Supported by the National Capital Orchestra, Mr Pereira said he is looking forward to playing this popular piece and taking the audience on a journey of different emotions.

"It's arguably one of the best concertos and is very popular in the classical repertoire," he said. 

'It's quite an emotional world or life it takes on. There's the full spectrum of good emotions from great sadness to great joy."

The Sunday performance program will also include Dvorak's Slavonic Dances No 2 and 8 and Beethoven's Symphony No 6 - Pastoral.Mr Pereira said his aim when performing is to capture the audience's attention and imagination.

"I hope people are just glad to be there and like what they are hearing and feeling," he said. 

 "There are so many wonderful things people can be doing, riding on the lake, enjoying a meal at a nice restaurant and I think 'what can I bring so the audience aren't wishing they're somewhere else?'. And that's to play well."

Mr Pereira has performed Dvorak's cello concerto before, the last time being while on a tour of China with the Australian Youth Orchestra in 1997.

"It has been a long time since I've played it, I probably play it once a decade. I was fortunate to play a piece by Elgar last year with the [National Capital Orchestra]," he said. 

"I thought it would be good to play another piece like that, to have the biggest and best and that was Dvorak."

Mr Pereira has been diligently practising in the lead up to the performance and admits being a soloist comes with responsibility.

"There's pressure to bring justice to the piece and I suppose to play at a good, high standard. You do all the preparatory work and like athletes always say you just hope to perform your best on the day.

"Mr Pereira is a well-known cellist, teacher, composer and writer and currently works part-time at the ANU School of Music.

"It's mediative; you're brought into a calm and meditative state," he said. 

"There is the stress of performing and a fear of failure, best thing is to be well prepared.Mr Pereira currently plays an Italian cello by Guidantus dated from 1730.

"It's very valuable and I've had it on loan for about three years," he said. "It has a warm, sweet and lovely tone, it's not 'shouty' like some cellos can be, the sound is more like an intimate conversation."

* The National Capital Orchestra featuring soloist David Pereira will play at The Q on Sunday, October 14 at 3pm. Tickets cost adults $25, concession $20 and children $10, for more information or to book please go to: www.theq.net.au or phone 6285 6290.