UNH Cello Festival

UNH Cello Festival 2025

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is thrilled to announce the 2025 UNH Cello Festival, an exciting opportunity for cellists of all ages and skill levels to immerse themselves in a day of intensive learning, performance, and collaboration. Whether you're an aspiring student, a professional cellist, or a passionate enthusiast, this festival offers a unique environment to elevate your musical craft and connect with fellow musicians from around the region.

Held every spring at UNH’s Paul Creative Arts Center, the festival features masterclasses, individual coaching, group lessons, and engaging performances by world-class cellists and faculty members. Participants will have the chance to hone their technique, explore new repertoire, and gain invaluable insights from esteemed guest artists, all while enjoying the camaraderie of a vibrant musical community.

This year’s festival will take place on Saturday, March 8 and promises to be a dynamic and inspiring experience, with programming designed to foster artistic growth, creativity, and connection. Whether you're looking to deepen your musical expression, challenge yourself technically, or simply enjoy the joy of playing in a supportive and enriching environment, the UNH Cello Festival is the perfect opportunity to do so.

For more information and questions about the program, contact: jacques.wood@unh.edu

REGISTER HERE

Jacques Lee Wood, UNHCF director

Boston-based cellist Jacques Lee Wood has performed around the world as a solo artist, chamber, and orchestral musician. His activities as a performer reflects a broad range of interests - historical performance on period instruments, commissioning new works for both modern and baroque cello, improvisation that incorporates live electronics, and composing his own material are just a few of the areas he explores in his creative scope. Dr. Wood is Principal Cello of the Cape Symphony, and is a member of several musical groups including Aston Magna, StringLab, Pedroia Quartet, Antico Moderno, and the NYC-based bluegrass band Cathedral Parkway. He is a frequent guest artist with A Far Cry, Boston Baroque, House of Time, Yale Schola Cantorum, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Bachsolisten Seoul, Bach Collegium Japan, Juilliard 415, and the Handel and Haydn Society. A recognized pedagogue, Wood is the cello professor at the University of New Hampshire and faculty at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (Intensive Community Program, BEAM Program).   He has held residencies at the Yale School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Avaloch Farm (composition) and Tufts University to name a few.  Wood has received fellowships from the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Yale Center for East Asian Studies for research at Sogang University (Seoul, South Korea), and the Yale School of Music for postdoctoral studies in early music with noted scholar and baroque violinist Robert Mealy.  Dr. Wood is the founder and artistic director of the UNH Cello Festival and currently the cello faculty at the Summer Youth Music School (University of New Hampshire), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Point Counterpoint.  An active guest lecturer and clinician, Dr. Wood has presented on a broad range of topics ranging from historical performance practice for the modern musician to music technology in the pedagogical process. He is a frequent guest artist at the Great Mountains Festival (South Korea), Korea Strings Research Institute, Bari International Music Festival, Banff Centre, Aston Magna, and the Manchester Summer Chamber Music Festival.  A grammy-nominated recording artist, Wood has released recordings on the Hyperion, Musica Omnia, and Navona labels. Dr. Wood completed his BM at the New England Conservatory of Music under Laurence Lesser, and holds a MM and DMA from Yale University, where he studied with Aldo Parisot.