Cellist Lynn Harrell, Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra team up again

Just over a year ago, world-renowned cellist Lynn Harrell filled the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox with the sound of Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D Minor during a performance with the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra.

According to conductor Kevin Hekmatpanah, Harrell’s performance was so great he had to have the cellist back for another concert as soon as possible.

Hekmatpanah will have his wish when Harrell returns to Spokane on Monday for another performance with the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra, this time as guest soloist on Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 30.

Herbert’s work is near and dear to Harrell’s heart; he released the world premiere recording of the composer’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

The concert will also feature performances of Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 and Antonin Dvořák’s Rondo for Cello and Orchestra in G Minor, Op. 94.

Harrell began playing the cello at age 8 while living in Dallas. The instrument then took him to the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Harrell has performed with symphonies in North America and abroad, released more than 30 recordings and won two Grammys.

“How you handle your instrument, essentially is just a tool to reaching out to other human beings and having them feel the same thing,” Harrell told the Spokesman-Review last year. “It’s storytelling without words.”