A chat with Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Bach ‘n’ roll virtuoso

Joshua Roman is simply a maestro cellist who is from “several tiny towns” successful Oklahoma, singling retired Oklahoma City arsenic his location town. He present resides successful Hell’s Kitchen successful New York, and is the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s archetypal artist-in-residence successful the company’s 22-year history.

“I’m an anomaly,” Roman says, with an accent connected the obvious. He’s inspired by Bach. He loves Radiohead. In short, he’s Bach ‘n’ roll.

The formidable, flourishing instrumentalist is featured successful the Philharmonic’s Beethoven Triple Concerto show astatine 7:30 p.m. Saturday astatine The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall. It is the orchestra’s archetypal show of Beethoven’s First Symphony successful C Major, and a premiere show of sorts for Roman successful his relation arsenic artist-in-residence.

Roman leads the Philharmonic’s SPARK programme implicit the adjacent 3 years. The inaugural aspires to make assemblage relationships, artistically and socially. Expect performances successful improbable locations, beyond the Reynolds Hall stage, and besides a run to present euphony to Las Vegas-area students.

Announced successful July 2020, Roman yet performed with the Philharmonic and conductor Donato Cabrera astatine Reynolds Hall for the archetypal clip Oct. 23. The cellist played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto successful a programme besides featuring the Copland’s Fanfare For The Common Man, Joan Tower’s Fanfare For The Uncommon Woman, and Tchaikovsky’s TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 successful E Minor, Op. 64.

More from our chat with the 38-year-old virtuoso:

Johnny Kats: I person seen you play. You’re similar a stone star. I’m not adjacent convinced you’re playing the close instrument. I privation to spot a Fender oregon Gibson successful your hands. Thoughts?

Joshua Roman: (Laughs). I sold my guitars erstwhile I moved to New York due to the fact that determination wasn’t country successful the flat I was moving into. But I had a saccharine Super 60s conduit amp that I utilized with my 3-year-old Fender Stratocaster. It was a saccharine sound. I loved it.

Why has the cello been your instrumentality of choice?

I started erstwhile I was 3. It wasn’t expected to beryllium a nonrecreational thing, but my parents wanted it to beryllium fulfilling. In the beginning, it was the power of my dad, who played immoderate cello. I had the prime betwixt violin and cello. My ma tells the communicative that my dada told maine that the cello was better, due to the fact that you tin beryllium down portion playing it. He told maine that with the violin, not lone bash you person to basal up, but it has a benignant of scratchy dependable and you’re playing it close adjacent to your head, truthful you’re going to get a headache (laughs). So that’s wherefore I chose the cello, and I freaking loved it. I emotion everything astir the cello but carrying it around.

You’ve said that much than immoderate instrument, the cello sounds similar the quality voice.

Yeah, that’s No. 1, of course. It’s precise soulful. I person known this from a young age, erstwhile I was the lone classical instrumentalist successful my radical of friends. If I wanted to marque music, it had to beryllium galore antithetic kinds of music. The cello is highly versatile, possibly the astir versatile acoustic instrumentality successful presumption of its range, the sounds you tin make, the roles it tin play successfully. There are not a full batch of instruments that you tin person a quartet of 1 instrument, and really person antithetic sounds to the constituent that it works for much than 5 minutes.

Donato Cabrera often talks of evolving from accepted formats, moving extracurricular what is usually performed by an orchestra and expanding the Philharmonic’s collaborations. What has it been similar to enactment with him?

I worked with Donato astatine the California Symphony, truthful that was an casual connection. It’s cool. We’re precise overmuch of the aforesaid mind-set successful those ways. We have, obviously, somewhat antithetic perspectives arsenic soloist and conductor, but there’s a batch to beryllium gained from that. He’s precise approachable successful a mode that I appreciate, particularly fixed the presumption that helium holds and the mode that helium could be. But he’s very, precise down to earth. He’s not conscionable theoretical. It’s important to theorize and research with imagination, but, ultimately, helium asks, “What’s going to travel retired of it?”

Looking 3 years down the road, what needs to beryllium achieved for your artist-in-residence acquisition to beryllium a success?

I’ve been reasoning astir this a lot. For me, I privation to cognize a batch much astir Las Vegas, the taste scene, the people. I privation to person met and worked with and shone a spotlight connected things that person amazed and delighted me, and immoderate things that tin beryllium shared with different people. I privation to find absorbing artists successful Las Vegas, and enactment with them successful ways that are sustainable. When I leave, it’s not conscionable these random things that happened. It’s heavy connections betwixt groups of radical and institutions that volition proceed to carnivore fruit.

John Katsilometes’ file runs regular successful the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast tin beryllium recovered astatine reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him astatine jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats connected Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 connected Instagram.