Matt Magerkurth: Cellist, Improviser, Performer, Composer

When Matt Magerkurth tells someone he plays the cello, it is a common occurrence for the person to respond that the cello is their favorite instrument, he reveals. It is also often preceded or followed by a statement on how beautiful the instrument's sound is.

"And while that is true, while it is an exceptionally beautiful instrument, I'm also very interested in the ugly and thorny and noisy and kind of percussive elements of it," Magerkurth admits.

It's that versatility that motivates his exploration of the instrument, he says.

"This semi classical-ness that is also fused with this kind of edgy, noisy approach to the instrument. [I love] the fact that I can play a groove on it, and then switch around and play a really luscious melody."

Magerkurth dives headfirst into this dichotomy in his debut album, "Amends." The Trillium Salon Series will host an album release concert Saturday at Perrodin Supply Co. in Springdale.

"I kept finding myself improvising on the instrument, finding different techniques and sounds and passages that I was really into exploring," Magerkurth recalls of his time in Tulsa when he was studying composition.

So as he pursued recording his solo work, Magerkurth landed on a technique that allowed him to consider the music like a performer, but also like an improviser, he shares.

"In classical music, those are two different things, whereas in jazz music, they're really one in the same," he explains. By beginning with a story arc for each song, Magerkurth knows there are particular beats he wants to hit throughout. But the journey to get there is different every time, making each performance an exploration.

"And especially from a textural point of view, when you're just a solo instrument, as I often am when I'm performing these live, sometimes you need some extra repetitions or some extra noise or some other ingredient to push you into the next place," he outlines.

"I mentioned earlier that I was studying to be a composer, and I guess I am a composer. But the feeling that I always hated the most about being a composer is being in a performance and feeling stuck; being able to hear the holes in the piece. That's something that's way more apparent to me as a performer than it is to me as a composer sitting down with a pencil and paper, or notation software. So my own process of being a composer/performer of this music, it allows me to avoid that helpless kind of feeling, and help make the music as intuitively as I can."

-- Jocelyn Murphy

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