth 2020
Fédéric Chopin, Sonata for Cello and Piano: Philip Ewell, cello; Quynh Nguyen, piano; Hunter College, Lang Hall; March 9, 2017.
Dmitri Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 1: Philip Ewell, cello; Alexander Polishchuk, conductor. Municipal Orchestra of the Petrograd Region, St. Petersburg, Russia; April 17, 1993.
Claude Debussy, Sonata for Cello and Piano: Philip Ewell, cello; Christy Lee, piano. University of Tennessee School of Music; February 2004.
François Couperin, Pièces en Concert, for Cello and Piano: Philip Ewell, cello; Christy Lee, piano. University of Tennessee School of Music; February 2004.
Velocello: When I lived in New Haven I was often known as the biking cellist, since I often had my cello on my back while biking. In this experimental piece, the cello and bicyclist become one.
Narrowcasting, “Star”: Narrowcasting comprised my buddies Charles Maynes and Andrei Konovalov. I joined their studio in Moscow, Russia, for this 2001 recording of “Star.”
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello: Philip Ewell, cello; Steven Graff, piano; Elena Peres, violin. Lang Hall, Hunter College, New York, NY; November 11, 2015.
Maurice Ravel, Chansons madécasses (Madagascar Songs) (1926), for Voice, Cello, Flute, and Piano. Philip Ewell, cello; Danya Katok, voice; Kelli Kathman, Flute; Nana Shi, piano. Lang Hall, Hunter College, New York, NY; March 9, 2017.
Erkki Salmenhaara, Sonata for Cello and Piano: Philip Ewell, cello; Regina Barbanel, piano. House of Composers, St. Petersburg, Russia; April 23, 1993.
Bach, Third Cello Suite: I always liked my Bach a little hot and spicy! Thanks to my friend Sarah Franklin for performing this piece with me.
Harmony: The discord and concord of musician and dancer feature prominently in this experimental push-and-pull piece. With thanks to my multitalented friends Sarah Franklin and Victor See-Yuen, who made Harmony possible.
Sergei Rachmaninov, Sonata for Cello and Piano: Philip Ewell, cello; Andrew Pau, piano. Lang Hall, Hunter College, New York, NY; February 28, 2011. (The recording device stopped with two minutes left in the fourth movement…apologies.)
Johannes Brahms, Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor: Philip Ewell, cello; Natalia Frolova, piano. Belyi Zal of the Gorchakov Estate, St. Petersburg, Russia; February 1994.
J. S. Bach, Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, No. 5: Philip Ewell, cello. House of Composers, St. Petersburg, Russia; April 23, 1993.
Cumbala Hill: Written by my gifted friend David Mills while he was studying in India, Cumbala Hill explores that place in India and some interesting Eastern sounds as well. On this clip David plays Fender guitar and I, five-string electric cello.
Open Sea: When teaching cello, it’s important that students can bow a warm clean sound on each open string. After telling my students to “Play your open strings to warm-up” for some years, it dawned on me how boring that must be for them. I made it my task, in “Open Sea,” to make an entire piece out of playing only the open “C” string.