UNH Cello Festival 2026
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is pleased to announce the 2026 UNH Cello Festival, a dynamic one-day event inviting cellists from middle school through adult to come together for an immersive experience of learning, performance, and collaboration. From younger developing players to advanced students and adult amateurs, the festival offers a welcoming and inspiring environment to deepen musicianship and connect with fellow cellists from across the region.
Held each spring at UNH’s Paul Creative Arts Center, the UNH Cello Festival is led by Artistic Director and UNH Faculty member Dr. Jacques Lee Wood and features a rich day of activities including a large cello ensemble, masterclasses with UNH faculty, an instrument viewing and discussion with Tom Holdener of Carriage House Violins, and a featured masterclass with Mark Churchill. Participants will also enjoy a concluding concert performed by Mark Churchill and Jacques Lee Wood, offering an inspiring capstone to the day.
The 2026 festival will take place on Saturday, March 7, and is designed to foster artistic growth, technical development, and meaningful musical exchange in a supportive and collegial setting. Whether you are seeking focused feedback, the energy of ensemble playing, or the chance to explore fine instruments and ideas with expert musicians, the UNH Cello Festival offers a rewarding and memorable experience.
Registration opens February 4.
Mark your calendar and join us for a full day celebrating the cello, community, and the joy of music-making at UNH.
For more information and questions about the program, contact: jacques.wood@unh.edu
Date of Event | Time | Grades | Cost | Registration Close Date (unless full earlier) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, March 7 | 9am-5pm | 7th Grade- Adult | $85 | TBD |
REGISTER HERE (Available 2/4)
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.
UNH Cello Festival 2025 Guest Speaker: Paul Sullivan
Dr. Ariana Faulk
Cellist Ariana Falk has appeared around the world as a multi-faceted musician committed to bringing passionate, innovative performance to the stage. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Mechanics Hall, Sprague Hall at Yale, the Kennedy Center, and the Chapel Royal series in Brighton, U.K. She has also appeared a guest artist on the Marlboro College and Longy School of Music Faculty Artist series, live on WGBH Boston and WVPR, and at the Al Kamandjati Festival in Ramallah and Jerusalem. She has collaborated with distinguished musicians including Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz and toured with the Grammy Award-nominated Yale Cellos. A review in Portland’s Oregonian said “Falk was terrific; her tone was solid and appropriately dark, and she carefully calibrated her path from lyrically mysterious beginnings on to a blistering, biting climax.”
Eli Kaynor
Cellist Eli Kaynor is a touring musician who has recently relocated to Portsmouth, NH. As an active teaching artist and performer, Eli’s professional career encompasses the full gamut of musical genres, including chamber, orchestral, solo, ethnic, folk, and rock. Eli is an active Teaching Artist at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC), where he also serves as Director of Development. Through his work, both at and away from the instrument, Eli spends his time building audiences and fostering community relationships.
Eli is a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony in North Carolina; the Acting Associate Principal Cellist of the Lynchburg Symphony in Virginia; and he performs locally with both the Portsmouth Symphony and Great Bay Philharmonic Orchestras. Over the summer, Eli is a frequent member of Opera North, the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and Point CounterPoint. He also sits on the teaching artist roster for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a freelancer, Eli has performed shows with such pop-rock artists as Disturbed, Evanescence, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Josh Groban.
Schedule 2025
9:30am - Festival Check-in
10:00am - Cello ensemble reading
11:15am - “George Bornoff and You”. Paul Sullivan, guest speaker
12:00pm - Lunch Break
1:30pm - Masterclasses with UNHCF Faculty Artists
3:00pm - Break
3:30pm - “Emoting! Simple rules on moving expressively while playing”. Dr. Jacques Lee Wood
4:30pm - Concert: Dr. Jacques Lee Wood
5:00pm - Festival concludes
