The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra will present “Roots,” a concert celebrating beautiful music and the roots it grew from, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. The concert will be in Ritsche Auditorium at St. Cloud State University. Artistic Director candidate Kornel Thomas will conduct works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Bela Bartók, Luigi Bassi, and Antonín Dvorák. Our fantastic guest artist is clarinetist Olivia Hamilton, who will perform the virtuosic Concert Fantasia on motives from Rigoletto by Luigi Bassi.
At 6:30 p.m., Maestro Thomas will deliver a pre-concert talk, sharing his decision-making process for selecting the music, providing historical context for each piece, and highlighting the musical elements audience members will hear. There will be a reception following the concert.
More information is available at www.stcloudsymphony.com.
General admission tickets are available at www.stcloudsymphony.com or at the door.
“Roots” concert – 7:30 p.m.
Adult – $25
Senior (65 and older) – $20
Student – $5
Kornel Thomas is an award-winning conductor and composer. Thomas was assistant conductor of Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Budapest from 2017-2020, and was selected as finalist for the music director position from 2020-2021. Previously, he held assistant conductor positions at the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamont Symphony Orchestra, and St. -Stephen King Youth Orchestra. His guest conducting has brought him to many professional ensembles around Europe and the United States. Highlights include working with the Hungarian State Opera and Ballet, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, Györ Philharmonic Orchestra, and ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Recognizing the profound significance of music education in the lives of children, Thomas served as Conductor and Teaching Artist at El Sistema Colorado, a program catering to students from challenging socioeconomic backgrounds, from 2013 through 2016.
Thomas holds the Magister Artium (M.M., B.M.) from Univer-sity of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Denver, Lamont School of Music in Denver. His mentors in conducting include Mark Stringer, Michael Jinbo, Sian Edwards, Douglas Bostock, Peter Eotvos, and Daniel Harding, and in composing, László Draskóczy.
Twin Cities-based clarinetist Olivia Hamilton serves as a Fellow with the Minnesota Orchestra. In the summer of 2025, Hamilton will enter her second season with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Hamilton has performed with numerous ensembles in America and Europe including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the film Maestro, The Kennedy Center Honors Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, Spoleto, Classical Tahoe, Sioux City Symphony, and The International Lyric Academy Orchestra. She completed her degrees at The University of North Texas, and Northwestern University where she studied with John Scott, Kimberly Cole Luevano, Steve Cohen, and Mark Nuccio. Hamilton went on to be a member of The Orchestra Now at Bard College where she performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Symphony Center. As a Black woman, Hamilton is very passionate about liberation and equity in classical music. Because of this, Hamilton played a key role in the founding of the inaugural Black Composer Showcase at Northwestern University. She also frequently performs with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Gateways Music Festival, and Sugar Hill Salon Chamber Music; these are organizations dedicated to spotlighting Black musicians.