EDMOND—About 40 people attended a master class by Grammy-Award winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio on January 13 in Armstrong Auditorium. Sant’Ambrogio, who is in concert at the auditorium tonight, played the role of a teacher to cellists from age 9 and up.

Students and teachers from Imperial Academy, Herbert W. Armstrong College and the community attended the hour-and-a-half master class in the auditorium theater. Three local cellists and one Imperial Academy student performed for the audience and Sant’Ambrogio. After each performer finished his or her piece, he or she received individualized instruction. Sant’Ambrogio’s commentary focused on honoring the composer’s intent.

When 9-year-old Sophie played Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude, Sant’Ambrogio compared it to an onion that all young cellists start with. The older you get, the more layers of the onion you peel back, and the more intense it gets.“Then you cry,” she joked.

Sant’Ambrogio related her extensive studies of composers and said that in the case of Johann Sebastian Bach, his original cello manuscripts were lost, and there is no unbroken line of player tradition, so it is impossible to know the composer’s exact intent.

“You will play them for the rest of your life, and you will never be finished,” Sant’Ambrogio said.

Fifteen-year-old Imperial Academy student Seth played the third of Schumann’s fantasy pieces. Sant’Ambrogio half-jokingly said that some composers, like Dvorak, were elusive in instruction, whereas others, like Beethoven, were so specific about their markings that if a player interpreted his work differently, he would probably come out of his grave.

Seventeen-year-old Ben followed with a performance of Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor. Sant’Ambrogio had the youngster change some of his vibrato and practice his slides, stopping and starting the music several times while he was on stage to help him improve his technique.

The class ended with Sant’Ambrogio helping University of Central Oklahoma graduate student Jonathan Edward alter his bow technique and breathing while he played a composition of his own. Sant’Ambrogio told the uco cello performance major that controlling breathing is key, because it calms nervousness by slowing down the heart rate.

Sant’Ambrogio underlined the importance of breathing, saying she practices this to control her nerves and occasionally uses the tactic as a party trick during talk show interviews. She said she can double her heart rate almost at will to intensify or subdue the amount of emotion she needs to pour into her performance.

The cellist compared being a musician to being an athlete and said she knows exactly what to eat to prepare for a performance and runs frequently to get the boosts of endorphins she needs for rehearsals.

The Grammy-winning cellist has performed with other artists who have played at Armstrong Auditorium, including Joshua Bell, Jeremy Denk and Nathan Gunn. She is a founding member of the Eroica Trio, which has also performed at the auditorium.

Sant’Ambrogio plays a solo all-Chopin program tonight at 7:30 at Armstrong Auditorium. Watch Sant’Ambrogio talk about Chopin and more during her live interview on Periscope this afternoon. For details, check Twitter.com/ArmstrongAud.