St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra to host concert at UW-River Falls

The St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra (SCVSO) has two concerts coming up.

One concert will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minnesota. The second concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, in the William Abbott Concert Hall at UW-River Falls.

American Portraits is theme and the musical selection will feature pieces by American composers such as Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa, Leroy Anderson and many more.

Kris Tjornehoj is the director of the SCVSO and she said she starts planning out concerts a year or two in advance. One of her responsibilities is to select the music for the concerts. Tjornehoj said the center piece, or the most challenging piece for this concert, is Buckaroo Holiday from “Rodeo” by Copland.

Along with choosing the music, Tjornehoj said she sets the concert dates, prepares the music and leads the orchestra. Tjornehoj said she is responsible for every aspect of the performance, including the lights and even the cleanup.

“It’s an awful lot of responsibility,” Tjornehoj said. “You hope that everybody has a team spirit because you cannot possibly do it by yourself.”

SCVSO is non-profit organization that is made up of students at UWRF and community members in the St. Croix Valley area. According to the SCVSO brochure, the SCVSO started in 1960 and has had only four directors since.

Tjornehoj said there are 57 people in the orchestra. She said there about 15 UWRF students in the orchestra and the rest of the members are people from the St. Croix Valley community.

Tjornehoj said the SCVSO counts as a class and students can get a credit for it. Tjornehoj said there is a wide array of people in the orchestra.

“I’ve got everything from lawyers to eye surgeons to family practice physicians to computer technology people, authors, and even some staff members at River Falls,” Tjornehoj said.

Some of the instruments that can be heard in a symphony orchestra include violins, violas, cello, bass, flutes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, trombones, tuba, horns and percussion.

Hannah Scheele is music major at UWRF and plays the harp with the symphony orchestra. Scheele got involved with the SCVSO in 2012 when she transferred to UWRF. She has been playing the harp for 13 years and she said Tjornehoj convinced her to join the symphony orchestra.

Scheele said one of the highlights she had with the orchestra so far was during the Anthony Kearns concert that happened last November. Scheele said Kearns is a member of the “Irish Tenors” and he performed with the SCVSO last fall.

“He was amazing, I hope he comes and plays with us again,” Scheele said. Tjornehoj said there are about 10 concerts each year. She said every concert has a different theme.

Tickets for the concert at Trinity Luther Church in Stillwater are $10 and can be purchased at the door. Tickets for the concert at the William Abbott Concert Hall at UWRF are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for students. For more information contact Tjornehoj at 715-410-7416 or kristin.tjornehoj@uwrf.edu.