When cellist Jonah Kim planned his trip from Florida to Redlands to perform with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, he bought two first-class tickets: one for himself and one for his 1991 Michelle Ashley copy of a Nicolo Amati cello.

"It's great. We get to board first and get off first," Kim said in a recent telephone interview.

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Special to The Press-Enterprise

Jonah Kim

Kim will perform Dvorak's Cello Concerto, which he considers to be the most difficult cello concerto written.

"This is a symphonically conceived work, unlike most concertos," he said. "A typical concerto is a vehicle to show off the virtuosity of the soloist while the orchestra provides accompaniment. Dvorak composed this to be a complete work, with soloist and orchestra both playing melody and accompaniment. It's a work of huge scale and it's very difficult for the orchestra, too."

According to Kim, Dvorak composed this piece after living in New York City for a while. "It shows the influence of American music," he said. "It has a very heroic feeling."

It also has love songs, he says, explaining that the love songs were not written to his wife, but to his sister-in-law. "Unfortunately, she didn't quite love him back," Kim said. "So, he married her sister, but wrote these pieces for her."

When he performs, Kim maintains he should not be interpreting the music.

"The music already exists, we don't need to interpret it," he said. "It starts in the silence before the first note, and goes back into the silence after the last chord -- the audience should wait to applaud, they should savor that moment of silence."

Kim was born in Korea, and received his first cello when he was 6 or 7 years old.

"I had an unusual childhood, growing up immersed in nature and not going to school," he said. After his family came to the United States, his father applied for him to attend Juilliard. At age 7 ½, he was given a full scholarship, even though he could not read music.

He performed his first concerto at age 13 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. And studied with Orlando Cole, who died recently at age 101.

"He taught me how to think about music and about people," Kim said. "He showed me that the spaces between the notes, the spaces between people, that are most important. It's how you phrase and listen that makes the music."

"What's the weather like in California?" he asked, adding that his cello will be happiest if the weather is cold and dry.

The concert program also includes Hector Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" and Schumann's Symphony No. 1 in B-flat.

Music director Jon Robertson will conduct the Redlands Symphony Orchestra and will present a pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.