Vero Beach International Music Festival: Grammy Award-winning cellist, Mike Block

Mike Block is not your ordinary cello player. This becomes apparent when seeing him playing the cello while walking and singing in a concert tour video of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous U.S. properties. Indeed, the inventive musician devised and patented a cello strap to allow cello players to stand, walk or dance while playing the cello. Kudos and rave reviews from Billboard, Gramophone, and the New York Times pepper his website. Classically trained, the Juilliard School graduate is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, with whom he earned a 2017 Grammy® Award. The advocate for music education began the Vero Beach International Music Festival in 2010 to help fund his summer initiative for string players of all ages. Since then, world-class musicians from India, Quebec, Uruguay, Argentina, Portugal, Colombia, Mali, Puerto Rico, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and more have gathered annually to perform one-of-a-kind collaborations to benefit the Mike Block String Camp. This year, the founder will do some of the heavy lifting himself, headlining a one-man show for the Vero Beach International Music Festival on Wednesday, April 23 at First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach. The church at 520 Royal Palm Boulevard will host the multi-style cello player in a 7:30 PM performance inspired by cross-cultural collaborations with musicians from China, Brazil, and Africa. Block’s program promises to be an eclectic mixture that includes the “Prelude” from J.S. Bach's Suite No. 3 for Cello, “Yang Guan,” a traditional Chinese song, “Fla-Flu,” a Brazilian choro, a work inspired by the West African stringed instrument, the kora --along with original songs, vocals and instrumental compositions by Mike Block himself. Warming up the audience will be a 10-minute performance by Orchestra students from Indian River Charter High School. Tickets to the Vero Beach International Music Festival are $25 and can be pre-ordered online at www.VeroBeachInternationalMusicFestival.com or purchased at the door. Donations will also be accepted at the concert for the Mike Block String Camp Scholarship Fund. For more information, call 216-965-7593.

Mike Block is a dedicated music educator, in addition his performing career as a multi-style cello player, composer and singer. The annual Vero Beach International Music Festival helps fund his passion project, the Mike Block String Camp. Proceeds will help players of all levels, ages and financial backgrounds attend his 2025 string camp in Vero Beach.

"Performing is a kind of pure joy for me, as I think it is for many musicians," said Block. "Our annual summer workshop is an enriching musical experience for string players of all ages and backgrounds. Ticket sales and donations from the Vero Beach International Music Festival help ensure we don’t leave anyone out because of financial hardship."

Online registration is now open for the 2025 Mike Block String Camp at https://www.mikeblockstringcamp.com/, scheduled for July 7-12. Three public concerts are scheduled each July, furthering the camp’s mission to bring the whole world of music to the Treasure Coast. Begun in 2010, MBSC provides level-based classes catering to college students, amateur adults, children and professionals, as well as high school and middle school students. In addition to serving locals from Vero Beach and across Florida, many participants come from throughout the United States and around the world. Past students have hailed from China, Singapore, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Latvia, and more.