Nan Kemberling, Atlanta Cellist
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Cellist, Teacher, and Coach

Who am I?

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​I am a professional cellist and teacher in Atlanta, but I am not your typical musician. When people think of a classical music concert, they think stuffy.  Lots of rules about when not to clap.  Lots of evil-eyeing from people who know the ropes of the art music scene.

You know what I am talking about.

I want to break down that invisible wall between performers and audience.  Why must we be enclosed in a hermetically sealed box on stage, not daring to engage or even look at the human beings we are playing for?  

The response I hear most is that we must do this out of respect for the music.

For me, music is communication.  It is written by a person. For people.  We are actually doing it a disservice to put it on a pedestal. 

Call me crazy, but I like to talk to the audience during my performances to fill in the behind-the-scenes information on the composers and history.  I like to show the dance steps of a sarabande before I play it so that the listeners know why certain beats of the music are emphasized.  When I start to play, no matter what genre or venue, I can’t help but let the music move me.

I hope it moves you too! 

More about me
More about my teaching

Let's talk about performance anxiety!

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​This is an important aspect of all of our lives that seems to be a taboo topic in the music world.  No one seems to be able to admit that it is a powerful factor that can cause even the best musicians to give up music altogether.

It doesn't have to be like that.

There is a lot you can do yourself to help alleviate or even harness the symptoms of performance stress.

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I want to know more

Why did I choose cello?

Watch this video to discover the unexpected reason I began playing the cello...

I'm blogging for you!

In my studio, empowerment is the goal.  I like to deal with specific issues in music which seem taboo (for instance, dealing with performance anxiety) or topics that I wish I had learned about sooner in my cello life (how to tune by ear). 

I want to reach out to every cellist in the world!  So... I started blogging and making educational videos a few years ago.  Maybe there is something that can help make your cello life easier.  Here are a few of the topics I have addressed:

  • Easy cello posture
  • Painless bow hold
  • Efficient beautiful sound production
  • Fearless peg tuning
  • Effective practice technique
  • Skilled sightreading
  • Step-by-step fingerboard cleaning
  • Rosin and rehairing
Latest BLOG post

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Check out my studio, Room 4 Cello!

Bright new space
More on Room 4 Cello
There's always room for cello...
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