Poway Symphony Orchestra to spotlight Cello Quo on his namesake instrument

For cellist Cello (Qiele) Guo, playing the instrument that reflects his name was not a coincidence. It was destiny.

“My father was a cellist … in China,” Guo said. “He gave me the name Cello because he wanted me to play (the instrument) just like him.”

Guo, 34, who now lives in the Los Angeles area, will be returning to perform on Sunday afternoon with the Poway Symphony Orchestra for the second time. His first was in 2019 as part of a trio.

That performance was memorable for him, not necessarily for the concert, but what happened after, he said.

“We played a Beethoven concerto and it was a very memorable experience,” Guo said. “That was the first time I played with the Poway Symphony Orchestra. I had a really, really fun time.

“Then I got married the next day,” he said. “My fiancee came to the concert, then we drove to Vegas and got married.”

His wife, Ruriko Terada Guo, is a harpist. They met when both were studying at the Colburn School’s music conservatory in Los Angeles.

For this second time with the Poway Symphony — the concert starts at 4 p.m. in the Poway Center for the Performing Arts — Guo will be joining as the soloist for Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor. It is one of two Dvořák pieces that the symphony will play on Sunday. The concert will open with his Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World.”

The program is meant to celebrate the warmth, vitality and melodic richness of Dvořák’s music, according to conductor and music director John LoPiccolo.

“The music of Dvořák is filled with passion, tenderness and humanity,” LoPiccolo said. “His New World symphony captures both the excitement of discovery and the longing for home, while his Cello Concerto combines virtuosic brilliance with deep emotional expression.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Cello Guo — his artistry, warmth and musical insight make him the perfect interpreter for this magnificent work,” LoPiccolo said.

The concerto holds special significance for Guo.

“It is the first that I listened to my dad play in our hometown symphony in China like 20-some years ago,” Guo said. “I feel so lucky to play the same piece.”

His father, Qu Guo, now retired, was the principal cellist at the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra for 32 years, he said.

Guo said the concerto is “a very important” piece for the cello because it was among the top two or three monumental pieces in the instrument’s development and opened the horizon for what the cello could do.

“With this concerto, the technique greatly expanded,” Guo said. “Originally, it was developed as a bass instrument, a supporting role.”

But now, the cello is seen as a solo instrument, on the same level as a violin, he said.

“This concerto was a very important milestone in its composition repertoire,” he said, adding it is a common piece selected by cellists for auditions, solo performances, with orchestras and for master classes.

It is for this reason that Guo said he has done so much study on the piece with different teachers throughout his career.

“I learned how to do the simple melody, which is beautiful and transcendent. It took me a long time to learn,” Guo said.

Its length — 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the speed at which it is played — makes the concerto that is “considered heavy” long enough for the audience to enjoy while not getting bored, Guo said.

“My whole family is in the music world,” Guo said. His first introduction to an instrument was by his pianist mother, on the piano at age 3, until switching to the cello a year later and studying under his father’s guidance. Because a small enough cello could not be found, his father taught him cello technique by using a viola.

“My parents gave me the seed of music … very young,” he said.

For university studies, Guo moved to Singapore to experience a multicultural environment and study with his uncle, who was also a symphony cellist and became his “second mentor.” He attended the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music on full scholarship.

After graduating with his undergraduate degree, Guo said he wanted to experience other parts of the world. He auditioned at several places in the United States, but it was his visit to California, which Guo described as “so nice, welcoming and warm,” that led to him choosing Colburn, which he attended on a full scholarship.

Guo continued at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he was a Chancellor’s Fellow and earlier this year graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts under Jennifer Kloetzel.

Fulfilling his desire to keep traveling and see the world, Guo has performed with numerous orchestras as either a guest or member. For example, in 2018 he traveled between California and Hawaii so he could perform with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart Orchestra and was named a “Ten Talented Young Artists of China” honoree. He also joined a group on cruise ships, which led to Guo playing in 21 European countries in one summer.

All that came to a halt in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Forced to stay put in California, Guo said he started reevaluating his career and where he wanted to take it in the future. That led to Guo and his wife creating Pink Mozart Entertainment, a premier music company known for its artistry and performances at high-profile events.

“We built a company that specializes in curating chamber music for special occasions,” Guo said. “Places where you would not imagine music fitting in, like a Louis Vuitton release of designer jewelry.”

In addition to Southern California, he said the company has musicians playing in Texas and the San Francisco area, with plans for future expansion.

Guo has other aspirations as well. Even though he now has his doctorate, Guo said he does not plan at this time to teach at the university level. Instead he is using his degree for his entrepreneurial pursuits, which include using electronic and computer music to build a bridge with classical music. Through the use of microphones, a string quartet can produce the sound of a powerful orchestra, he said.

The “Dvořák in America” concert will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16 in the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 15498 Espola Road.

Tickets are $15 to $55, with a 10% discount if people choose to buy a season subscription to all three concerts in the Poway Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-26 season. To buy, visit powaycenter.com, call 858-748-0505 or go to the PCPA box office.