The Principal Cello for the Grammy and JUNO award winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is performing Tuesday night with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. He stopped by the Classic 107 studio to talk with guest host Claudia Garcia de la Huerta.

When Ariel Barnes walks into the room the first thing you notice is his relaxed demeaner and welcoming smile. That, and his Newland Johannes Franciscus Celoniatus cello. Worth more than $800,000, it was built in 1730 in Turin, Italy. It's on loan to him from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. "It rarely leaves my side" he says laughing.

Ariel is performing Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major tonight, as well as Ernest Bloch's Prayer from Jewish Life. His performances are described as creating a "mesmerizing musical experience" by combining his "deep personal connection" (Toronto Live Music Report), and "luscious tone and technical prowess"(The Vancouver Sun). The VSO's Bramwell Tovey says that every performance Ariel plays, "is an event".

But what's really interesting about Ariel is the fact that he is at home whether he's peforming unaccompanied Bach or premiering a new work by a contemporary composer like Glenn Buhr or Jocelyn Morlock.

Bramwell Tovey calls Ariel Barnes an "outstanding Canadian cellist of his generation . . .".

It's very clear why.

Watch our interview with the Vancouver cellist here!