SAKURA Cello Quintet to release debut album, Clair de Lune

The SAKURA Cello Quintet—comprised of Stella Cho (’12, MM ’14, DMA ’22), Michael Kaufman (MM ’12, DMA ’15), Yoshika Masuda (GCRT ’12, DMA ’16), Peter Myers (MM ’10, GCRT ’13) and Zachary Mowitz—will release their debut album Clair de Lune on September 19 via Platoon. The album spans five centuries of music, including pieces by Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Joe Hisaishi, Carlo Gesualdo, John Williams and Stephen Sondheim.

“When the ensemble approaches repertoire selections, each work is reimagined with reverence and imagination,” said cellist and arranger Peter Myers. “We aim to preserve the spirit of the original while highlighting the expressive power of five cellos. Our goal is to get inside the mind of the original composer, to understand the musical intention while also offering a fresh and inspiring perspective.”

Clair de Lune will be available on all streaming platforms. Listen to the first single, Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” here.

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Photo courtesy of USC Thornton.