An anthology of cello works edited and arranged by Dr. Şölen Dikener
About
Dr. Şölen Dikener is a compassionate music educator; many of his students are winners of numerous positions and awards. Since 2002, he has been a cello professor at the School of Music of Marshall University in West Virginia, USA. Previously, Dr. Dikener served at the faculties of Central Michigan University in Michigan and Hacettepe University in Ankara. Every summer, he returns to his native Turkey and teaches at Dat.C.A. Cello Academy, a summer music school that he co-founded in 2016.
A winner of the Distinguished Artist and Scholar Award in 2007, he published his first cello technique book, “Cello Warm-Up!” in 2009 which received critical acclaim internationally from The Strad magazine in July 2010.
As a performer and scholar, he published eight albums that are dedicated to the cello and chamber music works of contemporary composers from Turkey and the United States. His latest album “My Beautiful Star” was published in 2022. As a founding member of the Capital Trio based in Albany, New York, he has been performing chamber music concerts since 1997.
Dr. Dikener studied cello with Paul Tortelier, Maud Tortelier, Frieder Lenz, Dennis Parker, Owen Carman, Tanya Carey and Tobias Kühne, holding degrees from Michigan State University (DMA), Louisiana State University (MM), Conservatoire National de Nice (MM) and has attended the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria.
My Story
Following my cello studies with outstanding teachers, I found myself in the field of teaching from the beginning of my musical career. I had learned from them analytical skills about the anatomy of the cello. That made me believe that to play a phrase with effective musical expression, I need to know the technical steps in preparing this outcome. Therefore, while my technique is in service of my music-making, I am fully aware and have control of the actions of my both hands.
One of my teachers Paul Tortelier once said, “It is not difficult to teach, it’s just hard to find the right student”. While this philosophy is handy, its reality sometimes escapes us. But if explained clearly and logically, any cello student will advance their level at a faster pace and enhance their learning experiences by including enjoyment. This anthology sheet music collection was created for this purpose.
Over the years, I taught all levels of students, hence finding the intermediate level the most challenging in terms of covering the appropriate repertoire. The most traditional curriculum suggests relying on popular pieces, which almost always come with some distressed passage work. And this either discourages the student or the passage work is eventually left unfinished. The repertoire presented in this anthology is meant to master the technical deficiencies of the intermediate-level cellist by also encouraging them to play musically with the suggested - and sometimes unusual - markings. Not to mention, we will also celebrate the lives and the contributions of so many amazing cellists from the past, and I am hoping to add more gratitude to their glory.