Basalt concert will feature 12-year-old cellist

The music of Bach, Boccherini, Piatti and Kummer will be performed by a trio of artists, one not yet a teenager, on Saturday.

The recital, known as CELLObration, will be held at 3:30 p.m. at the Basalt Library Community Room. Doors open at 3:15 p.m. and admission is free.

Performers include local resident Kurtis Kowar, a 12-year-old who has been studying and performing cello since 7. He will be joined by cellist Roberto Arundale and pianist Kevin Kaukl.

Seasonal refreshments will be served following the concert.

Kowar began playing piano at 5 and attended the Colorado Suzuki Institute in 2017. He also has been a student of the PALS program at the Aspen Music Festival and a member of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra since 2014.

Salvadoran-American cellist Arundale is a soloist, educator, chamber and orchestral musician, and 2018 recipient of the Sphinx Organization’s MPower Artist Grant. From Fairbanks, Alaska, Arundale has soloed with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and West Valley Chamber Orchestra, the Ying and Cavani string quartets and Edgar Meyer, and has participated in master classes for members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, American, Kronos and Shanghai String Quartets.

Kaukl teaches piano, organ, and music theory and composition to students of all levels. In addition to over 15 years’ experience as a private music teacher, he has taught music courses at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (in Dublin, Ireland) and Shenandoah Conservatory (in Winchester, Virginia). His private students have won awards in statewide, regional and international competitions. He serves as accompanist for the Aspen Choral Society and music director for St. Mary Church in Aspen.