Nathanial Chaitkin, 42, wants to spread his love for classical music with the $6,000 grant awarded to him by the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowship.
At age 11, he started playing cello. He continued his studies at the Juilliard School, the University of Michigan and at University of Maryland, where he received his doctoral degree. Chaitkin worked as a freelancer for a few years after college and then played with the orchestra of the United States Marine Band in Washington D.C. for eight years. After teaching at Michigan State, he and his wife moved to Cincinnati, where he currently teaches at CCM prep and privately.
With the grant money from the City, Chaitkin plans to hold concerts at Cincinnati Recreation Commission centers in underserved neighborhoods in Cincinnati. Specific locations have yet to be determined.
Chaitkin says he has wanted to stage these kinds of performances for about 20 years now. When he was in college, unlike many of his music school peers, he spent time with students involved in other disciplines. It helped that he lived in a dormitory with football players and was also a history major. Most of the music students, he says, were segregated from the rest of the school, and he wanted to bridge that gap. Therein evolved his idea to show people who have not been exposed to classical music that they can enjoy it, too.
He wants his new concerts to be interactive so that he can engage the audience in a discussion about music. Chaitkin plans to incorporate a piece composed by his college roommate, Evan Hause, who wrote several original songs for Chaitkin.
In addition to traditional classical pieces, like Bach and Hindemith, he will play songs that most people won’t expect a celloist to play, like something by The Beastie Boys or “Impossible” by Shontelle.
“I don’t think that everybody feels comfortable getting past those assumptions they have about it [classical music],” says Chaitkin. “For me, the goal is to sweep that aside and put the music in a place and a context where they feel comfortable.”
The artist also hopes that the concerts will spark the appreciation of classical music and encourage people to become active members of the performing arts community. The benefits are many, including to the city’s economic status. Chaitkin’s other goal is for his project is to inspire people to create art programs in underserved neighborhoods, like MyCincinnati in Price Hill.
Currently, Chaitkin is also considering creating a string quartet to accompany him at one of these concerts.
Do Good:
• Donate to
MyCincinnati, an after school arts program for children, which shares the power of music with children in underserved schools.
• Learn more about the
CRC centers in Cincinnati.
• Find out about
art programs and events going on in Cincinnati.
By Stephanie Kitchens
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