Some Recent Email from Cellos2Go, in response to an enquiry about "what's new"...
(This email may be of interest any cellists in the New York area looking for personalized service.)
"I think the number 1 thing we try to do here is establish a comfort zone. It's a little playground where the only things here are cello-related. If it's parents and a student, the parents want to see what I was talking about on the website, learn all the features, hear and see the differences in cellos, bows, parts. Then the cellists themselves want to try different bows, rock stops, carry cases around, just TRY stuff that usually they've only seen in catalogs. They end up looking at things they didn't plan on finding. They can try four types of wolf eliminators, change strings on a cello and try a new sound. For many of them, it is the first time they've ever changed a string, so they learn the pitfalls and how to do it correctly. Maintenance issues, checking your bridge and post, cleaning. The parents really appreciate it -- and I do, too -- because it really helps the life of the cello in the long run.
"We play chamber music here, too. The library of music is growing. Some of it is loaned out library style so people can figure out if it's worth investing in. Amateur players can't tell from a title whether it's in their realm or not, and the music isn't that easy to get a hold of unless you purchase it. So it's really nice to be ordering everything from technique books to solo collections to quartets in a range of levels and having it available. We're building a chamber network now. Again, approaching it from what level the person can play, what's suitable, and finding other likeminded players. It's just too hard to say "Want to play quartets?" when you're talking about early Mozart and they're talking about Schubert or middle Beethovens! Some people come with family members who sit in our little "quartet corner" area while the others play. We have cellos down to 1/8 so siblings who come for their sister's lesson can check out the cello and "play" while there. There's a studio for lessons... what else... I don't know. Let's just say it's not a conventional shop. It's very open, friendly, lends itself to conversation about cello and music, and we make available any resources we have. Hope this helps! Thanks for asking."
Ellen Gunst, owner
Cellos2Go