Announcing new principal cellist Julie Albers

We’re beyond thrilled to announce that Julie Albers has accepted the orchestra members’ invitation to become the new Principal Cellist of the SPCO. Julie has performed with the SPCO many times in recent years and was the unanimous choice of the audition committee made up of SPCO musicians. Principal Second Violinist and Senior Director of Artistic Planning Kyu-Young Kim wrote:

We feel extremely fortunate to have Julie Albers become our new Principal Cellist. She is an extraordinary artist and a seasoned professional that will be able to hit the ground running as one of the key musical leaders of the SPCO. In addition to being a fantastic cellist, she has great interpersonal skills and exhibits grace under pressure at every turn. She has played many weeks as guest principal cellist for the past few seasons, and as we conducted our search, it became increasingly clear to all of us at the SPCO that Julie was the perfect person for the job.

Many audience members will remember her performance of the Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major last spring. Pioneer Press critic Rob Hubbard wrote:

Albers offered a quite impressive interpretation of Joseph Haydn’s Second Cello Concerto before joining four other musicians for an involving take on a Johannes Brahms String Quintet… The highlight was Albers’ lively, lyrical performance of the Haydn concerto. Albers made every movement sing, employing a rich, full sound, dexterous digits and a delicate touch. She brought a surprisingly tumultuous and troubled tone to the first-movement cadenza, summoning up an anxious mood that suited the work well.

Julie will officially begin her tenure next fall, but will join us several times this season, including this weekend’s Opening Night performances. As soloist, she will perform the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 at concerts in May.

There’s much more to read in the full press release (PDF) and Julie’s official bio.