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B O U T O U R C O N D U C T O R
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Josh Aerie
HSO Music Director
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Josh
Aerie Aerie
is a performing and recording cellist and chamber musician,
music educator and advocate, and symphonic conductor. He
received his Master of Music degree in Cello Performance
from the University of Colorado where he was the cellist
in the Graduate String Quartet, a fellowship program with
the Grammy Award-winning Takacs Quartet. Josh 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.
Josh lives in Duluth, Minnesota and is on the music faculty
at the College of St. Scholastica, University of Wisconsin-Superior,
and Mesabi Range Community and Technical College. At St.
Scholastica he is Instructor of Cello. At Mesabi College
he is head of the Music Department and is Artistic Director
and Conductor of the Mesabi Community Orchestra. At UW-Superior
he is a Senior Lecturer, teaching cello and advanced ear
training. Josh is also Music Director and Conductor of the
Heartland Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director and Conductor
of the Red Cedar Symphony Orchestra, and Conductor of the
Duluth Community Orchestra. In 2010 he cofounded the North
Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, a summer festival orchestra
for professional and semi-professional musicians.
In 2007 Josh founded the Woodland Chamber Music Workshop,
an annual 6-day event that provides adult instrumentalists
of all skill levels from across the country and Canada an
opportunity to come together for chamber music coachings,
seminars, and performances on the picturesque North Shore
of Lake Superior in Tofte, MN.
As a cellist, Josh has performed throughout the country
as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. He is a founding
member of the Gichigami Piano Trio and also performs in
Trillium, the UW-Superior faculty piano trio. He has numerous
recording credits, including on the United Artists, Innova,
and Vitamin Records labels, and on film soundtracks. He
has appeared on nationally syndicated television programs
and national tours at venues such as the Kennedy Center,
the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tanglewood, Strathmore Hall,
the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian museums.
Closer to home, he often 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. Josh enjoys teaching
and maintains an active home-based cello studio. He has
conducted master classes and coached various ensembles,
and is sought after as a judge for Minnesota State High
School League competitions. 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, Josh serves as Chair of the Arrowhead Regional
Arts Council Board of Directors. He is also a Director of
the Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth and an Advisory
Panelist to the Minnesota State Arts Board. He was awarded
a McKnight/ARAC Artist Fellowship Grant in June 2010, and
in September 2009 he was selected as a 20 Under 40 Award
recipient in the Duluth News Tribune’s annual recognition
of 20 community leaders under the age of forty. |
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B O U T H E A R T L A N D
S Y M P H O N Y |
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O A R D O F
D I R E C T O R S
Sarah Fogderud - President
Michelle Sakry-Winkelman - Vice President
Susan Kavanaugh - Vice President
Mona Steinke - Treasurer
Helen O'Brien - Secretary
Betty Alderman
Dustin Austreng
Deb Griffith
Echo Kowalzek
Maren Sederquist
Mary Voigt
Don Wennberg
Leslie Zander
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R T I S T I C
S T A F F
Josh Aerie - Conductor
Leslie Zander - Concert Mistress
O F F I C E S T
A F F
Fran Dosh - Orchestra
Manager
Sarah Fyten - Business Manager
Jenna Miller – Music Librarian
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The Heartland Symphony Orchestra (HSO)
was founded in 1977 by a group of musicians
from Little Falls and Brainerd with Hazel
Johnson Wunsch of Long Prairie serving as
the first conductor. The HSO has provided
live orchestra concert performances and other
musical opportunities in Little Falls, Brainerd
and surrounding communities for 34 years now.
The goals of the symphony are (1) to offer
local musicians and students an opportunity
for symphonic training and performance, (2)
to provide central Minnesota residents with
cultural and musical enrichment through live
symphony concerts and other special programs,
and (3) to partner with central Minnesota
educational institutions in developing outstanding
music education programs for area youth.
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S O L E A D E R S H I P
& S T A F F
The Heartland
Symphony Orchestra is governed by a 14-member
volunteer Board of Directors, half of whom
are from the Little Falls area and half from
the Brainerd area. These board members are
elected to 3-year rotating terms by the HSO
membership each June. The two geographic
areas alternate in naming the Board President
and Vice-President. All directors actively
serve on committees concerning many aspects
of running the orchestra, including concert
production, fundraising, public relations,
and managing personnel. In order to carry
out all of its programs, the HSO also engages
a Music Director, Concert Master, Orchestra
Manager, Business Manager, Music Librarian,
and many volunteers. (Click
here to view HSO volunteer opportunities.)
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S O P R O G R A M S
The HSO performs three
full-length orchestral music concerts in both
Little Falls and Brainerd each year, as well
as occasional outreach concerts in neighboring
communities upon invitation. The fall concert
usually features a professional guest soloist
of the conductor’s choice, who not only performs
with the orchestra but often presents music
clinics in local schools while in the area.
The winter or Christmas concert often involves
local or regional solo artists, choir, or
other ensemble in a holiday setting. The
spring concert features youth soloists drawn
from area schools, who are selected from HSO’s
Youth Concerto Auditions. (Click
here to view current concert season.)
Besides these live concerts, the HSO also
engages its conductor, guest artists and musicians
to present music education clinics in area
schools, offers ticket give-away programs
to schools and youth groups, and provides
special training for its own musicians. (Click
here for more information about these HSO
special programs.)
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S O M U S I C I A N S
The Heartland
Symphony Orchestra players number over fifty
volunteers drawn from this Central Minnesota
region, including Little Falls, Brainerd,
and the surrounding communities of Aitkin,
Aldrich, Backus, Baxter, Bemidji, Breezy Point,
Browerville, Collegeville, Crosslake, Fort
Ripley, Hillman, Long Prairie, Mora, Nisswa,
Onamia, Osakis, Pequot Lakes, Perham, Pine
River, Rice, Sartell, St. Cloud, St Joseph,
Sauk Rapids, Staples, Swanville, Verndale,
Wadena and Walker. Musicians in the orchestra
have a variety of musical training, ranging
from adults who have studied their instrument
in college or teach professionally, to adults
who just recently began studying an instrument,
to local high school musicians who are trying
to broaden their playing experiences. All
ages are welcome and encouraged to participate.
(For
information about joining the HSO, call 1-800-826-1997
or
email us at info@heartlandsymphony.org.)
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S O A U D I E N C E
The HSO
strives to appeal to a variety of music lovers,
including young children, teens, adults and
senior citizens and continually works to attract
new audience members. Since bringing in an
audience is of great importance both for the
orchestra and for perpetuating classical music
itself, every effort is made to keep ticket
prices as low as possible. And, thanks to
grant subsidy, the HSO is able to give several
free tickets away to children and families
each season. Ticket availability in all communities
is advertised by a season brochure mailing
in the fall and then through board members,
players, and regional print, radio and television
media.
(Click here to email us for a free season
brochure) Adult, Senior, Student
and Family tickets are available for the season
or single concert tickets can be purchased
prior to each performance at:
Bridge of Harmony - Brainerd
Brainerd Dispatch - Brainerd
Bookin' It Bookstore - Little Falls
Great River Arts Center - Little Falls
(Click here for more ticket information.)
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