Cellist Juliana Soltis’ AMERICAN WOMAN sheds light on a treasure trove of rarely heard gems of cello-piano literature. The general tone is sweeping, romantic, expressive, at times fierce and energetic, then again tender and delicate. Soltis and pianist Ruoting Li show extraordinary ability not only in bringing out the unique style of each composer, but also in uniting them all in a great artistic effort.
Today, Juliana is our featured artist in the “Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn about the aspects from her past as a varsity swimmer that she applies to her career as a musician, and her two greyhounds, Rain and Ceci…
Take us on a walk through your musical library. What record gets the most plays? Are there any “deep cuts” that you particularly enjoy?
My music library can be summed-up in two words: variety and vinyl! I’ve got Pablo Casals, Prince, and Ella Fitzgerald all on the same shelf, and I love it. I have a particular passion for collecting recordings that have yet to be digitized; my most recent find is an LP of Virgil Thomson’s Cello Concerto, as performed by Luigi Silva with the Janssen Symphony of Los Angeles. Silva’s playing is so fearless, and I’m wild about that mid-century cover art! Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue is probably the album that gets the most play, though; I love to listen to Blue in Green on grey, rainy days in the Fall. My latest “deep cut” obsession is Wendy Carlos’ Switched-on Bach. It was just earth-shaking when it was released — Bach on the Moog synthesizer?! — and every note is deserving of its mythological status. I searched for this one for the longest time — playable copies are hard to find because people just wore them out — but my Mom finally found a copy in a junk mall for $2 and gave it to me for Christmas. It’s one of my favorite recordings.
What are your other passions besides music?
Greyhounds! I am a proud Dog Mom to two retired racing greyhounds: Rain (12) and Ceci (8). You can find tons of pictures of them doing adorkable things on my Instagram; I’m really supposed to reserve it for professional use — which I mostly do — but there are lots of greyhound pics!
I also enjoy gardening when I’m at home, though my success is kind of hit-and-miss. I think I’ve killed three purple coneflower plants in the past two years, but my hydrangeas are doing great!
What’s the greatest performance you’ve ever seen, and what made it special?
My sophomore year, my roommate’s father gave us tickets to hear Mstislav Rostropovich perform the Dvorak concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa conducting. It was the twilight of Slava’s career, but he was still an utterly arresting presence on-stage: his playing was so effortless! Never before (and never since!) have I heard any cellist dare to play so quietly with an orchestra — I think every person in Symphony Hall was on the edge of their seat, holding their breath, lest they be the one to break the spell. It also just so happened to be Rostropovich’s 75th birthday, so at the end of the concert the entire audience sang “Happy Birthday,” with Ozawa leading from the stage! At the close of the evening I was struck by the palpable sense of community, of feeling that we had all just been a part of an experience that would never come again. I think that that was the first time I really grasped just how powerful a live performance could be.
How do you prepare for a performance?
I was a student athlete in high school (I actually lettered in varsity swimming, if you can believe it!), and I prepared for concerts in much the same way that I learned to approach training for a meet. Fundamentals are key — I never neglect my scales and etudes, no matter how busy I get — and there’s no substitute for process: for taking any piece of music down to its nuts-and-bolts and figuring out how it works. I know that my performance will only be as good as my physical mechanism allows, so I keep a close eye on my diet (though I have a richly documented weakness for carrot cake), practice yoga daily, and meditate. And of course, I research, research, research! For me, and for what I feel I owe my audience, it’s not enough just to play the notes. I need to understand the composer: their life, their world, the inspiration behind their work. It’s a lot of a lot — sometimes it’s almost too much — but as a child all I ever wanted was to live my life for music. All in all, I feel very lucky.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Sleeping. Just kidding! Two of the most fundamental aspects of my personality are an intense need to create and a desire to care for other people. I think that one of the primary reasons I became a musician was because a life in music checks both of those boxes. If I wasn’t a musician, though, I think that I would probably be some kind of chef — maybe a pastry chef! There’s so much art and skill involved in crafting a beautiful meal, and you’re nurturing other people in a very elemental way.
What advice would you give to your younger self if given the chance?
Don’t be afraid. Some people will tell you that there is only one path to success; only one story to tell; only one way to be. Let them say their piece, but don’t take it too seriously. To paraphrase American wordsmiths Dolly Parton and Robert Frost: be a diamond in a rhinestone world, and take the path less traveled. It will make all the difference.
Raised amidst the diverse musical traditions of southern Appalachia, cellist Juliana Soltis inspires audiences the world over with “exquisite, heart-rending” (Early Music America) performances that are redefining classical music. A “true virtuoso” (Classical Music), Soltis delights in connecting listeners with the forgotten stories of classical music.
