GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s Postcards will feature the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra on its upcoming episode. This program will air on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m.
Directed by Stephen J. Ramsey, the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra is an approximately 44-person volunteer group of musicians that started in 1957. The first part of this episode showcases the instruments of various members of the current orchestral group. Interviewees include, violinists Lisa Zeller, Barb Swanson and Stephanie Hendrickson; cellist Marie Nelson; violist Joshua Pierskalla; string bassist Ben Anderson; trumpeter Flavio Boni; French hornist Bonnie Hauser; trombonist Timothy Pieh; tubist Marlyn Orson; flutist Barb Holmgren; oboeists Raye Eyrich and Robert Whitney; clarinetist Heather Shumaker; and percussionist Matthew Reich. This segment was produced, filmed and edited by Graywood Films.
The episode continues with interviews from director Ramsey, additional orchestra members and various fans of the group. They explain the origin of the group and their personal accounts of why this group is important. “I think it is the most pure embodiment of what music should be: something to share together with, not just yourselves, but the community,” said bassoonist Nickolai Podvin. The group typically performs four concerts per year out of Concert Hall at the Willmar Education and Arts Center with various guest appearances. A mission of the group is to get young people to enjoy live music concerts and they offer free concerts to area children.
This episode concludes with a special showcase piece performed by Olav Luksengård Mjelva. Postcards captured this moving seaside performance while traveling with Mjelva in Norway.
People in Pioneer PBS’s viewing area can livestream this episode at www.pioneer.org/live on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. This episode will be repeated on Sunday, May 7 at 7 p.m. and Monday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m. The program will also be available to stream at www.pioneer.org/postcards and on Postcards’ YouTube page at www.youtube.com/@PostcardsOnPioneerPBS.
About Postcards
Postcards is an award-winning art, culture and history program, produced by Dana Conroy with videography and editing by Kristofor Gieske and Ben Dempcy. The program is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The 2023 season is made possible by funding from Shalom Hill Farm,
