On Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 7:30 pm, the Baruch Performing Arts Center presents the Canellakis-Brown Duo. In this Insider Interview, we spoke with Nicholas Canellakis and Michael Brown about the history of the duo, the inspiration behind their BPAC program, and more. More info online at baruch.cuny.edu.
How did you first meet?
We met in 2008 as students at the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Insitute outside of Chicago. After some initial skepticism with each other, we soon became best friends and musical collaborators with a desire to explore the cello/piano repertoire.
What was your first gig together, and at what point did you realize that this would be a long-term collaboration?
Our first gig together was playing the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and the Debussy Cello Sonata at Ravinia.
This year marks your 10th season playing together. Can you tell us about some Duo highlights over the past decade?
We have played recitals all over the country, and had wonderful international trips to the Baltics, Cuba, the Greek Islands, and Italy. I have written four pieces for Nick including a collaboration we did called Self-Portrait where I wrote the music and Nick made the film. He has arranged several works for us, including the Gershwin Preludes and Bulgarian folk arrangements.
What was the inspiration for your upcoming program at BPAC? Is there a “heart” to the program, a central piece that you wanted to do that inspired you to add the other works, or is there a theme bringing the repertoire together?
We love creating eclectic programs that combine old and new repertoire. Grieg’s monumental Cello Sonata speaks to us deeply, and that is certainly the main course on this program. The recital also features two not so frequently played 20th century works—Ginastera’s sizzling Pampeana No. 2 and Sibelius’s heart-wrenching Malinconia. We also will play Michael Brown’s Prelude and Dance, written for our duo, and an array of dazzling salon pieces including Canellakis’s virtuosic arrangements of Bulgarian folk tunes.
You frequently combine “old classics with your own arrangements and new compositions”, and this program is no exception, including a work by Michael, and an arrangement by Nick.
- Nick, how did you discover this traditional Bulgarian song that you arranged? What was the source you used as a base for your arrangement?
I discovered these Bulgarian folk tunes, including Don Ellis’s brilliant creation Bulgarian Bulge, just by scouring YouTube looking for wild and fun folk music to play. I fell in love with their insanely irregular rhythms and propulsive virtuosity, I couldn’t resist arranging them into encore showpieces for cello and piano.
- Michael, tell us about Prelude and Dance, which you wrote in 2014 for Bargemusic's "Here and Now Labor Day Festival" and revised in 2017. What kind of revisions did you make?
The work began as a suite for solo cello for Nick inspired by Baroque dance suites. After hearing him play it, I felt left out and decided to write another version of the piece for cello and piano. Check it out on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9HAWkwkrGKU.
With 10 years of performing together under your collective belts, what do you hope the next decade brings to the Canellakis-Brown Duo?
We have lots of stuff in store for the next ten years—recording projects, new works to write, concert tours, and repertoire to discover. We are always searching to explore the truth in our art and deepen our collaboration together. And we are certainly are not bored of each other, and are looking forward to the next creative adventure full of laughter, playful(?) antagonism, and pour over coffee.