Bjorn Ranheim
American-born, Norwegian cellist Bjorn Ranheim was appointed to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in April 2005. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Ranheim served as Associate Principal Cello of the Fort Worth Symphony. He is now in his third season with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. In 2006, he was appointed Principal Cello of the Colorado Music Festival by Music Director Michael Christie. He has performed and toured with the orchestras of Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Baltimore; collaborating with David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, Bernard Labadie, Alasdair Neale and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Mr. 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 -- Principal Cello with Quebec City’s critically acclaimed Le Violons du Roy. He made his solo debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1996, as a winner of the Young Peoples Symphony Concert Association Competition.
Actively performing in chamber music, Bjorn Ranheim has toured extensively in the U.S., 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. A committed advocate of contemporary music, Ranheim has performed world-premiere performances of works by Stephen Paulus, Paul Schoenfield and Steven Heitzig.
Bjorn Ranheim received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Stephen Geber, retired Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra.
