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Tuesday, December 3, 2024 84° Today's Paper


FeaturesGood Fit

Cellist combines love of hiking with passion for music

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COURTESY MARK VOTAPEK

Above, Mark Votapek, principal cellist for the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, relaxes for a moment to enjoy the view of the Sierra Nevada during a 2013 hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

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COURTESY MARK VOTAPEK

Mark Votapek

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COURTESY MARK VOTAPEK

Mark Votapek

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COURTESY MARK VOTAPEK

Mark Votapek gives a brief concert at the head of the trail on the Mexican border.

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COURTESY MARK VOTAPEK

“Life is so complicated, the way we make it. We construct all this wonderful, complicated stuff, like a symphony concert … but you get out there and really live as a backpacker for a long period of time … and all that complication sort of disappears.”

Mark Votapek

Above, playing cello during a 2015 rafting trip down the Colorado River, and hiking across snow-covered ranges of the North Cascades in 2013.