| May 28, 2001
Page: 5A CELLIST BLENDS EDUCATING, PERFORMING |
| By Margaret Hopkins mhopkins@centredaily.com UNIVERSITY PARK -- To the untrained ear, a solo cello piece played by Kim Cook has the lyrical range and intense richness of an entire string section. Full bass notes blend with colorful, light tones to create an eloquent sound that can spellbind even a casual listener. Cook's cello almost sings. Reviewers have praised Cook's technique as "flawless" and her interpretation of compositions as "passionate" and "inspired." Cook, who came to Penn State in 1991, takes the universality of music literally: She plays all over the world. After earning a master's degree at Yale University, she served as years. Since then, she's played concerts in dozens of countries including Israel, Italy and the United Kingdom. In Czechoslovakia, she played a her. In 1996, she was an Artistic Ambassador of the U.S. State Department and traveled through Central and South America giving concerts and workshops. Next year she'll be performing, presenting workshops and teaching classes in music conservatories in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. "I do have a lot of curiosity about other countries," the full professor said. "And performing internationally is valued at this university and is part of its mission." Raised in Lincoln, Neb., Cook comes from a musical family. Her mother is a singer, and her older sister is a pianist and musicologist or music historian. Cook also took piano lessons until the elementary music program at her school introduced her to string instruments. She liked the string sound but "wanted a lower sound than the violin," she recalled, and started studying the cello while still playing the piano. Cook credits a "wonderful, wonderful teacher" together with a community of musicians in Lincoln with encouraging her development into a musician. In high school, she played in a youth symphony that toured Europe and introduced her to the pleasures of traveling. She also was the youngest member of the Lincoln Symphony with which she has performed as a soloist several times since leaving Nebraska. "I got serious about music in the later years of high school," said Cook, who had studied dance and the visual arts before deciding on music as a career. From Nebraska, she went to the University of Illinois and then to Yale, where she studied with well-known cellist Aldo Parisot. As a cellist, Cook values the lyrical quality and rhythmic attention she brings to music. "There are hundreds of cellists who can play well technically," Cook said. "What's unique about you is what you can bring to an audience. Her varied background is reflected in her choice of composers for concerts. Cook is equally at home playing the Great Masters such as Bach and Beethoven as well as performing African-American spirituals, Brazilian songs and 20th century music. "I don't limit myself," she said. As the sole cellist in the Penn State School of Music, Cook teaches a "full class" of between 17 and 20 undergraduate and graduate students. She works with her students typically several times a week in individual lessons, cello choir and studio classes. Some of her pupils have gone onto graduate schools, others to orchestras, she said. For herself, she chose to pursue a university position where she could perform as a soloist and chamber musician as well as teach rather than orchestral playing. "This is more of a match to my personality," Cook said. Fluent in Portuguese, Cook plans to study French this summer while she prepares for her next season tours. She has one performance in the wings for the coming weeks -- in Philadelphia on June 1. Cook's advice to parents wondering whether to start their children on a musical instrument: "Give them the opportunity and space to pursue their interests," she said. As for whether parents should turn off rap and heavy metal, Cook weighed in on the side of exposure to all types of music. But she sees value in sometimes turning it off, too. "There's a lot of sensory overload and not enough silence," Cook said. Margaret Hopkins can be reached at 231-4643. |