The big, open room at Mr. Small’s Theatre swarms with people, and the noise of the crowd echoes far up to the cathedral arches that top the former church turned venue. The talking, laughing, and tuning of instruments are almost deafening. Then, Simon Cummings and his bandmates take the stage at the Pittsburgh-area club. The minute they pick up their bows, the room goes quiet.
Among the crowd are some of the region’s best rock musicians. They are all there for a battle of the bands competition. As the four cellists prepare to play, murmurs—even small spurts of laughter—break the silence. But there is a different kind of silence once the band begins.
This is Cummings’ first concert as a full member of Cellofourte, a cello quartet band that plays mainly in the style of pop, metal, or hard rock music. His bandmates are two Carnegie Mellon alumni, Tate Olsen (A’04, HNZ’06) and Nicole Myers (A’02, A’04), and Duquesne University music major Ben Munoz.
Cummings, a senior music major studying—what else—cello, first began his pursuit of cello rock with Cellofourte by showing a piece he’d composed for a cello quartet to Olsen, his high school friend. Soon he found himself arranging more music for Cellofourte, like a song by the band Evanescence, known for their rock melodies mixed with classical undertones.
Cummings has always been enamored with music, starting at the piano at age six. “When I got to third grade, the music teacher asked [the class] if you’d like to play a musical instrument, and I just wanted to play something. When they asked what I wanted, I asked for something big.” He got just about the biggest thing they had, the cello.
For the next 14 years, Cummings took the stage numerous times, playing classical music concerts at his school and transitioning to the bass or drums in numerous rock bands. Only with Cellofourte was he able to bring his musical worlds together.
“Last night I was playing a Haydn concerto in C major, and I just went directly into playing Ultimatum, a brand new song we [Cellofourte] haven’t even learned. … My passion is to play these songs … my fingers just want to go there,” says Cummings. “I have no problem doing classical, and I like teaching kids … but I really love doing Cellofourte.”
Evidently, the judges at Mr. Small’s Theatre loved Cellofourte, too. The band won.
—MICHELLE BOVA (HS’07)
