Skip vonKuske - ProfilesArchive

About Me

About me in the Third Person:Skip vonKuske is a multi-faceted musician whose primary instrument for over thirty years has been the cello. For over ten years he studied cello and chamber music with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic and performed in numerous college and community orchestras as well as 6 years with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra touring Great Britain, China, and South America as its principal cellist. In the years since, he has become a devoted improvisor, studio specialist, composer, and all around performer. In 2008 he's touring Portugal, recorded on half a dozen CD releases, and performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. vonKuske considers himself a "collaborative soloist" primarily and is a firmly established member of the Portland, OR Indie, Classical, Jazz, and Eclectic music scenes. He hosts a weekly "Diva Series" in which he improvises with a female acoustic performer, in its fourth year. In addition, he is a member of The Portland Cello Project (myspace.com/celloproject ), Vagabond Opera myspace.com/vagabondopera ), and performs solo under the name "cellotronik" ( you're already here ) incorporating laptop,vocals,guitar, as well as cello. In a sign of an ever shrinking world, vonKuske has begun collaborating with Australian singer/songwriter Paul Turner with plans for a US tour and studio collaboration this April!Skip vonKuske has been in Portland since 1994. In that time he's worked as a cellist with many many artists and fears leaving their names off a list, but here are some highlights. The Portland Cello Project, Vagabond Opera, The Oregon Symphony, Pink Martini, Smoky Robinson, Jennifer Batten ( Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson ), Trans Siberian Orchestra, Nu Shooz Orchestra, Randy Cannon, The Stolen Sweets, Michael Allen Harrison, Stephanie Schneiderman, Carmina Pirana/Luna, Ashleigh Flynn, Susie Blue, Myshkin's Ruby Warblers.Skip vonKuske brings a perspective to recording and live performance based on his experiences as a songwriter/guitarist as well as 31 years of cello study. He's been improvising on cello ,guitar, and bass for over 20 years. Cellotronik was born 2 years ago when he began working with Reason, but gestated for the previous 3 years when the RC20 Loop Station entered his rack of tricks.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/8/2005
Band Website: skipvonkuske.com
Band Members:

I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V3.6 !

Influences:.. -- CDBABY LINK for SKIP VONKUSKE: Intuit --
Sounds Like: An intro to my band Vagabond Opera!Sneakin Out and me at the White Eagle post some Trancelucid Hank= thanksMost recent with Lara Michell and Jen Bernard playing "Petals"
Record Label: ..
Type of Label: None

My Blog

LAG appropriate airport code

Funny thing happened when I got to the airport. I was at the wrong one! $100 car service to the right one and I'm on the plane now. Sheesh!and whew! First time I've ever booked a round trip flight th...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:07:00 PST

once again.....

I'm up early. Leaving NYC again. It was delightful once again, and once again it sucks getting up so early to leave the city that doesn't sleep. Now I get it.......straight from the airport to the rec...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:45:00 PST

Leaving Europe

I am leaving Madrid in a couple of hours. Fly to Porto, sit for hours, fly to France, sleep for some hours, fly to Seattle,wait a couple hours then arrive in Portland tomorrow night. I’ve really...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:35:00 PST

another day in Portugal

So, now I am in Lisbon. We are at the channel 8 studio for a taping of the popular morning show, "Fatima". We are 2 hours from taping,but there is plenty of coffee, fruit, and sandwiches. Apparently, ...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:01:00 PST

Portugal

Well, I'm a poor blogger and failed to finish my tale of New York, but the dovetail into this blog is flying my cello to New York and back frightened me as to its well being on an international flight...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:24:00 PST

ugh and elation!

So, I've had an amazing week in NY and DC. Amazing and challenging. The challenges began right away as I misplaced my driver's license (hasn't turned up yet) on the flight from pdx to ewr (Newark).Hav...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:33:00 PST

Washington Post article about Vagabond Opera

Note: not a word about the cellist, but I'll be there!Arts BeatVagabond Opera: Life Is a Cabaret The eclectic band Vagabond Opera creates a bohemian neo-cabaret sound with a mix of klezmer, tango, ...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:36:00 PST

humility lessons

So, last night I was doing a solo set at Edgefield for four people in the first hour, they were in their 30s through 60s and they were loving my beats and I could do know wrong. The second set started...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:49:00 PST

nothing new

I'm due at Glencoe elementary in a few short hours. vagabond gig. Life is good and I feel on my way to a new contentment. Sleep now, plenty of time to think, I just want to enjoy feeling sleep now....
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:40:00 PST

silly school boy

Yeah.....so......I've been flying solo for some time and I like it.... really, but occasionally I think to myself, "What kind of person would I like to connect with?" well..... I tell myself....... Sh...
Posted by Skip vonKuske on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:46:00 PST