Cellist Joshua Roman - Artist to watch

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Cellist Joshua Roman earned a warm welcome back to Seattle when he recently performed the world premiere of David Stock's Cello Concerto. Like the Beatles song, he got a little help from his friends - his former colleagues in the Seattle Symphony where he played for two seasons as principal cellist, a job he snared at the ripe old age of 22. The Seattle Weekly called his performance "electrifying" and noted, "Stock was lucky, too, to have popular cellist Joshua Roman on hand, who can not only play anything but sell anything." The Gathering Note said the piece "could have been written for Roman. The style suits him exactly. While he can throw off fireworks like any whiz-bang young soloist, Roman is essentially a thoughtful, thought-provoking and lyrical player."

The 25-year-old musician is artistic director of Town Hall's TownMusic series in Seattle. He returned from his home base in New York City in late June with a handpicked ensemble and an intriguing program of new works for clarinet, violin, cello and percussion. The eclectic artist loves the standard rep as well. Last week Roman performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto in Bellingham ("a masterful performance," according to Entertainment News NW) and gave a masterclass at Western Washington University.

The Seattle Times has claimed the Oklahoma native as "our own cello wunderkind". Now that Roman has embarked on a solo career, Seattle has to share him as he prepares for a season of debuts with orchestras in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, New York and Oklahoma. But first Roman heads to Peru in August to play with more friends in the International Festival of Chamber Music in Lima.

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