HSO
Annual Membership meeting:
June 15, 2009
Perkins Restaurant, Little Falls
Heartland Symphony Orchestra Welcomes Josh Aerie |
Josh Aerie ~ Cellist,
Conductor, Educator |
 Josh
Aerie is an experienced educator,
conductor, chamber musician, and performing and
recording artist. He received his Master of Music
degree in Cello Performance from the University
of Colorado in 2002, and completed his undergraduate
work at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Oberlin
College, where he received both a Bachelor of Music
in Cello Performance and a Bachelor of Arts with
Honors in Anthropology.
Mr. Aerie was the cellist of the Nacht String Quartet,
the University of Colorado’s Graduate Quartet
from 2000 to 2002. Mentored by the Grammy-winning
Takacs Quartet, the Nacht won both first prize and
the audience choice award in the Bruce Ekstrand
Memorial Competition in December 2001. They were
then invited to be the inaugural quartet in an exchange
and residency program with the Hans Eisler Conservatory
in Berlin. Subsequently, the Quartet spent 8 weeks
in Germany, performing in Berlin, Lichterfelde,
and Bielefeld.
In the summer of 2004 he moved to Northern Virginia
from Los Angeles where he was a successful freelancer
and teacher. While in Southern California he was
a regular cellist in many orchestras, including
the Riverside Philharmonic, the San Bernardino Symphony,
the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra, and the Golden
State Pops. While in the Washington, D.C. area Mr.
Aerie performed with the National Philharmonic,
Maryland Symphony, Baltimore Concert Artists, Fairfax
Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Alexandria Symphony,
and the National Cathedral Orchestra. Additionally,
he performed for various dignitaries, including
Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Veterans’
Affairs Anthony Principi, foreign ambassadors, and
members of congress at such venues as the Kennedy
Center, Strathmore Hall, the Library of Congress,
and the Smithsonian museums.
Mr. Aerie currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota,
and is on the music faculty at both the College
of St. Scholastica and Mesabi Range Community and
Technical College. At St. Scholastica he is the
Cello and Beginning Violin Instructor, and teaches
music courses for the school’s Emeritus College
program. At Mesabi College he is the primary Music
Course Instructor, Strings Instructor, and is Artistic
Director and Conductor of the Mesabi Community Orchestra.
Mr. Aerie is also Artistic Director and Conductor
of the Red Cedar Symphony Orchestra, and conducts
the Duluth Community Orchestra. Most recently, in
the spring of 2009, he was appointed the new Music
Director and Conductor of the Heartland Symphony
Orchestra, based in the Brainerd/Little Falls Minnesota
area. In the summer of 2007, he founded the Woodland
Chamber Music Workshop which provides adult amateur
chamber musicians an annual opportunity to come
together for coachings, seminars, and performances
on the picturesque North Shore of Lake Superior.
Mr. Aerie has performed numerous public cello recitals
in the Northland, collaborated with the area’s
foremost musicians in chamber music, and is a founding
member of the Gichigami Piano Trio. He has numerous
recording credits, including on United Artists and
Vitamin Records labels, and on film soundtracks.
He has appeared on nationally-syndicated television
programs and national tours. Closer to home, plays
in the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and the
Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, and has served
as Principal Cellist of both the Duluth Festival
Opera and Lyric Opera of the North.
Mr. Aerie enjoys teaching and maintains an active
studio. He has conducted master classes and coached
various ensembles, and is sought after as a judge
for competitions and auditions. While at Oberlin,
he was Instructor of Cello in both the Conservatory’s
String Preparatory Program and the Secondary Lesson
Program. While residing in the Washington, D.C.
area, he coached and conducted for the Washington
D.C. Youth Orchestra Program, the American Youth
Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Capital Cello Circle.
An outspoken proponent for music and arts in education
and the community at-large, Mr. Aerie serves on
the Board of Directors for the Arrowhead Regional
Arts Council, Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth,
and the St. Croix Guild in St. Paul. Additionally,
he is Artistic Advisor to the Arrowhead Center for
the Arts in Virginia, Minnesota. |
The Heartland Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is
a 50-piece volunteer, nonprofit, community orchestra located
in and serving the central Minnesota area of Brainerd,
Little Falls and the surrounding rural communities. Musicians,
from amateurs to professionals, come together once a week
from all over the region to rehearse and perform three
full-length orchestral music concerts each season in both
Little Falls and Brainerd. Special guest artists and conductors,
local soloists and ensembles, area youth concerto winners,
and charming repertoire commentary all help to make each
concert unique and entertaining. The HSO also contributes
to its service communities through music education programs,
special events, and ticket give-aways. For more information,
to receive a free HSO season brochure of upcoming concerts,
to order your tickets, or to get involved either as a
player or HSO sponsor, please visit other sections of
this website or contact us directly.
To
Contact HSO:
Heartland Symphony Orchestra
PO Box 241
Little Falls, MN 56345
1-800-826-1997
Email
Us - info@heartlandsymphony.org |
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Thank
You to all
of our musicians, volunteers and supporters who
have served the HSO over the past 32 years! |
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