Program / Event Details

Fireflies, Fairies, & Squids

What kind of sound does a giant squid make? How can you make a stringed instrument sound like a firefly illuminating a cave? Wytold explores these questions and more as he leads students on a journey of storytelling and imagination through instrumental music. Wytold demonstrates how he uses the six-string electric cello and live electronics to score film, dance, and theater productions and shows how simple sounds can create vivid images and exciting stories in our minds. Students collaborate with Wytold to create a new musical story and adventure together! Workshops provide opportunities for in-depth exploration and story creation.

Fees are for daytime school programs in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia only.

Evening, weekend, workshop, and non-school fees differ – please contact us.

Additional travel fees apply.

About Wytold

Electric cellist/composer Wytold blends classical techniques with live looping to create interactive musical adventures featuring inventive remixes and original works. In performances, workshops, and residencies, we explore how simple musical themes spark our imaginations and how sound waves behave and interact to make the music we hear.

Biography

William Wytold Lebing is a cellist, composer, educator, and scorer for film, theater, and dance productions. Wytold plays an electric cello with two extra strings that capture the depth and power of a stand-up bass, the rich tonal timbre of the acoustic cello, and the bright crispness of violin solos and harmonies. He has performed his live-looping blend of classical inspiration, contemporary rhythms, and jazz improvisation with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on stage with nationally touring contemporary dance company Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, as a featured presenter at TEDx Foggy Bottom, and in the score of the Sundance award-winning film Blood Brother.

In addition, Wytold regularly performs and leads workshops that help Veterans and their families heal through creating art in military hospitals and USOs. Wytold ’s extensive work as an educator includes master classes for Levine School of Music, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, American University, and Strathmore Performing Arts Center, performances for the Kennedy Center’s NSO Family Concert Series with frequent “Classical Hip-Hop” collaborator Christylez Bacon, and performances and workshops at schools and community venues throughout the DC region.