Eugene Friesen

Who is Eugene Friesen?

Eugene Friesen is an American cellist and composer.

Friesen is a graduate of the Yale School of Music. He has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort since 1978, and performs with Howard Levy and Glen Velez as Trio Globo. He received a Grammy Award as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for the 1994 album Spanish Angel and again in 2006 for the Consort's Silver Solstice in 2007 for "Crestone," and in 2011 for "Miho: Journey to the Mountain." Friesen has won 4 Grammy Awards to date.

Friesen has broken new ground for the cello, using it in a wide variety of non-classical settings and creating new techniques to expand its role as a solo and accompanying instrument. He has also performed thousands of concerts for young audiences on cello and electric cello as "Celloman."

In 2012, Friesen's book, "Improvisation for Classical Musicians" was published by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard.

He is a Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and lives in Vermont. Among his prominent students are Rushad Eggleston, Mads Tolling, Lindsay Mac, and Nathan Leath. Friesen also runs a nonprofit production company, Sonoterra Productions, producing concerts, recordings and workshops.