In this interview with cellist Joshua Jones he tells us about his meticulous preparation of Dvořák’s stunning piece Silent Woods, the supportive ANAM environment, memorable performances, collaborative strategies, current projects, and future aspirations in music.
1. Tell us about your preparation to play the solo cello part in Dvorak’s beautiful work for Cello and Orchestra, Silent Woods.
While I work on Silent Woods, I try to keep my attention on the tonal colour and direction of my sound. This work is very lyrical and I try to replicate the sound of someone singing as closely as possible — I do this by experimenting with the core and depth of my sound, the growth of the sound within phrases, and how the expression of each passage changes. I’ve been working on my bow control, distribution and usage in order to facilitate this.
2. Reflecting on your time working at ANAM and playing a solo with the ANAM Orchestra, how are you feeling playing a big solo part in front of your ANAM peers?
My ANAM peers are a very supportive cohort for whom I have performed many times in Strings Workshops and Performance Classes. ANAM is fortunate enough to have a positive social and educational culture, so I am very excited to perform for my colleagues and friends once again. It feels a bit surreal to play solo with the orchestra, as the members of it are mostly my close personal friends.
Joshua Jone performing with Aiden Bose at the 2023 Concerto Competition semi-final.
3. What has been one of your highlights while training at ANAM?
One of my favourite moments at ANAM was being offered the opportunity to play the first and second movements of the Elgar Cello Concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. This was as part of the Ears Wide Open concert in 2023, where the third and fourth movements were played by my ANAM peers at the time Nadia Narrow (alum 2023) and Isaac Davis (alum 2023), respectively.
This was also live-streamed nationally, which added to the pressure but it was a challenging and exciting experience overall.
4. For this orchestral project we’re working with the wonderful Finish conductor Erkki Lasonpalo. As Erkki is based in Finland, talk to us about preparing to work with someone who isn’t close at hand to speak to or rehearse with. How do you approach this collaboration?
My strategy for this is to listen to recordings of the work while reading the orchestral score, so that I am aware of which instruments play in unison with me, as well as to familiarise myself with where rubato or other details tend to be in the orchestral parts. I’m also making sure to know exactly what tonal colours and rubato I’m going to use, and to communicate it with my body language while I’m playing so that it is easy for Erkki and the orchestra to understand.
5. What else are you working on this year?
At the moment, I am also working on Offenbach's Cello Concerto and Gulda's Cello Concerto. These works are not played as often as the other works in the solo cello canon, so I am excited to introduce these exciting works to the audience eventually. Both these works are technically demanding and I am enjoying the challenge of slowly learning and polishing these pieces. I am also involved in several chamber groups at ANAM, which is always a dynamic and socially-fulfilling learning process as well.
6. What are you hoping to move onto in your career once you complete your training at ANAM?
Once I finish my ANAM training, I hope to audition for and study overseas, specifically in Germany. I plan to do my postgraduate degree at one of a few music institutes that I have on a list of potential study options. I am also hoping to be involved in the professional music scene in Australia (either before or after study in Europe), whether that be in a professional symphony orchestra or in a chamber group. I am mostly just staying open to wherever life goes and taking whatever opportunities I can get.
Hear Joshua shine in the cello solo in Silent Woods at the performance ANAM Orchestra with Erkki Lasonpalo, 1 June 7pm at St Kilda Town Hall.