The last time Oliver Herbert was in Alberta, it was a bit of an unexpected appearance. In 2020, renowned cellist Stéphane Tétreault was preparing to play with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, but fell on the ice in Montreal and hurt his arm.
Enter Oliver Herbert, just 22 years old at the time. He filled in, playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major and an Elgar concerto with brilliance and expressiveness. “Poise” doesn’t begin to describe what he did on short notice.
He looks back on his first Alberta performance fondly. “That was a big highlight for me, being able to work with the orchestra. We did two concerti that week. So with 24 hours’ notice, I had to get those pieces ready. The orchestra was so great. To this day, I still feel like it’s one of the best and friendliest ensembles I have worked with. They have a great attitude, and I felt so good playing with them. Sometimes the best opportunities are unexpected, so you have to be ready for everything.”
Now, five years later, Herbert is preparing to return to Alberta to play in the ChamberFest West festival in Calgary.
These will be a chamber performances, not with an orchestra, and Herbert appreciates the preparation required for each type of performance. “In the concerto or solo repertoire, the cello takes a leadership role. I prepare to have a clear vision and intention. That allows me to get the orchestra and the conductor on board. And in chamber music, I approach it with an open mind, ready to create something with my colleagues. The cellist’s role in chamber music is versatile, so I ask what I can do to make my colleague feel supported and free. I really like that feeling.”
Herbert is from a musical family. He grew up in San Francisco, the son of timpanist David Herbert and freelance violinist Adrienne Sengpiehl. “My mom was my first music teacher,” he says, “and I started on the violin.”
Neither parent put pressure on Herbert. “I just always had an instrument in my hands, and my parents allowed me to learn at my own pace. There’s a potential risk with musician parents. They know how much work it takes if you want to become professional, and they could push hard, but they never did.”
Switching to the cello was Herbert’s idea. “I started noticing the instrument around age 5,” he says. “I went to a string camp as a kid, and there was something about the lower sound of the instrument. And even the way it looked. I became a bit obsessed with the idea that I should play the cello.”
As he kept asking to make the switch, his parents were supportive. However, one of their early concerns amuses Herbert now. “One of their reservations was practical. They knew that if I became a cellist, I would have to get a second seat on the airplane, everywhere I go. So they wanted to make sure I was serious about it.”
His love for the instrument endures. “The cello was my passport into discovering my own relationship with music. I loved the instrument, and I really wanted to play it. Right from the beginning, it was my thing.”
Now Herbert is pleased to be on his way to play ChamberFest West in Calgary. “The festival has a wide variety of music and composers,” says Herbert. “I love the diversity of music. The Schubert Cello Quintet is a beloved work, perhaps one of the best pieces of chamber music ever written, but you also have pieces by living composers. Through the contrasts of styles and sounds, there is dialogue that will be interesting for people to experience. In their programming, there is real variety.”
He notes that founders Diana Cohen and Roman Rabinovich nurture a sense of community throughout the festival. “I look forward to seeing the group of colleagues there, too. It will feel like a reunion in some ways. It’s fun to play a festival that feels like a homecoming.”
Tune in for a special feature on ChamberFest West during Classical Connections on July 5.
You can find out more about ChamberFest West, including concerts featuring Oliver Herbert, here.
See Oliver Herbert play The Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major.
