What’s better than listening to a cello play? Listening to more cellos, says Cellists of Otago’s Heleen Du Plessis. 

The University of Otago cello teacher and coach is looking forward to bringing her very special ‘cello choir’ to Arrowtown for the very first time. Originally planned for late March, the much-anticipated event has been rescheduled for 8th August at the Athenaeum Hall.

Comprising of eight cellos – both students at the University of Otago and members of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, the Cellists of Otago will blend their sounds with internationally acclaimed Kiwi soprano Rebecca Ryan. 

The group is one of Heleen’s projects that aims to connect people; 

“A lot of my projects are about connecting people, connecting place and connecting people from different backgrounds whether that’s socio-economic or ethnic. I believe the cello has the ability to communicate and bring people together.” 

Heleen grew up in a musical family. Both her parents conducted orchestras and Heleen was always fascinated by the cellos. 

“We grew up in and around choir rehearsals and orchestra rehearsals – so I was exposed to the whole orchestra at a very young age. I always just looked at and listened to the cellos and I’d go to their section rehearsals. And I never thought to be anything else – I had a clear idea from a very young age that I would be a cello teacher.” 

At the age of six, Heleen asked to learn to play the cello. But her father, a violinist, insisted she tried a year playing the violin first.

“I did my year and at the end of it, I was like: Can I play cello now?! […] Why would you play anything else, why would you play anything else but cello?” She says, laughing. 

“The cello can express a huge range of different emotions and colours – it can play really high and really low and it can be dramatic, romantic, and brilliant and angry – there’s just so many sounds you can make. It has a huge range because of the size and its structure – it gives you so many options. It’s way more physical – you have to really move because of the sound so your body and the way you sit, the cello becomes part of your body and for me it is my voice, I have four vocal chords!” 

Heleen has carefully curated music for the Arrowtown concert, selecting music which has rhythms and lyrical elements which will meld well with a cello choir and solo voice. 

“Rebecca Ryan is a well-known soloist in New Zealand and internationally. She has a huge range of colours in her voice and I’m looking forward to working with her, to blend our sound with her.” 

There’ll be a huge variety of music played, which will suit a broad audience – not just those interested in classical music. The programme includes songs from famous operas and musicals, compositions by Lloyd Webber to Wagner as well as New Zealand composers, traditional and Māori music. 

This article first appeared in the Lakes Weekly Bulletin, but I had to share it again because I’m a massive cello nerd.