Symphony Orchestra Concert (Community Partnership Program of the St. Louis Symphony)
Program:
Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 (1801) - Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a (1892) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Overture Miniature
Marche
Danse Russe Trepak
Danse Arabe
Valse des Fleurs
Double Concerto in A for Violin and Cello, Op. 102 (1887) - Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Allegro
Andante
Vivace non troppo
Soloists: Bjorn Ranheim and Shawn Weil, St. Louis Symphony
Bjorn Ranheim
Cellist Bjorn Ranheim was appointed to the St. Louis Symphony in September of 2005, holds the principal chair of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado, and is a member of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho. Prior to these appointments, Ranheim served as associate principal cellist of the Fort Worth Symphony. He has performed and toured with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Detroit; collaborating with Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Robert Spano, and Bernard Labadie. Ranheim has held principal and assistant principal cello positions with the New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Festival Orchestra and, at the invitation of the music director, Quebec City’s critically acclaimed Le Violons du Roy. Ranheim made his concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1996 as winner of the Young Peoples Symphony Concert Association Competition and has since appeared as soloist on multiple occasions with the Colorado Music Festival, New World Symphony, Columbia Civic Orchestra, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Upcoming concerto highlights will include Brahms’ Double Concerto with STL Symphony violinist, Shawn Weil and the Washington University Orchestra in December 2013 as well as Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony on a special event performance in May 2014.
Actively performing in chamber music, Ranheim has toured extensively in the United States, Europe, and Central America, with performances at Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Gardner Museum, El Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. He has participated in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Seminar, Costa Rica International Chamber Music Festival, Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Audubon Quartet Seminar, and has been a frequent guest artist at the National Flute Association Convention. Ranheim is highly visible throughout the St. Louis region presenting recitals, chamber music performances, and educational concerts, and is a member of Washington University’s Eliot Piano Trio with STL Symphony Concertmaster David Halen and pianist Seth Carlin. In the spring of 2011, Ranheim was featured on the famed radio program A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, performing alongside jazz vocalist Erin Bode, with whom he tours regularly. Ranheim has shared the stage with jazz greats Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, and Peter Martin, and is a founding member of the 442’s, an exciting acoustic string group exploring the boundaries of jazz, folk, and classical styles.
A committed advocate of contemporary solo and chamber music, Ranheim has premiered works by Stephen Paulus, Paul Schoenfield, Steven Heitzig, Peter Martin, Stefan Freund and William Beckstrand. As a mentor, coach and performer, Ranheim has been invited to work with the New World Symphony, Indiana University Summer Music Festiva,l and the STL Symphony Youth Orchestra. Bjorn Ranheim studied at The Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Stephen Geber, retired principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Shawn Weil
A native of Chicago, Shawn Weil was appointed to the St. Louis Symphony in April 2005. Prior to his appointment, he played as a contracted member of the orchestra for two seasons. Weil is a violinist with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and, for four seasons, was co-concertmaster of the New World Symphony. During his tenure at the New World Symphony, he was invited to represent the institution in chamber music performances domestically in Manhattan and the Hamptons, and internationally in Prague, Rome, and Monte Carlo. He has collaborated with Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Alasdair Neale, and the Miami String Quartet. An active educator and mentor, Weil is on the violin faculty of Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina. He is frequently involved with the Education and Community Partnership Program of the SLSO. From 2002-03, Weil served on the faculty of the acclaimed Opus 118: Harlem Center for Strings in Manhattan. Shawn Weil received his Bachelor of Music degree and the Performance Diploma from Indiana University.
Free Admission.