Published 9:29 am Monday, May 4, 2026

You don’t start a musical project and see it thrive for two decades without a bunch of stuff: Hard work. Good ideas. Dedication and perseverance. Luck.

Clear goals help, too. And Portland Cello Project has those. We know this because they lay them out clearly on their website:

1: To bring the cello places you wouldn’t normally see it

2: To perform music on the cello you wouldn’t normally associate with the instrument

3: To build bridges between different musical communities through collaborations and community outreach

Over the past 20 years, the PCP has accomplished those goals. This is a combo that started out as nine cellists playing what they thought was a one-off gig at the beloved Portland venue Doug Fir Lounge.…