Bass

William Schrickel

acting principal bass
Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Stepanek Chair

William Schrickel, a native of Iowa, joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1976. At Sommerfest 2007 Schrickel and Associate Concertmaster Roger Frisch performed Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante in a concert led by Andrew Litton. He has appeared twice as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, performing music of Giovanni Bottesini and John Tartaglia.

Schrickel has participated in the Minnesota Orchestra’s Adopt-A-School music education program since 1993, performing for and speaking to elementary school students to prepare them to attend their first live orchestra concert.

Schrickel is also active as a conductor. He led the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra from 2002 to 2008, and during the 2005-06 season he served as an assistant conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra. He has been music director of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra since 2000; in May 2008 he led the world premiere of Osmo Vänskä’s The Bridge with that ensemble.

A dedicated chamber musician, Schrickel has been a member of the Hill House Chamber Players in St. Paul, with whom he has recorded music of Astor Piazzolla. Schrickel was a founding member of the Minneapolis Artists Ensemble (MAE), a chamber music group that performed at the Walker Art Center and commissioned 17 new works over seven seasons. His chamber music recordings with the MAE include music of Mozart, Hummel, Proto, Larsen, Ives, Aubart and Tartaglia on the GM and Innova labels. Schrickel has also recorded works of Skrowaczewski and Vieira as a guest artist with Ensemble Capriccio on the Innova and Paulus labels.

Schrickel studied conducting with Thomas Trimborn and bass with Joseph Guastafeste at Northwestern University.