BLUE Concert: Marais’s Cello

A playful and unconventional look at French Baroque music comes to life through the works of composer Marin Marais, reimagined for modern audiences by New World Symphony Fellows. This inventive program explores Marais’s chamber music and solo viola da gamba compositions, with several pieces adapted for cello and performed in this form for the first time.

Led by NWS Cello Fellow and arranger Sameer Apte, the concert features harpsichordist Zhengyi Adam Hou alongside fellow musicians in a series of vivid musical scenes. Highlights include Portrait of a Urinary Bladder Operation, presented with original narration, and selections from Marais’s Suite in a Strange Style, filled with character studies ranging from grasshoppers and whirlpools to page-turners and colonial Americans. The evening concludes with Les Folies d’Espagne, as multiple Fellows take turns interpreting Marais’s 32 variations on the well-known theme.

This performance takes place on Tuesday, February 24 at New World Center’s Truist Pavilion. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, with proceeds supporting NWS Fellows and their artistic development. Marais’s Cello is presented as part of the NWS BLUE Project, an initiative focused on experimentation, entrepreneurship and creative leadership.