From Beyoncé to Bach to Kurt Cobain, cellist brings love of all music to Canton Symphony

Joshua Roman quickly breaks the stereotypes associated with an elite cellist.

Excelling at the instrument since he was a child, he became the principal cellist for the Seattle Symphony at age 22.

Leaving that position after a couple of years, Roman has drawn rave media reviews while dazzling audiences and online viewers with concertos and his ability to play the classical instrument both with technical proficiency and riveting emotion.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Roman is also known for his genre-bending repertoire and wide-ranging collaborations, including a live performance of the complete Six Suites for Solo Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach and an improvisational performance with Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones and Grammy-nominated vocalist Somi.

But during a recent phone interview, Roman expressed an even wider musical palette, admitting without apology to being an unabashed fan of mainstream music.

Beyoncé's most recent album "Renaissance" is an absolute fave. He's collaborated with DJ Spooky on an interpretation of Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place." And the 38-year-old Chelsea resident was audibly excited when discussing his love for Nirvana's 1993 performance, "MTV Unplugged in New York," which features performances by cellist Lori Goldston.

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Roman will bring those musical sensibilities and talents to Sunday's performance with the Canton Symphony Orchestra at an opening night concert marking the organization's 85th anniversary. Roman will perform Elgar's Cello Concerto at the 7 p.m. show, which also features Beethoven's Eighth Symphony and the music of Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer.

The concert will be at Umstattd Hall, 2331 17th St. NW in Canton.

This will be Roman's second performance with the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

"Joshua's such a wonderful musician, and the Elgar Cello Concerto is a very iconic piece of music," said Rachel Hagemeier, the symphony orchestra's manager of education and community engagement. "And I think people would actually recognize snippets of it without knowing it (was the Elgar Concerto). It will be familiar to listeners.

"Joshua is very dynamic as a person," added Hagemeier, who will be promoted to CEO in late November while succeeding departing top executive Michelle Charles. "He's going to play it wonderfully, but you're going to be able to see the emotion he has."

The cello has a 'mournful, grab your soul sound'

Roman explained what makes Eglar's Cello Concerto such a prized piece of music.

"It's kind of emblematic of the soul of the cello," he said. "It's epic; it's got some of the most deep expression of humanity that you can get out of a musical instrument, and it has incredibly light, buoyant moments ― it's very moving; it's one of my absolute favorites."

The cello's "mournful, grab your soul sound" is embodied in the Elgar Concerto.

The cello "is the most versatile instrument out there," Roman said. "The range goes from very low to very high, so you can get a complete soprano, alto, bass with four cellos or just one cello layered, but then you've got all these different ways of playing it."

"So the ability of the cello to offer an exploration of sound, it's astounding, and I'm still surprised by the things that I find sometimes ... (and) it's a real easy instrument to be a collaborator with because you can also fit with almost anything, because it's a chameleon."

Here's the rest of the interview in a question-and-answer format edited for brevity and clarity.

Why did you decide to play the cello instead of a more mainstream instrument such as a guitar, drums or piano?

It's an interesting path to choose, I guess. My dad played the cello, so it was either the cello or the violin, and I was 3 (years old), and I went with the cello.

.... I don't know why I loved it so much. It just felt natural; it felt right, and there was never a point in my memory where it wasn't going to be a thing, and yes, I got a lot of other people asking, why (I chose the cello).

I've played guitar quite a bit ... (and) I do play other instruments, and I love learning languages. I was really into physics and wanted to be a fighter pilot if I broke my arm and couldn't play cello again.... Each time that I've stepped away from it, either literally or in my mind or emotionally or whatever or spiritually, when I've come back it's been more clear than ever that (I want to play cello). You only get one life; you can't do everything. This is what I do.

You are probably too young to remember the use of a cellist in Nirvana's 1993 "MTV Unplugged" concert.

That is one of my all-time favorite Nirvana performances. I remember that. I think I didn't see it live. I saw it later, but still in my teens, like in the late '90s, and that made a huge impression on me. There are other random examples. I'm pretty sure there's a cello in the 'Good Vibrations" (song by The Beach Boys) ...

It's more and more, especially in the '90s, it's become a thing. I think it's just because now people are understanding what the cello is capable of.

(Roman cited renowned cellists like Yo-Yo Ma, who helped popularize and introduce the instrument to a larger segment of musicians and listeners, and the late Russian Mstislav Rostropovich, who is considered among the greatest cellists of the 20th century.)

They're larger than life; they're larger than music, and as the cello has come into popular imagination, it has been used in so many cool ways.

Have you gained a new appreciation for live performances following the pandemic?

In one phone call, I had 60% of my income and all the concerts for the year sort of taken off the calendar. It was crazy.

I went through several phases with that, going through a frantic need to connect online every day as much as possible by playing for people, and I went through a period of intense creativity and composing in response to the pandemic and kept a musical journal, and then I had health issues because of COVID and took a break, so it wasn't until I took that break and came back to it, that I had this feeling of, 'Wow, I really need the cello.'

For me, that is something that I guess I had taken for granted. I love the cello. I know I love the cello, but to step away from it for so long, and then to pick it up again ... to hear something and then feel it reflected in the sound with the vibrations in the air, that was powerful for me.

I feel more convinced than ever (of) the value of live music in the room. ... To me, that is a very powerful experience that I hope people are more keenly aware of after this long period of isolation, and not being around things and people in the way we were before. I hope we never take that for granted again.

Do you listen to any pop or mainstream music that might surprise people?

I grew up listening to classical music. But my experience has been, (what's important is) wherever you can get with people and connect with them in a way that creates a genuine connection, so forget about the trappings of where you are ... whether it's very fancy or a bar or wherever you are. Great music speaks for itself and it connects.

I love The Beatles. I love doing Beatles arrangements, and I'm a huge fan of a lot of music being written right now beyond classical music, both in my time and long before my time.

I love the new Beyoncé album; it's one of my favorite albums this summer ... (and) I listen to (Puerto Rican rapper and singer) Bad Bunny.

Music is great. I don't want to limit it, but I'm also glad to tap into the tradition (of classical music).

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and [email protected]

On Twitter @ebalintREP

If you go

What: Canton Symphony Orchestra opening night MasterWorks concert featuring acclaimed cellist Joshua Roman

When: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Umstattd Hall, 2331 17th St. NW in Canton

Tickets: Starting at $10 and can be purchased online at https://www.cantonsymphony.org/. The symphony box office can be reached at 330-452-2094.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Radiohead, Nirvana, Beyoncé, Bach: Cellist Joshua Roman loves it all