Video premiere: Lightning, heaven and Earth inspire India Gailey’s new cello concerto

In anticipation of their compositional recording debut in Butterfly Lightning Shakes The Earth, US-Canadian cellist India Gailey performs the titular cello concerto with the Symphony Nova Scotia, conducted by Karl Hirzer. In this Strad exclusive premiere, watch Gailey perform their Romantic-inspired work comprising the movements Sky, Golden and Joining. 

On the inspiration behind the concerto, Gailey explains: ’I wrote most of the piece in the woods of Banff, mountains towering into the heavens with their prehistoric attitude. Lightning is the swiftest route between heaven and earth, displaying our fragility, waking us up to the electric web of our world. The elements brutally remind us when we are out of sync with the planet.’

The album also includes Gailey’s short solo cello piece, Mountainweeps, written in 2020. The album will be released on 25 October. Find out more here.

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