How is a cello like Instagram? Portland Cello Project members believe it is the way they can blur the distinctions between what a cello is expected to sound like, and what it is capable of.

“In a way, cellos are like Instagram filters,” Performer Skip vonKuske said. “There’s music we play that I doubt I ever would have listened to, like Kanye West or Jay Z, and then when we started playing that stuff, it made me look at the source material differently.”

The same could be said for PCP’s audience last night in the CUB. The event, put on by the Student Entertainment Board, continued the group’s tradition of bringing perceived classical instruments into the 21st century with renditions of pop, indie, jazz, and loud rock songs.

Introduced as “cello-wielding maniacs” by SEB arts programmer Sarah Schuerger, the group floated through Bach, Fleet Foxes and Duke Ellington. The group was booked before Schuerger took on the position, but she said she had an opportunity to see PCP perform at a conference in Seattle.

“Their whole bit is breaking down the bounds of what classical music is,” she said. “I would’ve wanted them here regardless if they’d been booked or not. They’re phenomenal.”

Members of PCP include vonKuske, Diane Chaplain, Kevin Jackson, Kelly Quesada, and WSU alumna Heather Blackburn. VonKuske said the group began arranging traditional cello music in a fellow cellist’s living room in Portland in 2006, but quickly realized there should be no type of music they considered off-limits.

The performance also featured frequent PCP collaborators John Whaley on trumpet and Patti King of Portland band Radiation City on vocals.

“Is Beck still relevant with the kids these days?” King quipped as she came out on stage to perform two songs from Beck’s “Song Reader,” an album released only in sheet music form, of which Portland Cello Project was one of the first groups to release an arranged recording.

King’s floating vocals were well suited to the airy “Last Night You Were a Dream,” with the cellists creating a sweeping accompaniment before shifting into a full-bodied instrumental interlude.

After a version of the William Tell Overture, the back row gave an enthusiastic ‘whoo’ as vonKuske asked if any fellow cellists were in the audience.

“Usually they don’t ‘whoo,’ they just put their hands up politely,” vonKuske joked. “Now we’re going to play a song written nearly 150 years later…by the awesome, in his own mind and several others, Chicago composer Kanye West.”

Seamlessly transitioning from era to era, the group played West’s “All Of the Lights,” a crowd favorite. The melody floats seamlessly from member to member, giving everyone a chance to play with the textures that imitate West’s intricate sampling style.

The mood that PCP creates is as malleable as their variety, flowing from high energy to ballad and back without missing a beat. They tap into emotional founts wherever their sound leads them, most notably on their trio of songs written by late Portland songwriter, Elliott Smith. The group’s next project is an album dedicated to Smith’s work, which they hope to release by the end of the year.

The performance ended on an energetic high with Adele favorite, “Rolling in the Deep.” Percussion was replaced with rhythmic stomps and tapping on hollow cello bodies and made a resourceful impact.

Audience members left the theatre with their own smiles and humming along to Adele.