Kirsten Whitson


Music

St. Paul, MN


Interested in scheduling a program? Please contact Ragdale’s Director of Education below:

Cellist Kirsten Whitson performs extensively as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. She has played throughout the US, Europe, Japan and Cuba with Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Milwaukee Symphony, Florida Orchestra and Norway`s Bergen Philharmonic. She has also performed at the Festival of the Lakes in Alexandria, MN, the Minnesota Beethoven Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, MN, and with Zeitgeist New Music.

Kirsten has presented solo cello concerts throughout the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota for over 20 years. She has been featured on programs broadcast by KFAI and Minnesota Public Radio. She is passionate about the extensive repertoire available for solo cello and has premiered several commissioned pieces. Composers Timothy C. Takach, David Evan Thomas, Carl Witt and Jocelyn Hagen have written music for her. One of Jocelyn Hagen`s pieces for her involved live digital looping.

Kirsten received a B.M. and an Artist Diploma from Indiana University, where she studied with Fritz Magg and Janos Starker. While at Indiana University, Kirsten was Fritz Magg’s assistant and won a coveted Performer’s Certificate.

Kirsten received Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board in 2002 and 2018, a grant from the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers in 2020, a Creative Support Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board in 2021, and is a 2020 McKnight Artist Fellow.

Kirsten plans to use her time at Ragdale to prepare for a series of recording sessions in late Feb and early March. She will be recording Three Pieces for Solo Cello by John Williams, Thirty-Eight Tears by Timothy C. Takach (written for her), Khse Buon by Chinary Ung and Finding Refuge Together by Jocelyn Hagen (also written for her).

These pieces comprise a larger program, Bearing Witness, a multi media solo cello program that reflects global racial injustice. It is an enlightening concert, weaving together history lessons from a worldwide perspective with an artistic focus. Between pieces, video narration provides real-life stories from marginalized cultures. The storytellers are teenagers, representing the next generation:our future. The juxtaposition of children with these important issues is powerful. musical experience designed to promote learning and to awaken empathy, inspiring authentic connections and deeper community engagement.

Discussions of systemic racial division and cultural bias are, and should be, at the forefront of our national consciousness. Bearing Witness offers the opportunity to consider how stories from history about loss and trauma can move us and awaken empathy, while expanding our knowledge and world views. These are true stories about real people. Highlighting these narratives from underrepresented cultures with unique and meaningful music for solo cello is compelling. Kirsten hopes to make connections with potential presenters to bring Bearing Witness to the Chicago area in 2022-2023.

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