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Cellist goes from Wittenberg to Bollywood

Springfield man performed on a film soundtrack in India

Music professor and renown cellist Daniel Kazez will give a recital Sunday at Wittenberg University.

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer 4:25 PM Thursday, November 3, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — Daniel Kazez is a perfect example of what makes Springfield such a fascinating place.

You just never know who’s living next door.

Kazez, a cellist celebrating his 25th year as a Wittenberg University music professor, is arguably the only person in town to have ever played on the soundtrack to a Bollywood film.

“I got lucky,” Kazez explained recently, “in that it’s also a good film.”

Kazez, who will give his annual faculty recital at 3 p.m. Sunday in Wittenberg’s Krieg Hall, is a man of two hemispheres — one who teaches classical cello and one who also specializes in world music.

In 2005, on his second excursion to India, Kazez wasn’t content to just be an observer.

“I wanted to go a little deeper,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of India.”

It doesn’t get much more Indian than the Hindi film industry — an industry that churns out more movies each year than anywhere else in the world.

Kazez paid a visit to a rehearsal by the Bombay Film Orchestra and ended up playing cello for the 2006 movie “Humko Deewana Kar Gaye” (“You Made Me Crazy”) — a romance involving arranged marriages.

“The way I get closest to this music is by going there as a cellist,” he said. “It gets me in the door as a visiting artist.”

As a visiting artist, he once attended a birthday party for a princess in Thailand. In his office, there’s a photo of him standing next to the king of Morocco.

But, if you’ve always wanted to see a Bollywood film but don’t know where to start, Kazez has a recommendation — “Humko Deewana Kar Gaye.”

“It’s a good first film to watch,” he said.

Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.

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