Blog - Cello by Triana

Mickey and the Beanstalk

I love old cartoons, my grandma used to have a drawer full of unlabeled VHS tapes that were full of Disney movies from long ago. We would go through them, pop it in the VCR and be entertained!

I particularly like the background music in all these old cartoons. I always thought it would be cool to one day play in a symphony that did soundtracks for them.

Ever since moving to Minnesota I’ve been having memories about a Jack and the beanstalk cartoon I saw as a kid. Something about how green and lush it is here, whenever I look out into the fields surrounding me I can’t help but think of this big cartoon stalk growing into the sunny sky.

I kept searching online and couldn’t find anything.. Then I found the cover art online for Disney’s 1947 Fun and Fancy Free movie with two stories, one of them being Mickey and the Beanstalk!

It’s here for free on Internet Archive, a great place to find videos and music!

https://archive.org/details/mickey-and-the-beanstalk-1947

Shenandoah for 4 cellos

This past season with Bows, Strings & Contentment Orchestra I had the opportunity to arrange the American folk song, Shenandoah, for 4 cellos, 1 bass, and a singer.

In college I used the software program Sibelius to make changes and new arrangements for orchestra pieces. That was a fun and challenging project! Especially because the version I had was pretty clunky and only worked about 75% of the time.. Or maybe I was only doing it right 75% of the time lol..

I found out about MuseScore a while back and finally got the opportunity download it and check it out. It’s such an intuitive program and has been super easy to use so far! I really like how it’s turned out.

I’m planning on recording a 4 cello version and uploading it to my Youtube channel soon. I’ll also post a link to download the 4 cello score and parts as well.

In the meantime, we are performing live this Sunday June 15th at the Grand in Northfield at 7pm! Come see us!

Summer Sounds Outdoor Concert

We had such a lovely outdoor concert last night! The Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra performed at Oddfellows Park in Northfield. The weather was perfect, everyone sounded great, even the birds chirped at just the right moments 🙂

Our next one is scheduled for early September during the Jesse James Days celebrations.. Not being from Minnesota I didn’t know much about this event, but basically in 1876 Jesse James, a notorious bank robber, came into town and was thwarted by the citizens of Northfield!

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Father’s Day Concert!

I’ll be performing with the Bows, Strings and Contentment Orchestra Sunday, June 15th 7pm at The Grand in Northfield! We’ve been working hard on putting this program together.

In addition to the string orchestra I am part of a Dvorak Quartet.. We are playing The American, movement 1, which was written in Spillville, Iowa in 1893. It’s about 3 hours away which is really cool to think about how Dvorak wound up in this part of the country and how he was so moved by it that he wrote this gorgeous quartet.

I am also part of a group performing Shenandoah which I helped organize and was arranged by the amazing Laurie Stegner. It’s 4 cellos, 1 bass, and singer Barb Piper.. Perhaps the first time this piece has been done with this arrangement of instruments! It’s going to be a lovely Sunday, come join us!

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Concert Friday May 30!

I’m performing Friday May 30th, 2025 with the Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra at Oddfellows Park in Northfield, MN.

We’ve got a whole bunch of great music! Bring some chairs, snacks, and spend a beautiful evening with us 🙂

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Dvorak – American Quartet, Mvt I

So excited to be playing this piece at the Bows Strings and Contentment Orchestra’s concert Sunday June 15th at The Grand Theatre in Northfield, MN!

Dvorak wrote this in 1893 while visiting Spillville, Iowa, about 3 hours away from where I live. Such a gorgeous piece.. when you read the history of his time in the US it really adds to the beauty 🙂

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Dog Mom Life!

Trying to practice.. My giant puppy thinks I’m calling him lol.. I actually had the door closed and he somehow got it open!

Smokey is a 1.5 year old Akita. He loves walks around the neighborhood, roughhousing with his husky friends, eating snow, and trying to befriend our cat, Prince Stanley 🙂

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Sparkles for a Snowstorm

At the very end of March we got one final mini snowstorm. I was performing in a small town that took 45 minutes on a two lane road with parts of it being dirt. Leaving the venue, the snow was blowing with 40mph winds, visibility was very low, and the dirt had turned to snowy mushy mud! It was worth it though, what a beautiful way to end winter 🙂

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

California <3

About 3 years ago I moved to Minnesota from California (with a brief stint in Idaho where I met my husband!). A little bit before my move I recorded this video with a classical guitarist. My friend had a new drone and we shot it in the hills of the San Fernando Valley on a beautiful SoCal afternoon. It was a fun project!

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician

Awesome App for Practicing!

Just found out about this awesome app called Tomplay that let’s you play along with real musicians. Lately I’ve been practicing with Youtube videos or tracks on Apple Classical. I’ll put my headphones in and play lightly, trying to listen to my part of the piece as well as everyone else. It’s an okay strategy but when a friend told me about this app, I was like wow this is what I needed all along!

You can mute your part, raise or lower other parts, slow them down, add a metronome, etc. It’s pretty genius and the best part is that it’s all real musicians playing, not some awful sounding MIDI or computer generated sound.

Check it out! Tomplay Sheet Music

Cello by Triana – Minnesota Wedding Cellist, Cello Lessons, Wedding Ceremony Musician