site.btaGerman Cellist Christopher Herrmann to Perform at Jam on the River Festival on July 31

German cellist Christopher Herrmann will perform together with Greek qanun player Eleanna Pitsikaki at the Jam on the River International Music and Arts Festival in Debnevo, near Troyan in North Central Bulgaria on July 31.

In addition to being a master of the cello, Herrmann is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and interdisciplinary artist, who has given concerts in the US, Britain, Romania, Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy. "First of all, I have to love the music I play and it has to make sense to me," he emphasized in an interview with BTA on Tuesday. “Sometimes this leads to interpretations that are not exactly what is written, but nevertheless I play the music the way I hear it, because otherwise I simply would not play the musical work,” he said.

Herrmann noted that he began to play the cello when he was 12 years old. When he was 13 or 14, he heard Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and decided that the next instrument he would play would be the violin. “But, as we all know, I ended up with an instrument of a much larger size. I love instruments with a lower register, such as the bass clarinet and the double bass, in addition to the cello. I love playing a walking bass on the cello in some of my projects,” he pointed out.

The cellist emphasized that the great strength of the cello is precisely that it can be used as any instrument. "It can sound like a small bass, like a jazz saxophone, imitate instruments such as the duduk or the gadulka, it can sound like a flute, and last but not least it can sound like a cello, which in itself is incredible," Herrmann said, adding that he decided to have two hours of prime time just for himself and the cello in 2023, without other instruments and other musical obligations. “I play what I want to learn about myself, regardless of what I have to prepare for the next concert. The main goal is to feel more comfortable with my instrument. Everything else comes later. However, rehearsals can vary a lot,” he noted. 

“For me, the strongest impressions come from individual people, and this has nothing to do with their nationality,” Herrmann stated. The upcoming Jam on the River is mostly associated with accordionist Veronika Todorova. “She is one of the strongest and most inspiring personalities I have met in both my musical and personal life", he said, adding that he adores the audience here in general.

Making music with people who love it as much as he himself is a dream come true for Herrmann. "I'm very happy with the musicians around me right now. I'm a big fan of Michel Portal and Björk, but I don't know if such a collaboration would work," he noted. His advice to young musicians is to work hard for what they love, but not to exhaust themselves to the end.

BTA is the official media partner of Jam on the River Festival for the second year in a row.