Juliana Soltis - Cellist - Nomad

My Mother's Red Shawl - El Rebozo Colorado
Juliana Soltis - Cellist - Nomad

I saw in their eyes something I was to see over and over in every part of the nation---a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, any place, away from Here... Nearly every American hungers to move.  John Steinbeck

"How did I get here?"

I ask myself this question a lot. Often as I hurtle through the bowels of some leviathan of an airport, cello strapped to my back and boarding pass clutched in my fist; once when I unexpectedly found myself cornered by an overly-amorous tenor post-performance. Today, though, I am sitting in my car outside the Vancouver home of Alex Waterhouse-Hayward. I have come to be photographed as part of Alex's ongoing Red Shawl Project, but still, the question persists:

How did I get here?

Alex and I met in December; at that moment, I had been in residence in Seattle for all of ten days---and had spent roughly half of that time on the road. My decision to pack up and head for the West Coast had left friends and colleagues stunned, but for me it was just the latest in a series of moves: ten years of bouncing around the eastern United States---two years here, three years there---always chasing the music and the idea of the cellist and the person I wanted to be.

Some call me "flighty," others choose the more diplomatic "restless"---more than one person has described me as just plain odd---but I have never given it a second thought. As Steinbeck intuited, I suspect it's in my blood: a descendant of colonists, immigrants, rebels, adventurers---generations who pursued their curiosity and dreams across oceans and continents and never looked back---how could I be anything but what I am?

So sitting here with my cello in Alex's living room, my head and shoulders draped in the rough red shawl that smells of exotic woods and far-off places, I cannot help but feel strangely at ease. To encounter someone who sees you as you truly are is rare. Alex does not yet know me well, but when he peels the backing from the film and shows me this first photo, I know that he has understood something essential. In this image, I see myself as I am: a modern-day nomad.


Kyla Gardiner - Theatrical Lighting Director

Curtis Daily - Contrabassist

Bob Mercer – Editor – Musician - Friend

Jorge JoséO'Reilly - Primo/Sobrino - Amigo - Campeón de Rugby

 Art Bergmann Singer-Songwriter- Guitarist

Homero Aridjis Poeta

Zippy Pinhead Musician

Caitlin Legault Art Model

Holly McRea Model - Poet - Creation Conduit.

Lisa Ha Model - Volunteer - Friend

Carmen Alatorre Diseñadora de vestuario

Roberto Baschetti Sociólogo, Investigador Histórico - Amigo

Jennifer Froese Youth Worker

Rachel Cairns Actor

Jennifer Landels Espadachina

Judith Currelly Pilot- Artist

Jim Erickson Set Decorator

Alexandra Hill Soprano

Georgina Elizabeth Isles Figure Model

Emma Middleton Actor

Mark Pryor Author/Lawyer/Assistant DA Travis County TX

Brother Edwin Charles Reggio, CSC Mentor & Teacher

Veronica Vex Burlesque Dancer

George McWhirter Poet

Raúl Guerrero Montemayor Padre-Compadre

Alexandra Waterhouse-Hayward Maestra

Shirley Gnome Singer/Provocateur

Yeva & Thoenn Glover Dancers/Choreographers

JJ Lee Writer

Jacqueline Model

Cathy Marsden Psychiatrist

André De Mondo Wanderer

Colin MacDonald Saxophonist/Composer

Nina Gouveia Yoga Instructor

Stacey Hutton Excercise Physiologist

Colleen Wheeler Actor

Sarah Rodgers Actor, Director,Mother

Tim Turner - Real Estate Agent

Kiera Hill Dancer

Johnna Wright & Sascha Director/Mother - Son/Dreamer

Decker & Nick Hunt Cat & 19th century amateur

George Bowering Poet

Celia Duthie Gallerist

Linda Lorenzo Mother

Katheryn Petersen Accordionist

Stefanie Denz Artist

Ivette Hernández Actress

Byron Chief-Moon Actor/Dancer

Colin Horricks Doctor

Ian Mulgrew Vancouver Sun Columnist

Jocelyn Morlock Composer

Corinne McConchie Librarian

Rachel Ditor Dramaturg

Patrick Reid Statesman, Flag Designer

Michael Varga CBC Cameraman

Bronwen Marsden Playwright/Actress/Director

David Baines Vancouver Sun Columnist

Alex Waterhouse-Hayward Photographer

Lauren Elizabeth Stewart Student

Sandrine Cassini Dancer/Choreographer

Meredith Kalaman Dancer/Choreographer

Juliya Kate Dominatrix