Julia MacLaine: Cellist

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

I have known the Canadian cellist Julia MacLaine for many years in her role asAssistant Principal Cello of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, of which I am also a member. In this episode we’re highlighting her gorgeous album Preludes which pairs the Preludes of J.S. Bach for Cello solo and with newly commissioned works for solo cello by Canadian composers. Julia and I talked about many things, including how best to address the challenges of maintaining high levels of playing and inspiration, studying the craft of songwriting with the legendary Ian Tamblyn , the intricacies of putting together ambitious projects, her childhood in Prince Edward Island, and strategies to cope with performance anxiety. It was really inspiring to hear some of the wisdom Julia gained from her mentors including Timothy Eddy and the late Antonio Lysy. This episode features excerpts of music from Preludes including that of J.S. Bach, Airat Ichmouratov, Carmen Braden, Roy Johnstone and Nicole Lizée.

Like all my episodes, you can also watch this on my YouTube channel, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website, everything linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/julia-maclaine

Julia MacLaine website: https://www.juliamaclainecello.com/bio

Preludes album https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9309403--preludes?srsltid=AfmBOoop593ZT29pz3RSsEMawTjbiHPF_8oMICuS2ruzUn1Qo2dkujCn

Preludes album on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC80c6WS5jNMk-L5RhXOknCA

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My episode with Rachel Mercer, Principal Cellist of NACO: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e9-s2-rachel-mercer

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(03:02) J.S. Bach solo Preludes, Julia’s childhood in Singapore and Prince Edward Island

(10:59) Prelude in D minor, Suite number 2 J.S. Bach

(14:43) Antonio Lysy, bow control, intonation

(20:03) boundaries with technology, Julia’s childhood no TV

(22:48) Bonnie Hampton, Julia’s career trajectory, staying in good playing shape

(28:08) commissioning Airat Ichmouratov’s Praeludium with excerpt

(29:30) excerpt from Airat Ichmouratov’s Praeludium

(31:33) commissioning new works inspired by Bach, securing funding

(34:30) Carmen Braden collaboration on interpretation

(37:44) excerpt from Play Time by Carmen Braden

(39:01)more discussion about interpretation and editions

(39:59) Timothy Eddy, Julliard and New York experience

(44:22) different ways you can support this independent podcast!

(45:15) Roy Johnstone

(46:36) clip of No. 6 Post Bach by Roy Johnstone

(47:52) PEI, Matt Zimbel

(48:51) multi-disciplinary project in New York Voice of the Whale

(54:38) songwriting with Ian Tamblyn

(57:48) mental game, perfectionism, performance anxiety

(01:04:33) Nicole Lizée with clip from Prayers for Ruins

(01:06:44) balancing family life as a musician

(01:10:53) choosing repertoire

(01:14:09) performance anxiety (stagefright), Don Greene

photo: Stewart MacLaine