A Tribute to Maestro Pablo Casals

The tribute consists of intertwined cello performances by UCF Professor David Bjella and multimedia presentations by UCF historian Luis Martínez-Fernández. Professor Martínez-Fernández will lecture on the life and extraordinary accomplishments of cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973), widely recognized among the 20th century’s greatest musicians . Casals was also a renowned composer, conductor, teacher, and international humanitarian. He recognized Johan Sebastian Bach as his greatest influence and played his works for over two hours every morning. “I need Bach at the beginning of the day almost more than I need food and water,” he once said. Professor Bjella, who studied cello under one of Casals’ disciples, will perform Bach’s works including the preludes to Suite #1 and Suite #5 for Cello and Casals’ “Song of the Birds.”