DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? Juilliard cellist, Kneisel alum to play at MCA

Gal Nyska is easy to spot walking down a busy street in New York City. He’s the one carrying the cello case.

Granted, in his neighborhood – the campus of The Juilliard School – the streets are crawling with musicians. But Nyska is a standout – not only because his cello, on loan from the school’s rare instrument collection, was made in 1642 by Nicolo Amati (teacher of famed violinmaker Antonio Stradivari). But Nyska is on the rise in the ranks of young classical music artists.

Along the way, the Juilliard senior will play with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra at the classical concert at 3 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Maine Center for the Arts.

Sunday’s performance is not Nyska’s first time in the state. He has spent two summers at Kneisel Hall, Blue Hill’s summer music camp for next-gen musicians.

“Maine is beautiful,” said Nyska, who grew up in Israel and North Carolina. “What I love the most is on days off from Kneisel Hall, sponsors would take us sailing on their boats.”

But Nyska isn’t given to too much leisure time. At 7, he started cello lessons. “I fell in love with my teacher, and then with the cello, and I’ve played ever since,” he said. At 16, he played his first rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme,” which he will reprise as guest soloist with the BSO.

Learning a piece over time is “like getting to know a person and getting more comfortable,” said the now 22-year-old. “The more you play it, the more you’re able to remain open and let it tell you things when you play.”

Much of Nyska’s playing takes place in the coveted practice studios on the fourth-floor of Juilliard’s main building where he mines the rich tones of his instrument.

“Even people who don’t know classical music are drawn to the cello,” said Nyska, whose long fingers serve his talent. “It’s not an original thought, but many people think the cello sounds like the human voice. It looks like a person. You sit with it close to your heart. You always hug it. But it’s a sad voice. No matter what you do to it, it’s melancholic.”

After only a few measures of Tchaikovsky’s Mozart-inspired score, Nyska is talking about the humor of its themes, the dance, opera and outbursts of it.

“You experiment a lot,” he said with a smile and a shrug. “You probe the music, probe the mind.”

For information, call 942-5555 or visit www.bangorsymphony.com.