Rufus Cappadocia is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian 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 ...

best known for his cross-cultural recordings and performances. He has released albums in collaboration with guitarist

David Fiuczynski David Fiuczynski (born March 5, 1964) is an American contemporary jazz guitarist, best known as the leader of the Screaming Headless Torsos and David Fiuczynski's KiF, and as a member of Hasidic New Wave. He has played on more than 95 albums as ...

, singer Bethany Yarrow, Stellamara with Sonja Drakulich, multi-instrumentalist Ross Daly and The Paradox Trio with Matt Dariau.

Biography

Cappadocia was born and raised in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

. He began playing cello at the age of 3. Cappadocia went on to study classically at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Montreal, where he spent much of his spare time studying sounds and music from lesser-known musical traditions in the university's ethno-musicology department. He left school, and traveled to the south of France and to Spain, where he played as a street musician. In his travels, be continued to pick up new sounds and ethnic styles, which he blended into his own. Partly to improve his ability to compete with other street musicians, Cappadocia decided to "add a bass register" to his cello. He left Europe, and is now based in New York. His musical style blends "the similarities between seemingly diverse music forms such as blues, Sufi, Middle Eastern and even Gregorian chant. To him they are all compatible, microtonal modes of music." Cappadocia's past collaborations have included participation in the jazz group The ''Paradox Trio'' and the World Music group '' Trance Mission''. He has also produced CDs with guitarist David Fiuczynski and singer/songwriter Bethany Yarrow.

Discography

Rufus Cappadocia and David Fiuczynski

Rufus and Bethany

Solo releases

References

External links

Rufus Cappadocia's
official website
Profile of Cappadocia
at

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

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TED Talks: Bruno Bowden folds while Rufus Cappadocia plays (TED2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cappadocia, Rufus Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario McGill University School of Music alumni Canadian cellists Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States