Projects
Collaborations and Leadership
Appalachian Chamber Music Festival
Katie founded the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival in early 2021 after nearly a decade of brainstorming ideas, plans and vision for creating a chamber music festival that celebrates history, nature and culture. ACMF brings international talent to the area of Harpers Ferry, WV and surrounding communities.The festival achieved huge initial success in its inaugural season, celebrated in August, 2021, giving 9 performances to in-person audiences and a chamber music workshop and interacting with the local community and partners.
As Artistic Director, Katie strives to bring music to audiences in new, meaningful and accessible ways. Her goal is to celebrate the rich heritage of the region a world stage, and bring authenticity and camaraderie of chamber music to audiences of all ages and experiences.To find out more about the festival, please visit appalachianchamber.org
Howay The Lasses
“Blows struck and awareness raised, Howay The Lasses adds another keystone to the North East musical legacy.” At The Barrier “Howay the Lasses gives a new life to these sometimes unsung heroines, scientists, artists and social reformers who have reshaped our society by their example. An intriguing concept album to savour” Bright Young Folk “A track that sits comfortably with the traditions of this great club but also looks to the future and celebrates the beginnings of something new and exciting.” NUFC Women’s Team Matchday programme on the song “Howay The Lasses”, St James’ Park, 27th November 2022 “A testament to true stories of female empowerment set amid the stereotypically patriarchal landscape of the North East, this is a terrific and highly listenable album, the fact that it is just Howay The Lasses Vol 1 fuelling anticipation of what other unsung heroines they have to illuminate.” Folking.com Howay the Lasses celebrates the lives and telling the stories of notable North East women through original song and musical arrangements. The North East of England is rich with the discoveries, achievements and successes of women from all strands of life - from writers, and reformers, to animators and engineers. Some stories are known to a degree - others not at all. Musicians Annie Ball, Katie Tertell, Bronwen Davies-Jones and Gareth Davies-Jones have teamed up on "Howay The Lasses" to tell them out loud through original song. Find out more at howaythelasses.com Back in late winter 2021 Howay The Lasses, aka pianist and singer Annie Ball, Singer-songwriter Bronwen Davies-Jones, cellist Katie Tertell and Singer-songwriter Gareth Davies-Jones, set out on a collaborative musical adventure documenting the lives and stories of notable North East women through original song. After writing about engineers like Rachel Parsons (whose childhood was spent in Wylam), mathematicians like Janet Taylor from Wolsingham (the first woman ever to patent a navigational instrument) and creatives like animator Sheila Graber from South Shields (who drew Paddington Bear for the 1980s BBC TV series) the group released their eponymous album in October 2022 to critical acclaim and extensive airplay on regional and national radio. Fresh from their live performance of their song ‘Howay The Lasses’ on the pitch at St James’ Park in November when the Newcastle United Women’s team played only their second ever fixture at the ground, tonight Howay The Lasses launch 2023 with many exciting performances near and far.
Cassadó Project: Lost in Plain Sight
Lost in Plain sight explores the life and legacy of 20th century cellist-composer Gaspar Cassadó through contexualizing his music in a dynamic concert and lecture experience. This ambitious research-performance project is led with collaborator Dr. Rosi Song and supported in part by a Research Impact Grant through Durham University, as well as other cultural bodies like Newcastle University, Dr. Hoch's Konzervatorium and the Instituto Cervantes Manchester. Performance of the project commenced in August, 2022 and have since been presented at multiple venues in the USA, Germany and UK and festivals and universities as well as various Instituto Cervantes locations in Europe. Future performances scheduled in Ireland, USA and Spain from 2022-2024. In October of 2021, Dr. Song and Katie travelled to Cologne, Germany to visit the Hochschule where Cassado was last posted and work with world-renowned musician Johannes Moser on interpretation of repertoire surrounding Cassado's life and influence, including the cellist's own works.
Cello Power: The Popper Project
Cello Power is an online learning resource for cellists created by Katie Tertell and Ailbhe McDonagh. It was born from the idea that the music world is a richer place when we can all succeed in our performance goals in better and more efficient ways. Katie started Cello Power in December of 2020 with friend and colleague Ailbhe McDongagh (Royal Irish Academy of Music). The ethos of the project is centered around the idea that learning and improving technique is something that happens for a lifetime and can be fun, supportive and empowering. The pair create a inclusive online space where cellists at any stage can learn. Their 2021 project covers all 40 Popper Studies "High School of Cello playing" through engaging vlog and performances (all available for free on YouTube) and includes highly esteemed special guest cellists from around the world. Katie and Ailbhe presented on this project at the "Perform_Live Now" international conference in Mar, 2022. To watch the Cello Power videos, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
A Winter's Journey, Reimagined
“A Winter’s Journey Reimagined” is a multi-movement, cross-disciplinary work solo cello, a dancer and lighting thatdraws its inspiration from Schubert’s famous song-cycle “Winterreise” and explores the themes of loneliness, man vs. nature, and mental health. Katie has been working together with composer Mark Boden since June 2021 on the creative process and bringing this work to life. Katie's inspiration for this project came from creative exploration work with composer-performers Jörg Widmann and Zoe Martlew as part of my DYCP grant from the Arts Council in 2021. The solo cello movement of the work, titled “Linden”, was premiered at the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival (USA) in August, 2022. The final work will incorporate an 8-9 piece chamber ensemble in which performers are choreographed alongside dancers. The final work will have 12 short movements, each featuring one or more of the instruments in the ensemble. Some movements will be solo movements, or will only incorporate a few instruments (a la Messian’s Quartet For The End Of Time). Physical movement is an important aspect of the work as we want to convey a greater sense of the human spirit and journey through movement. The symbolism through dance enhances the musical experience for audiences. If you are a venue interesting in hosting a performance of this project, please get in touch via the contact form.