WHO WE ARE…
We are the people of Mesabi Symphony Orchestra. We are your friends, your neighbors, your kids’ teachers, people you worship with, people you see every day. We are united by our love of music.
We are not professional musicians, although many of us are music teachers. Among our current and past members, we are diverse: an attorney, a surgeon, a chaplain, a flight instructor, data miners, baristas, a farmer, a retail store manager, a dog agility photographer, a geologist, a biologist, a nonprofit executive, a state legislator, a librarian, a graphic artist, college students, piano teachers, choir directors, a ski instructor, a rock climber, a WWII veteran who played in General MacArthur’s band, orchestra teachers, and active or retired band directors.
Every Monday evening, we come together to rehearse so we can bring great orchestral music to Iron Range communities.
Join us!
Are you a trained musician living in northern Minnesota who misses playing with an excellent ensemble? We’d love to have you join us! We rehearse on Monday evenings in the Rock Ridge High School music department. If you are interested in playing, please contact us and we’ll send you more information.
Mesabi Chamber Ensemble 5:30-6:30 pm
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra 7:00-9:00 pm
Mesabi Symphony Orchestra is our premiere performing group for professionals and people who are capable of playing at a professional or college level. MSO is led by Benjamin Nilles, artistic director and conductor.
Mesabi Chamber Ensemble is a low-pressure group for people who are learning to play string instruments, or returning to playing after a hiatus. MCE is led by Sheila Wilcox, concertmaster of the MSO, and teacher of strings at Rock Ridge Public Schools.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Mesabi Symphony Orchestra is to keep orchestral music alive and thriving on the Iron Range. The musicians of MSO are committed to artistic excellence, community, and lifelong learning.
Benjamin Nilles
Artistic Director & Conductor
Benjamin Nilles is the quintessential 21st-Century American conductor: A champion of new music that brings cinematic soundtracks, orchestral masterworks, and opera scores to life. Appointed in 2016, he is currently the Artistic Director & Conductor of the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra in Minnesota.
As the artistic leader of the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra, Nilles has been committed to ensuring the orchestra maintains active outreach to the communities in which it performs and facilitating a myriad of collaborations every season. Young Artist Competition winners performing with the orchestra, orchestra musicians performing and teaching in public schools, and collaborations with local, regional, and national soloists and organizations are mainstays of the MSO.
Previously, Benjamin served on the faculty at Oklahoma City University and was Music Director & Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. Appointed in 2010, he became one of the youngest conductors to lead a major university orchestra at age 28. He had previously held Assistant Conductor and Associate Conductor posts with the same orchestra. In addition, Benjamin served on faculty as Interim Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2017-2018 and Spring 2020.
From the podium of the award-winning Oklahoma City University Symphony Orchestra, Nilles displayed a virtuosic versatility: conducting multimedia spectacles for full orchestra; leading the first live-streaming concerts of symphonic masterworks from the Petree Recital Hall stage; conducting the Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company's production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, winner of the National Opera Association's Opera Production Competition; and recording the 80-minute soundtrack of the historic 1920 movie Daughter of Dawn, selected in 2013 for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
During his tenure with the OCU Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra reached new heights of ability and became an important fixture in the community and region. The orchestra, routinely asked to be the centerpiece of important historical galas and events, garnered high praise with each performance under Nilles. As a leader and faculty member at Oklahoma City University, he was dedicated to education and sharing his passion of music, cultivating the highest level of musicianship from the orchestra and students in the classroom.
Nilles has been a mainstay in the recording studio setting. He has led studio orchestras for commercial recordings, including the title track for singer Bryan White's album Dustbowl Dreams, and full orchestras for soundtracks and premieres. He has also led orchestras for live-concert releases on CD and DVD.
Recent major events have included a collaboration in 2019 between the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra and Range of Voices Chorus for performances of Mozart’s Requiem; a collaboration in 2018 with the University of Wisconsin-Superior Orchestra & Choruses and the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra to present an all-Bernstein concert for the Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration; and in 2015, a gala premiere and recording of the 40-minute, five-movement orchestral suite Windows to the West. Written in commemoration of the golden anniversary of the National Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame, the work’s composer, Edward Knight, praised Nilles’ nuance, artistry and collaborative skills, calling him “a sensitive, charismatic conductor with an exceptional mind, a keen ear, and effortless technical abilities.”
Nilles earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Horn Performance from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and his Master of Music degree in Conducting from Oklahoma City University. He has studied conducting with Bruce Houglum, Mark Parker and Mark Belcik, and has worked with conductors Diane Wittry, Dennis Keene, Sergiu Comissiona and Bernard Rubenstein.
