Tenafly Cellist Showcased in Prestigious Online Master Class

Heechan Ku is keyed up to finally play for an audience again, even a virtual one. The cellist has been selected to perform for Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Erina Yashima in The Philadelphia International Music Festival’s all-instruments online Master Class on February 27th.

“Given that this is my first time playing in front of an audience ever since the COVID outbreak,” he said, “I am practicing and preparing myself mentally more than ever for this master class. Though I am nervous, I am more excited and eager to perform again and connect with people through music. Stepping onto this digital stage will be refreshing, to say the least.”

The 18-year-old from Tenafly is a freshman at the New England Conservatory, where he says it’s been going well, “but not the best because it is virtual. I love my teacher, Lluis Claret. He tries his best to overcome the barrier of online teaching with his students and that has been great for me. However, I do wish I was going to school in real life so that I could meet new friends and play wonderful music with my colleagues.”

Heechan – who also goes by “Alex” – has made much of that wonderful music in Julliard’s Pre-College Division at Carnegie Hall and the stages of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. He’s won prizes in national and international cello competitions such as NJIO Concerto Competition, and was invited to compete at the 10th Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. You’ll also find him among the recipients of the 2020 YoungArts Awards for Classical Music, selected by an esteemed discipline-specific panel of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process. He joins a select group of the nation’s most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts, with opportunities for financial, creative and professional development support throughout their entire careers.

Heechan was introduced to music early on at home but found his way to the cello – quite literally—by the seat of his pants!

“My mother is a piano teacher and taught me the piano since I was young and also made me play the violin,” he recalled. “I loved both, but I absolutely despised practicing the violin because my mother would force me to stand up when I was practicing. When I found out I could sit down when practicing on the cello, I immediately asked my mom to change instruments. The comfort of sitting on a chair while playing music was amazing for me as a child.

“What got me really hooked,” he continued, “is when I heard the Brahms cello sonata in E minor. After hearing this, I was practicing every day waiting for the day until I got to play that piece.”

While the Brahms is a “dream piece” to perform for Heechan, for the PIMF Master Class with Erina Yashima, he’ll play Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, “Allegro,” a newer favorite.

“I absolutely love the interaction between the characters and the emotional depth that Dvořák integrates in this piece. Playing the last composed concerto by Dvorak allows me to vicariously experience the wide array of emotions that Dvořák felt during his life and put into this piece.”

Heechan’s already considerable artistic range are on full display in excellent YouTube recordings of Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

Short term goals include getting more comfortable with playing in front of people again after a year-plus live performance drought. Long term goals include developing a distinctive cello voice, “that people will really know it is me when I am playing, (also) finding more joy when I am practicing rather than getting frustrated.

“My teacher Lluis Claret would tell me, ‘The result is not urgent. The search is what makes it interesting.’"

No searching required to learn more about PIMF virtual Master Classes and how to watch Heechan this month. Just click here.