Last year, at 22, cellist Joshua Roman became the youngest principal player in Seattle Symphony history. What did you accomplish when you were 22? Yeah, we thought so.

Now 23, Roman makes his Seattle solo debut at Town Hall Friday night [tickets], playing JS Bach's 6th Suite, modern composer Gyorgy Ligeti's solo Sonata, and the "daunting and virtuosic" solo Sonata, Op. 8 by Zoltan Kodaly.

Your bio says you've played cello with some rock bands--anyone we've heard of?
There are a few that have had the songs we recorded played on MTV programs such as The Real World but unfortunately I never bothered keeping track of who was performing. A couple that I have performed/recorded with that are friends of mine include Charlie Hall (Christian Rock), Sarah Rudinoff (whom I will be collaborating more with soon!) and many others in the Cleveland/OKC areas [ED: Where Roman used to live].

Which of Friday's pieces are you most excited about performing?
All, for different reasons! It's been several years since I've performed the Kodaly, so that will be very fun. The others I have played more recently, but I love the challenge of performing solo repertoire that is varied in mood and style on the same program.

When we Googled you we found a page you created when you were 13 that says, "My favorite web page is the Internet Cello Society page." Is that still true?
Haha... I still go there every once in a while, but google.com is probably my new hub of information. For anything cello-related (such as the ever-important viola jokes) I usually find a page or link at the ICS though.

Do you follow the local music scene much? If so, what bands do you like?
Awesome, Sarah Rudinoff - I haven't seen that much yet but I also liked songs I heard Rick Miller play at a show. Always interested in discovering more though, I'm sure by the end of the summer the list will have grown quite a bit!

Be honest with us--Yo-Yo Ma is slipping, right?
Haha... Since you want me to be honest, I really don't know. Recently all I've heard is his Silk Road Project recordings, which I love. In terms of his classical playing I don't know what he's done recently. He's such a committed artist, it's hard to imagine him "slipping" but it does seem that there has been a re-focusing of his energy - mostly away from strictly classical music. He's one of my faves though, and I really look forward to traveling the world as he does, performing in all sorts of places with great musicians.