Composer and Wilco Guitarist Nels Cline Questions the Virtues of Virtuosity

Wilco guitarist Nels Cline says he is not interested in “virtuosity for its own sake,” but he is inspired by music that is instinctual and innovative in a subtle way-like punk rock. “I think sometimes virtuosity in music is extremely cold, in spite of how much effort it might have taken to create and manifest a virtuosic piece,” Cline says. “That said, when it’s lucid, when you’re being spoken to, when you’re on a ride, it can be the most exhilarating thing in the world. I still strive for that.”
Nels Cline is a composer and guitarist whose 40-year recording and performing career spans jazz, rock, punk, and experimental. Supported by a Center grant, Cline’s June 2, 2018 concert featured a 17-piece ensemble performing new interpretations of material composed or performed by Philadelphia-based musical pioneers. Best known as the lead guitarist in the band Wilco, Cline has received many accolades, including four Grammy Award nominations. Rolling Stone named him one of the “100 Greatest Guitarists” of all time.
Filmed on March 14, 2018
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The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (the Center) is a multidisciplinary grantmaker and hub for knowledge-sharing, dedicated to fostering a vibrant cultural community in Greater Philadelphia. The Center invests in ambitious, imaginative, and catalytic work that showcases the region’s cultural vitality and enhances public life, and we engage in an ongoing exchange of ideas concerning artistic and interpretive practice with a broad network of cultural practitioners and leaders.

[@pablosmoglives]

I agree.

[@maximumroyal7954]

I love how down to earth Nels Cline is. I think his genius is in approaching music in a playful manner.