Prague Cello Quartet to interpret popular songs in Ankara

ANKARA

Prague Cello Quartet (PCQ), which consists of four professional musicians who graduated from the music academy, will take the stage for the first time on June 4 at CSO Ada Ankara.

The quartet, consisting of three cellists Jan Zverina, Štěpán Švestka and Michal Haring and double bass player Tomáš Otevřel, has produced many successful music videos that have been viewed millions of times on the internet.

After the albums “No 1” (2011), “Top Secret” (2013), “Happy” (2017) and “Broadway” (2019), the group brought together their most popular tracks in their latest album, “Best of & More” in 2022). At its concerts, PCQ presents a wide repertoire of famous classics, jazz, rock and pop hits.

Since their debut on the music scene in 2006, the band organized more than 100 works and toured all over the world, from Japan to China and from South Korea to Colombia. Given numerous performances in Europe, the band also trains young musicians and regularly takes part in charity events.

They aim to entertain audiences with their clever humor and adaptations of well-known compositions and to cross the boundaries between entertainment and classical music.

Speaking about how their professional journey started, Jan Zverina, the founder of the Prague Cello Quartet, said that they first came together in 2006 during their studies at the conservatory and music universities and released their first CD in 2011 and first professional video in 2017, which reached almost 40 million views.

He said that the most important aspect of the cello that distinguishes it from other instruments is its color of sound, which is considered by many experts to be the closest to the human voice.

“At the same time, it has the largest tonal range of the string instruments, therefore it is also the most versatile,” he added.

The band’s videos on digital platforms have been watched by millions of people, and Zverina thinks the impact of the digital world on their music and success is enormous.

“Although technology has not yet surpassed the experience of a live performance, it is the most common first contact with artists. For us, it is a wonderful motivation to be creative and at the same time an opportunity to bring the culture of our country to the whole world. On the other hand, we try to choose something from the music of the country we are going to for a concert, arrange it in our original style and perform it at the concert,” Zverina explained.

People love the songs that the band interpret as much as the originals. He said what makes them different than the other groups is their original arrangements, with which they try to use all the possibilities of the instrument, which even few professional cellists can handle.

As for Turkish music the band likes to interpret, Zverina said they are already preparing a song that will be very close to Turkish audiences, but added, “However, I will not reveal what specifically we prepared especially for your concert.”

For choosing the songs to interpret, he said that they had to arrange everything themselves. “That’s why we choose anything that we like and that we know could sound good in our original composition. Another important source is you, or the listeners, who tell us what they would very much like to hear directly in our version. We really like to give concerts in countries where we have never been as a quartet, that’s why your country is exactly where we couldn’t miss the opportunity of a concert in Ankara,” he said.

Speaking about the repertoire of the Ankara concert, Zverina said, “You can definitely expect our most famous musical compositions, from ‘Phantom of the Opera’ to ‘Les Misérables’ but also songs from Coldplay, Metallica, Queen, etc. We will also choose something from the classical repertoire and, as I said before, one of your songs will also be performed in our original performance.”