EDMOND—Cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio performed “Chopin on the Cello” on January 14 for 468 concertgoers at Armstrong Auditorium. The two-hour program was the fourth event of the 2015-2016 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series.

Sant’Ambrogio, who also hosted a master class the previous day and gave a Periscope interview at the auditorium that afternoon, opened the concert with Etude in C-sharp minor (Op. 25, No. 7): the “cello etude,” as it’s commonly called. Sant’Ambrogio set out to prove a statement she made in her interview: that the cello is “the best instrument for expressing your emotions and being able to speak directly to the human heart.”

Sant’Ambrogio played Nocturne in E-flat (Op. 9, No. 2) and Waltz in C-sharp minor (Op. 64, No. 2), which she called “shockingly beautiful.” Along with foundation concert manager Ryan Malone, who accompanied her on a Steinway concert grand piano, she performed Sonata for Piano and Cello (Op. 65) with power, urgency, intensity and passion, before ending the first half with a confident flourish.

A string quartet from the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra played in the lobby for concertgoers as they chatted and enjoyed snacks during intermission.

In the second half, Sant’Ambrogio presented Etude in E major (Op. 10, No. 3) and Polonaise Brillante for Cello and Piano (Op. 3) on her hand-crafted cello, made in Napoli, Italy in 1800 and named “Charlie the cello, a very happy fellow.” She also performed Nocturne in C-sharp minor (Opus posthumous), which was published after Frederic Chopin’s death. “It’s like discovering a Rembrandt,” she said.

Sant’Ambrogio described Waltz in A minor (Op. 34, No. 2) as a basic piece that many professional pianists don’t enjoy playing—but that changes when played with the cello. She told the audience that she and Malone would alternate between a somber “Slavic feel” and “Parisian ballroom waltz” outbursts, figuratively “walking the tightrope” at “breakneck speeds,” and they did just that.

Finally, Sant’Ambrogio and Malone played a tango by Astor Piazzolla for the encore, leaving the hundreds of guests clapping loudly, gasping in amazement and excitedly whispering.

Sara Sant’Ambrogio is a Grammy Award-winning cellist and the founding member of the Eroica Trio, which performed at Armstrong Auditorium in 2011. She medaled at the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition and the Whitaker, Dealy, Artists International, and Palm Beach awards. She is the subject of a feature-length pbs documentary and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The 2015-2016 Armstrong International Cultural Foundation concert series continues on January 25 and 26 as the Moscow Festival Ballet makes its highly anticipated return to Armstrong Auditorium to perform Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.