Paul Leufkens

Instrument

Cello

When did you start playing your instrument?

When I was 8 years old.

What do you do when you’re not playing in the LSO?

I run my own consultancy in business development and technical advice around power equipment like transformers, switch-gear, and other stuff that you see along the road side when overhead lines come into a substation.  Larger manufacturers like GE, ABB, and Siemens are my clients, as well as testing and certification companies like UL.

When, or how, did you come to join the orchestra?

Dutch KEMA sent me to the US in 2007 “temporarily” to head their short-circuit lab.  I thought I would stay in Philadelphia for 3 months or so, and I bought a cheap cello at Sam Ash and looked for a community orchestra.  Irving Ludwig called me and explained that it was very simple to find the place of rehearsal.  As things developed: work brought me to the LSO, love kept me there: I live with principal flutist Leslie.

Do you play in any other musical groups?

String 4 and much other chamber music. Sometimes I do cabaret with friends and play piano.

Do you come from a musical family?

Yes. One time we did the famous quartet from Rigoletto in a version with a brother on clarinet, two brothers flute, my mom and a brother on piano, myself at the cello and a brother on violin. My father didn’t play an instrument, looked into an encyclopedia and gave the introduction.

Does the instrument you play on have a story?

It is a Schnorr. He is originally Austrian, but lives and works in The Hague (NL). He builds on order and that takes usually 2 years. In my case he had an instrument available as somebody else changed instrument with him. I had one week to decide but as I had been looking for many years for an instrument I knew exactly what I wanted and this was it. One friend listened and confirmed: my instrument for my further life!

Are you originally from Lansdowne/Philadelphia?

Not really. I am Dutch, born in Brazil, lived in Maastricht, Delft and Arnhem. I feel much related now to Philadelphia, living in Wayne.

Who is your favorite superhero?

A few years ago there was this cartoon of a bunch of retired superheroes that I had to laugh at much.  A little more indirect: I admired the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, as much as Obama.  Looking at sport heroes: the famous Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff.  But who I also want to mention is James Maxwell, the man of the laws that govern electro-magnetism for more than 150 years now, and nobody has found anything deviating yet.  And my favorite composers are: Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Dvorak.