Cello
String Family
You’ll notice right away that the cello is much larger than the violin and viola. In fact, it’s so large that you have to sit down to play it! The cello has quite a wide pitch range, from warm, low notes to rich, high notes. The body of the cello sits between your knees, and the neck of the cello goes in front of your left shoulder. Your left hand presses down on the strings to change the pitch, and your right hand moves the bow or plucks the strings. The cello touches the ground, supported by a metal peg called the endpin. The cello has four strings tuned a fifth apart, and from highest to lowest, they are: A, D, G, and C. The string names may be the same as the viola, but they sound one octave lower.
Artists
Anthony Ross
Principal Cello, John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles Chair
Silver Ainomäe
Associate Principal Cello, John and Barbara Sibley Boatwright Chair
Beth Rapier
Cello
Sonia Mantell
Pitnarry Shin
Cello
Erik Wheeler
Roger and Cynthia Britt Chair
Dynamic leader of the Minnesota Orchestra’s cello section since 1991, prize-winning cellist Anthony Ross has appeared as soloist many times with the Orchestra, performing all the standard cello concertos under Osmo Vänskä, Edo de Waart and Eiji Oue. Equally passionate about new music, he has given powerful performances of Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, James MacMillan’s Cello Concerto, Paul Moravec’s Montserrat, and he and his wife, cellist Beth Rapier, have championed David Ott’s Concerto for Two Cellos since 1993. Prior to assuming the principal role in Minnesota, Ross performed for four years as principal cello of the Rochester Philharmonic under David Zinman.
Ross’ compelling interpretations have won wide acclaim from Moscow to Kalamazoo, and Dallas to Duluth. As concerto soloist, he has played with the Moscow State Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the South Dakota Symphony and many other Midwest regional orchestras. Ross’ recordings include Leonard Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass, the George Lloyd Cello Concerto with the Albany Symphony, and the sonatas of Rachmaninoff and Elliott Carter.
Silver Ainomäe was born in Tallinn, Estonia. At the age of six he began to play the cello and piano. In 1990 Silver's family migrated from Estonia to Finland and at the age of twelve, he was accepted to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where his teachers were Hannu Kiiski and Arto Noras. After receiving a master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy, he attended London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Razumovsky Academy under the guidance of Oleg Kogan. He has been awarded multiple prizes and awards at competitions worldwide including the Isang Yun, Lutoslawski and Paulo competitions.
Beth Rapier joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1986 and served as assistant principal cello from 1991 until 2022, when she chose to move into the core of the cello section. She has been a featured soloist with the Orchestra in works by Haydn, David Ott and Kevin Puts, the latter being the world premiere of his Sinfonia concertante in 2006. Throughout her tenure, she has appeared regularly at the Orchestra’s chamber music concerts. During the 2013-14 season, she performed as a guest with the Dallas Symphony and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Illinois native Sonia Mantell joined the Minnesota Orchestra cello section in September 2020, and in fall 2024 took on the role of acting co-associate principal cello as well as making her debut as soloist performing James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood in March 2025. She studied at New England Conservatory and DePaul School of Music under the tutelage of Natasha Brofksy and Brant Taylor, respectively. While attending DePaul, she won the Concerto Competition with violinist Ari Urban and performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the DePaul Symphony. She is a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Alumni (2014-16) and has attended summer festivals at Aspen, National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West and Tanglewood Music Center.
Cellist Pitnarry Shin has toured throughout the United States, Europe and her native Korea. She has performed as soloist with the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony Orchestra, the Kunsan Philharmonic, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Queens Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared at many of the leading international festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Edinburgh and Dartington Festivals (England), Colmar and Evian Festivals (France), Banff Festival (Canada) and the Piatigorsky Seminar. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Germany, which allowed her to participate and perform in several European festivals such as the Manchester Festival, the Kronberg Festival and the Ensemble InterContemporain Summer Festival, where she played solo cello under Pierre Boulez.
Shin was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra from 2001 to 2006 and returned as a full time member again in 2012. In addition to her orchestral work, she serves as an artistic director of the Bakken Trio.
Houston-born cellist Erik Wheeler began his musical studies with Diane Bonds at age 5, and subsequently studied with Steve Laven, Lynn Harrell and Brinton Smith. He earned his undergraduate degree from Rice University, where his principal teacher was Desmond Hoebig, after which he spent a year at the Juilliard School with Richard Aaron. While at Rice, he performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra as the winner of the school’s concerto competition and served as principal cellist for the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra. A member of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2019, he served as acting co-associate principal cello for the 2024-25 season.