Since earning his cello performance diploma from IU’s Jacobs School of Music in 2012, Daniel Lelchuk has built a wide-ranging career within the music world that bridges performance, education and artistic direction.
His latest musical venture, a new recording titled “Cello Sonata,” marks just another step in his creative journey. The piece, a collaboration with contemporary composer Aidan Vass, was released Sept. 26 on Spotify and Apple Music.
Following his education at Jacobs, Lelchuk has played cello within several prestigious ensembles, including the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Opera House Muscat, where he served as associate principal cellist and principal cellist, respectively. His solo performances have also taken him to renowned stages around the world, such as the Castleton Festival and Rome’s Villa Aurora.
Beyond performance, Lelchuk has carved out a multi-faceted career. He is the founder of the Antigua Chamber Music Festival, host of the podcast “Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk,” developer of the cello curriculum for the music education platform Tonebase and instrument consultant for Boston’s Carriage House Violins.
“I’m very lucky, and I think I’m in the unique position that I’ve been able to see the music world from the full-time performance view, from the 21st century tech pedagogical view and now from the business point of view,” he said. “So, I think I’ve just been very blessed to have this kind of three-pronged career.”
22-year-old composer Aidan Vass, whose work is published with Hal Leonard and Santa Barbara Music Publishing, had the idea for “Cello Sonata” early last year. He approached Lelchuk about a possible collaboration and composed the piece over the next several months.
The sonata was recorded in Los Angeles in May 2025. It is a sprawling, 11-minute piece that goes in many different musical directions. It opens with a series of chromatic notes, which are returned to at the end of the piece.
The final recording features Lelchuk on cello and Vass on piano, creating an ongoing dialogue between the two instruments.
“The piece is really special because of the way the piano and cello interact,” Lelchuk said. “It’s almost improvisatory in the feeling, but it is very structured.”
Vass described his compositional process as building outward from the sonata’s most dramatic moment, crafting a journey through contrasting textures and tones. His creative vision was for the piece to be an exploration of musical color, expansion and vibrance.
“I was trying to lean more into what I can do with musical color. I wanted to make this piece really explore, and also really lean into musical gestures that feel kind of really connected to nature,” he said. “So, like, creating musical gestures with the piano and cello where every phrase feels organic and kind of moves from one thing to the next thing.”
Vass detailed his appreciation for the way Lelchuk’s ability and interpretation add to the character of the final recording.
“He really knows how to lean into, like, the different characteristics of musical ideas,” Vass said. “He knows how to pull the color out of all these different musical gestures. And I think his ability to do that is just magical and is probably the thing that makes the color of the piece stand out.”
The ending of “Cello Sonata” is sparse as the instruments trail off, contributing to its rather unusual sounding conclusion. Lelchuk said he believes the ending leaves the piece on an interesting note, and that it will resonate emotionally with audiences.
“It has a sort of ambiguous, almost disturbing ending to it that is rather unsettling, and I find that very intriguing,” he said. “There’s almost a lack of finality in the ending and an emotional ambiguity. And I think audiences, when they start hearing it in concert, will find it very intriguing, too.”
Lelchuk will perform the sonata at Dartmouth College next spring, where he serves as the music department’s visiting scholar in residence. He will also perform the piece at next year’s Antigua Chamber Music Festival Feb 17-21.