See more at benjaminnilles.com
Board of Directors
2024-2025
Julie Sandstede, President
Jim Wachter, Vice President
Candice Maxwell, Secretary
Skip Ferris, Treasurer
Benjamin Nilles, Artistic Director & Conductor
Sheila Wilcox, Concertmaster
Ashley Lenich
Jeri Spampinato
Tim Tilberg
Over the Years
The Mesabi Community Orchestra was formed in 1978 by a small group of musicians who were interested in making music together and doing it well. The group performed with the Virginia High School orchestra in the spring of 1978, then gave its first performance as Mesabi Community Orchestra on December 4, 1978 at Mesabi Community College. For the first time since the Range Symphony disbanded 30 years previously, the community could count a community orchestra among its assets.
The first director of the Mesabi Community Orchestra was Jeanne Santa Doty, who was in the process of revitalizing the string program in the Virginia Public Schools. Over the years, the MCO (and later, the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra) has also been directed by Christine Moroni, Dr. Benjamin Smith, Jeralyn Spampinato, William Lavato, Sheila Wilcox, Josh Aerie, Dr. Sergey Bogza, and Benjamin Nilles. The orchestra has performed across the Iron Range, including in Virginia, Aurora, Babbitt, Chisholm, Ely, Eveleth, Gilbert, and Hibbing.
Throughout its first 30 years, Mesabi Community Orchestra was supported by Mesabi Community College. The college paid the orchestra’s director, and provided rehearsal, performance, and office space and clerical support. The college also sponsored the Mesabi Community Band and East Range Choral Society (now Range of Voices). MCO became incorporated in 1984 and received its 501(c)(3) tax exemption in 2001. In 2007, Mesabi Range College withdrew its financial support. When the college expanded its engineering program, it was no longer able to provide rehearsal space.
The loss of the college’s support freed the orchestra to choose its own path. MCO began applying for grants, participating in Give to the Max Day, soliciting contributions by businesses and individuals, and carrying out other fundraising activities. MCO acquired new rehearsal space in the Eveleth-Gilbert High School band room. It began performing in the Iron Range’s historic and acoustically excellent auditoriums – Goodman Auditorium in Virginia, Hibbing High School Auditorium, Chisholm High School Auditorium, and Washington Auditorium in Ely. The orchestra began recruiting from a larger geographic area, and auditioning and hiring principals and assistant principals to lead its string sections. The orchestra’s budget grew substantially.
In 2012, the orchestra began performing as Mesabi Symphony Orchestra. The members of the orchestra adopted this name change to better reflect the level of artistry they have committed to achieving.
In 2013, MSO’s artistic director and conductor, Josh Aerie, moved out of state and the orchestra undertook a national search to find a replacement. Dr. Sergey Bogza became MSO’s eighth conductor in July, 2014. Two years later, Dr. Bogza left Minnesota to take a position with Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois. Once again, MSO conducted a national search resulting in Benjamin Nilles becoming the artistic director and conductor of MSO in July, 2016.
In 2014 MSO introduced a new performing group, Mesabi Chamber Ensemble, a low pressure learning experience for less experienced string players and those who are returning to playing after a hiatus. Mesabi Chamber Ensemble is directed by Sheila Wilcox, an experienced string instructor and the string teacher in the Rock Ridge Public School Systems.
The 2017-2018 season was MSO’s 40th anniversary season on the Iron Range. The MSO presented seven concerts in Virginia, Hibbing, Ely, and Superior Wisconsin. Its April 2018 concerts featured a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin – Superior choirs and orchestra. The 2018-2019 season saw the orchestra expand its reach by performing in Moose Lake, MN for the first time as part of the Agate Encores Concert Series. The orchestra’s concerts in November 2019 renewed a collaboration with the Range of Voices Chorus to perform Mozart’s Requiem. During the Covid break of 2020-2021, the MSO recorded two studio session concerts, with strings only, and released them on YouTube. The full orchestra returned to the stage for the 2021-2022 season which included a return trip to Moose Lake in April 2022.
The 2022-2023 season was highlighted and opened with high-profile collaborations with operatic soloists in October performing excerpts from Puccini’s La Bohème and Verdi’s Rigoletto. The orchestra played a central role and performed during the Goodman Farewell Concert at Virginia High School in May 2023. The 2023-2024 season closed with another collaboration with the Range of Voices Chorus to perform Brahms’ German Requiem in Virginia and another return trip to Moose Lake.
