Posted May 5, 2023 3:12 PM ET
Cellist Marion Portelance poses in London on Friday May 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
LONDON – When Marion Portelance plays at King Charles’ coronation concert on Sunday, she plays a cello with a special connection to the monarch.
The Royal College of Music student, originally from Montreal, will play an 1804 William Forster cello, believed to be the same one once owned and played by King Charles.
The 24-year-old says she is honored and excited to play at the concert that follows Saturday’s coronation ceremony.
“It’s surreal for me to be able to take part in a historic event like this,” she said in an interview.
She said the instrument was played by King Charles during his student days. It was later sold for charity, Portelance said, and then donated to the Royal College of Music collection by the Linbury Trust.
“So, a lot of history and a beautiful instrument, and it sounds fantastic,” she said.
Portelance is part of a string quartet performing a new arrangement of the West Side Story song ‘Somewhere’ as part of a collaboration with the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet. The Royal College of Art provides the visual backdrop.
“It’s just a great collaboration of all kinds of arts and I think it represents very well the fact that King Charles has always been a great advocate of the arts and music in particular,” said Portelance, a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Ist Montréal .
She said she was contacted a few months ago to ask if she had the first weekend in May off, but only later found out why.
Pop stars Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and opera singer Andrea Bocelli are among the headliners who will perform at Windsor Castle’s Sunday concert.
Portelance had the opportunity to visit the site for a rehearsal for the first time on Thursday, which made the situation feel even more real.
Portelance said she was more excited than nervous but trying not to think about whether the King would pay any special attention to her performance on the cello, which he used to play.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 5, 2023.
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