Robert Cohen

Every month we talk with cellist and Lake Effect contributor Robert Cohen about music and life in a segment we call On That Note.

Robert has been on tour since mid-January. We caught him in the Netherlands after he'd just come from Finland and the Tampere Chamber Music Festival. While he was in Finland, he performed on stage with someone he never expected to: jazz saxophonist Jukka Perko. Here is their performance of the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1:

Every month we talk with cellist and Lake Effect contributor Robert Cohen about music and life in a segment we call On That Note. This month, we reached Robert at his home in England to learn about an improvised musical experience he recently had:

Every month we talk with cellist Robert Cohen about the life of a touring classical musician. It’s a segment we call On That Note. This month finds Robert recently moved to the Suffolk countryside in England. And between unpacking boxes and hooking up utilities, he’s thinking about creativity. He's especially focused on the kind of creativity that is found outside of performance — like practicing.

We all say we want change. But when we’re presented with it, most of us resist it. We don’t like being outside of our comfort zones. And that is as true for professional creatives like musicians as it is for anyone else.

Every month, we talk with contributor Robert Cohen about the life and work of a touring classical musician for our On That Note series. This month, Cohen is thinking about his musical influences, which started with his parents at home. His father was a violinist who practiced chamber music in the house.

"His attitude definitely, and most of all the way he played the violin, which was a very warm sound, very singing and very beautiful," he recalls. "That definitely was a major influence on the way I played the cello, what I expected from the cello."

Every month, contributor Robert Cohen offers insight about the life and work of a touring classical musician for our On That Note series. This month, Cohen spoke with Lake Effect's Bonnie North about what aging means for a professional performer.

As people age, they naturally need to adapt their bodies. Cohen says that as a musician, he has always been precisely aware of how his body is positioned and moving. But that these days, carrying his cello is not getting any easier.

Every month, cellist Robert Cohen joins us to talk about the life of a working, touring, professional musician. He’s talked about concerts and venues, taking an instrument on the road, and teaching a new generation of cellists.

This month, Robert is hearing ear worms. Or rather, he’s trying not to hear them. It turns out that unlike an advertising jingle or a pop song that might get stuck in my head, the ear worms Robert gets are on an entirely different level.

Every month, cellist Robert Cohen talks about his life as a touring, classical musician. Yet over the years, he has never talked about one of the most essential parts of any musician's life: the audition process.

Cohen says he's fortunate to be past the point in his career where he has to worry about upcoming auditions. But for most musicians, auditions are a necessary entry point to work. Cohen talks with Lake Effect's Bonnie North about the audition process for classical musicians:

Every month, cellist Robert Cohen joins us to talk about the life of a working, touring, professional musician. Past segments range in topics from concerts and venues, taking an instrument on the road, to teaching a new generation of cellists.

But today Cohen is thinking about politics — specifically Brexit and what it might mean both for British musicians who tour in Europe and non-British musicians who want to perform in the U.K. Cohen, a native Londoner, says the worry there has reached a fever pitch.

Every month, cellist Robert Cohen joins us to talk about the live of a working, touring, professional musician.  He’s talked about concerts and venues, taking an instrument on the road, and teaching a new generation of cellists.

But one thing we haven’t spoken with Cohen about is working as a conductor, a role he’s about to take on. 

The last time we spoke with Robert Cohen for our On That Note segment, he was preparing to perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in Finland. It’s a very difficult and emotional piece, and Robert says he was quite nervous about performing it, not the least because of the physical stamina required.

"If you’re going to be able to play this concerto absolutely to your best, and for it to be in your control and not run out of energy, you have to be really on top of your game," he says.

Cellist Robert Cohen is constantly on the go. Concerts, recitals and master classes take place around the world and often his schedule is booked out two years in advance. This is common for most touring classical musicians, and like most classical musicians, Cohen gets precious little time to rest.

Dance is about creative movement on stage, the dance floor or wherever it’s practiced. And when we talk about dance, it’s often in terms of movement and choreography. But the music itself is an equally integral part of the equation.

"All of that warming up is just a way to prepare [dancers] to be so creative and stunning. That’s a real reminder for us as musicians to always think about where we’re aiming [and to know that at the end, it’s about being creative and about doing something breathtaking and beautiful]," says cellist and Lake Effect contributor Robert Cohen.

Every month we talk about the challenges of being a touring classical musician with internationally renowned cellist Robert Cohen in a series we call On That Note.

This month finds Robert back home in London after a whirlwind tour of Slovakia and Italy, and after a couple of encounters with cameras. He says musicians are used to being photographed and filmed but it takes extra concentration to perform as though the cameras, and the people wielding them, aren't there: