Cellist Joshua Roman will take the Brooks Center stage Jan. 19

Published: January 5, 2012

Joshua Roman will peform Jan. 19 at the Brooks Center. image by: Jeremy Sawatzky

CLEMSON — Not many musicians can claim winning the role of principal cellist in a symphony orchestra at the tender age of 22. Joshua Roman can, and he will share the talent that won him that coveted position with the Seattle Symphony at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Clemson University's Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

Performing as part of the Utsey Chamber Music Series, Roman has been called a “classical rock star” for his ability to reach a broad spectrum of music lovers with jazz, rock, chamber music or solo sonatas by Bach or Kodaly.

A child of parents who met in the school orchestra, Roman began playing the cello when he was 3 years old. He's played at Carnegie Hall, performed with Yo-Yo Ma and was named one of Musical America’s “New Artists of the Month.”

His Brooks program includes sonatas by Debussy and Brahms, as well as a piece by Astor Piazzolla entitled “Le Grand Tango.” Roman also will play selections from "Americana," penned by young composer Dan Visconti.

“It’s so rare to feel such excitement about a program from the get-go,” Roman said, referring to the performance with pianist Andrius Zablys.

The concert is offered free of charge by the Utsey Chamber Music Series Endowment. For more information, visit www.clemson.edu/Brooks or contact the box office at 864-656-7787 from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

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The Lillian and Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series
For the past 25 years, Clemson University’s award-winning Utsey Chamber Music Series has presented more than 100 free chamber music concerts and continues with four more concerts in its 26th year. Recognized for outstanding programming and community service, the series has earned national accolades for showcasing the best soloists and ensembles in the genre. Last season, seven broadcasts of selections from concerts were heard on the national radio program "Performance Today," which has an estimated 1.3 million listeners. In 2007, Clemson University received an Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts, South Carolina’s highest arts award, for outstanding contributions made by the Utsey Chamber Music Series to the arts in the Palmetto State.