The 2025 Cello│Fresno – International Cello Festival will take place from Oct. 3 through Nov. 2 at Fresno State and features internationally recognized and Grammy-nominated cellist Bion Tsang.
Tsang has received multiple awards, including the Avery Fisher Career Grant, an MEF Career Grant and the bronze medal in the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition. He has performed around the globe in Moscow, Hong Kong, Busan and Mexico City as a soloist and chamber music collaborator. He serves as the head of strings and holds the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long chair in cello at the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin.
Bion Tsang, by Perfecto Creative and Sarah Wilson
The Cello Mania Concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Fresno State Concert Hall. General admission tickets are $25. The program includes:
Works for cello and orchestra by Bruch, Enescu, Respighi, Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky.
A special performance by the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra of Dvořák’s Scherzo Capriccioso, conducted by Thomas Loewenheim, professor of cello and director of the orchestra.
The Closing Gala Concert is at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, at the School of Music Concert Hall. General admission tickets are $25. The program includes:
Two cello ensembles conducted by Emilio and Cara Elise Colón.
The Youth Orchestras of Fresno, with the Concerto Competition winners performing works by Davidoff and Popper.
Tsang and Emilio Colón performing works by Dvořák, Strauss and Tchaikovsky.
Rossini’s William Tell Overture conducted by Loewenheim.
Emilio Colón
Cara Elise Colón
Thomas Landschoot
Jonathan Ruck
Dr. Thomas Loewenheim
Throughout the four-day festival, participating students will engage in master classes, workshops and a concerto competition, culminating in two public concerts on Nov. 1 and 2. The festival includes two large cello ensembles. The advanced ensemble, conducted by Emilio Colón, is designed for graduate, college, and high school cellists to perform side-by-side with faculty. The young ensemble, directed by Cara Colón, serves beginning cellists.
The festival is organized by artistic directors Loewenheim (Fresno State), Emilio Colón (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music), and Cara Colón. Other faculty guest artists include Thomas Landschoot, Arizona State University, and Jonathan Ruck, University of Oklahoma.