Wednesday night's coffeehouse at Cholmondeley's was host to a plethora of talent, compliments of the Brandeis Cello Society. Although the audience started out small, the room became crowded as people filtered in throughout the night.The first act, the South Street Bluegrass Band, opened the show with an enjoyable jam session. Emphasizing the "blue" in bluegrass, freshman Sam Petsonk '06 traded in his banjo for an electric guitar. The band, which consists of Petsonk and John Gradman '06, combined their guitar efforts for several cover songs, including Tom Petty's "Last Dance with Mary Jane." Even though the audience was small, they responded well to the band's impressive but lengthy instrumental interludes.

Next, Lauren Goldstein '06 took the stage sans instruments. Immediately launching into a heartfelt version of a Jeff Buckley song, her Nora Jones-like voice more than compensated for the lack of accompaniment. Then, to break up her musical set, Goldstein proceeded to recite a poem she wrote in high school about the lustful qualities of love. Her clever lines about bad pick-up lines and the morning after phenomenon, combined with her honest emotion, kept the audience captivated. After the recitation, Goldstein concluded her set with a few more gospel style songs.

Evan Cohen '05 one of Brandeis' up and coming musicians, followed Goldstein's performance. After experiencing a few technical difficulties, Cohen launched into a pleasing set of original songs, which he enthusiastically encouraged the audience to download. He finished his set with one of his most popular songs, "When the Snow Comes."

Breaking from the traditional music performances, Arnon Shorr '04 took the stage. He started off by cracking a few jokes, and then proceeded to tune his instrument -- his face. Much to the audiences' delight, Shorr launched into an unconventional, but recognizable version of the "William Tell Overture" using notes made by blowing and hitting different parts of his cheeks. Then he asked for a volunteer from the audience, pulling Daniel Estrin '06 on stage to play "Heart and Soul" with him. In an amusing, but unsuccessful attempt to imitate Shorr's unique talent, Estrin resorted to humming the baseline.

After Estrin left the stage, Shorr started taking requests from the audience, playing anything and everything from "Beethoven's Fifth" to the themes from "Star Wars" and "Super Mario Brothers." Each performance received a strong response from the thoroughly impressed crowd.

Finally, after a short break, the main attraction of the night began their performance. The members of the Cello Society, Naomi Utyoff '03, Rafi Finegold '03, Maya Goldin-Rerschbacher '04, Kendra Bauer '03, Johnathan Sham '06 and Daniel Estrin '06, began their concert with a beautiful rendition of Pachelbel's "Canon in D." Next, they played a more melancholy song by Mozart followed by "Palladio," a song made familiar by its use in diamond commercials. Then, the group finished the show with two delightful versions of the Beatles' songs, "Elinor Rigby" and "Yesterday."

From classical to acoustic rock to blues, there was something for every type of music lover in this show. Despite the eclectic and unusual mix of talent, the entire show was well received by the audience.