Teen Cellist to Perform in Concert

When she was just one year old, Bridgewater resident Sophia Bacelar watched her father play the cello, and decided she wanted to do it too.

And she begged and begged him until she had her first lesson when she turned three.

“So from the time I was young, I was around the cello,” said Sophia, 14. “I liked the sound of it, and it’s my favorite string instrument.”

Now, after continuing her lessons since then, Bacelar won in October, through the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, the NJIO 2010 Young Artists Concerto Competition, and will be performing with the orchestra at the Madison Junior High School on Main Street in Madison Sunday at 3 p.m.

“I heard about the competition through a friend, and I decided to try out,” she said. “I performed some pieces, and they chose me.”

“I won and this is my prize,” she added.

NJIO was founded in 1994, and holds three different free community concerts throughout the year, in addition to having performed at the United Nations, the Capital Building in Washington D.C., the New Jersey Zoological Society and in the Plaza Fountain Concert Series of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, among others.

The organization itself is a non-profit that supports musicians through music programs in the community and free concerts.

"The New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra is excited to have [Sophia] perform in concert with them this Sunday," said Emily Benjamin, a spokeswoman for the NJIO. "Our free community concerts, which showcase local intergenerational talent, are NJIO's gift to the towns and counties of northern and central NJ."

Bacelar, who is currently homeschooled, is also a music student at the Juilliard School pre-college, where she performs in the orchestra, and said she has every intention of continuing her music in the future.

“I definitely want to pursue music as a career,” she said. “I want to perform.”

Now Bacelar is preparing to perform a solo, namely the first movement of the Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major during this weekend’s concert.

“The concert should be really good,” she said.

But with her preparation, Bacelar said, she is not very nervous, just making sure she is ready. She said she makes sure to practice enough so that she can be fully prepared to perform.

“A lot of people overthink the performance and then they get nervous,” she said. “I think it is better to relax and trust yourself.”

“You practice a lot so you are prepared,” she added. “Then when you go on stage, you don’t have to worry.”

Also a piano player, Bacelar said her favorite composer often changes, but is currently Erik Satie, a French Impressionist composer.

“It is impressionist equivalent to painting,” she said. “The music is French sounding and calming.”

Bacelar said she is looking forward to having the opportunity to perform with the orchestra.

“I’ve been practicing a lot,” she said. “I’m excited to play with the orchestra.”

The NJIO will be performing at 3 p.m. in Madison Sunday, with performances of pieces composed by Edvard Grieg, John Williams, Aram Khachaturian and J. Strauss, Jr. 

NJIO, as an organization, has more than 100 members from ages six through 80, and allows for musicians of all ages to study and perform orchestral music. The members also work with professional musicians to study their instruments.

For more information about NJIO and its different groups, visit the website at njio.org.

Spring open house rehearsals will be held Feb. 17 and Feb. 24.