Cellodees - Cello Orchestra​

Cellodees began in its current form in 2010, with fortnightly meetings in the attic of Barloco in central Newcastle.

Next we added a monthly Saturday morning at St Thomas' Church, Haymarket, Newcastle. When the church removed its organ and introduced screens and a PA system, we decamped to St James and St Basil's in Fenham where the acoustic is fantastic.

The group is open to all cellists, and the music is largely arranged by Penny Callow aka flamingcello to include all levels from beginner adults to professional players.

Our mission is to entice busy adults back to playing music regularly, and to encourage new starters. Playing music has well-documented health benefits, and people often find that once the children have left home, for instance, there is more time to indulge a hobby.

At Cellodees we aim to solve a number of problems cellists encounter. Often in orchestral playing (and there are several good amateur orchestras in the North East), the parts are either fiendishly difficult or drearily boring, but in Cellodees there are tunes, bass lines, middle harmonies, and easy parts to choose from. Another problem is that when learning an instrument there is sometimes pressure to be constantly striving for the next level, making it sound continuously difficult! However at Cellodees we believe this is a matter of individual intention plus time constraints: progress here happens at an unforced pace.

Cellodees is not primarily about performance, although we do perform in interesting places or for causes we support. In 2013 and 2014 we organised events for "Our Big Gig" at St Thomas'. Both events included our regular workshop - expanded to include rare-sightings, specially invited cello friends, performances by the Semitones, a group who perform in residential homes for older people, tea and home-made cakes, and other local groups. 

Cellodees players come from different areas of life - business, medecine, education, UK and foreign students.

The music we play includes classics by Bach, Handel, Schumann, Tallis; Astor Piazzolla Tangos; transcriptions of Finnish Cello Quartet Apocalyptica's music.