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Paul

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Welsh-born cellist takes reins
of chamber music festival.

Suzanne Chessler

Contributing Writer

T

he incoming artistic director
of the Great Lakes Chamber
Music Festival has family ties
to Michigan, where he will take part in
the opening night concert of the 21st
season.
Cellist Paul Watkins, son-in-law of the
late Jewish pianist and Michigan native
Ruth Meckler Laredo, will be appearing
with pianist and outgoing artistic director
James Tocco to perform Sonata for Cello
and Piano No. 1 in E minor by Johannes
Brahms.
The piece — in keeping with this year's
festival theme, "In the Shadow of Bach:
Johann Sebastian Bach and His Influence
throughout the Centuries" — will be
presented at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 14,
at Seligman Performing Arts Center in
Beverly Hills.
"Passing the Torch: A Conversation with
Paul Watkins, James Tocco and Maury
Okun" introduces the selection at 7:15 p.m.
Concerts, running through June 29 at
various venues throughout the area, are
sponsored by an interfaith partnership
shared by Temple Beth El, St. Hugo of the
Hills Catholic Church and Kirk in the Hills
Presbyterian Church.
Among the many other artists will
be Jewish musicians including baritone
Daniel Gross, soprano Rachel Gottlieb
Kalmowitz, cellist Paul Katz, clarinetist
Laurence Liberson and the Israel-formed
Ariel Quartet.
Watkins, who grew up in Great Britain
and recently moved to the United States
to become part of the Emerson String
Quartet, has performed in the area as a
member of the Nash Ensemble.
"It's a great honor to be the new artistic
director, and I'm very lucky to be work-
ing with a very good team, particularly
[Executive Director] Maury Okun, who
will help me through the administrative
tasks," says Watkins, 44, in a phone con-
versation from New York
"The festival has been tremendously
successful under James' leadership, and I
want to continue that tradition. I'd like to
expand the festival by inviting more art-
ists from overseas, particularly wonderful
musicians who have become friends over
the past 20 years of my career:'
Watkins, who has been principal cellist

of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, regularly
performs with major British and overseas
orchestras, including the Hong Kong
Philharmonic and the Royal Flemish
Philharmonic.
"I started on the piano when I was 3 or
4 because we had a piano in our home
Watkins says. "My mother's mother taught
me how to play, and the cello came along
when I was 7. I took lessons from my
father's friend.
"I went to the Yehudi Menuhin School
just outside London and was 14 when I
decided that I wouldn't lose the piano but
would focus on the cello:"
After appearing in student programs at
professional venues, he moved on to full-
time professional work. He met his wife,
Jennifer, at the Marlboro Music Festival in
Vermont, where she was doing summer
office work and staying with her father,
violinist Jaime Laredo.
The couple has two daughters who
have learned about Judaism through their
mother; Emily is interested in singing, and
Eliza prefers violin and piano.
"I'm in the middle of recording a series
of British cello sonatas with my brother
Huw, who plays piano and is in New York
at the moment:' Watkins says. "In the
United Kingdom, there was a flowering
of writing for the cello during the 20th
century, and we're working on the fourth
volume:'
Watkins' conducting experience
has included concerts with the Ulster
Orchestra, Prague Symphony and
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris.
"It's been wonderful to have in-laws
who have shared this profession," says
Watkins, looking forward to having
his wife and daughters present for his
Michigan performance and spending time
with Rayna Kogan, sister of Ruth Laredo.
"Jennifer's parents were there for advice,
and Jaime has been encouraging me to
accept this position with the Great Lakes
Festival. It's all been incredibly helpful:'

❑

Paul Watkins will perform at 8
p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the
Seligman Performing Arts Center,
22305 W.13 Mile, in Beverly Hills.
$10-$45. For an entire festival
schedule and ticket information,
call (248) 559-2097 or go to
greatlakeschambermusic.org .

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