Joshua Roman (born December 16, 1983) is an American

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Background

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

native, Joshua Roman attended the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. The school was founded in 1920 by a group of supporters led by Martha Bell Sanders and Mary Hutchens Smith, with Ernest Bloch serving as its first dire ...

. At CIM, he studied with Richard Aaron and

Desmond Hoebig Desmond Hoebig is a Canadian cellist with a career as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. Hoebig has held the chair of Principal Cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Hoebig is ...

. Roman received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Cello Performance in 2004, and his master's degree in 2005. At the age of 22, Roman was appointed principal cellist of the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

Orchestra in 2006, becoming the youngest principal player in

history. In 2006, the

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

called Roman's premiere performance an "auspicious beginning," noting that "Roman played with ease and confidence, the sound relaxed and singing, the phrasing shapely, the tone well projected seemingly without effort." In 2007, Melinda Bargreen of the

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

noted that Roman "played with heart-stopping beauty... nd his"big, succulent tone and impassioned style perfectly suited the music." In January 2008, Roman submitted his resignation as principal cellist at the conclusion of the 2007–2008 season to pursue a solo career. Beginning in 2009, and going to 2012, Roman regularly posted videos on his

Youtube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel where he played each of the 40 etudes from

David Popper David Popper (June 18, 1843 – August 7, 1913) was a Bohemian cellist and composer. Life Popper was born in Prague, and studied music at the Prague Conservatory. His family was Jewish. He studied the cello under Julius Goltermann (1825–187 ...

's "High School of Cello Playing" in what he called the "Popper Project"

Awards

Roman has won prizes at competitions including the Klein, ASTA, Washington, Stulberg, NFMC, H-A Music Society, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, CIM, Cleveland Cello Society and Buttram. He has performed as a member of

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, and soloed with a number of symphony and chamber orchestras including the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Wyoming Symphony, the

Oklahoma City Philharmonic The Oklahoma City Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. History As is the case with many United States, American symphony orchestras, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic owes a degree of its heritage to two pred ...

and the Symphony of Southern New Jersey.

References

External links

Joshua Roman's home page
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"The dancer, the singer, the cellist ... and a moment of creative magic" (TED2015)Joshua Roman's Youtube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Joshua 1983 births Living people American classical cellists Cleveland Institute of Music alumni Musicians from Oklahoma Place of birth missing (living people)