Rapier, Beth

She is a cellist born to a musical family who started out her musical career by getting an apprenticeship with the Louisville Orchestra when she was 16 years old. She took her studies at Indiana University and in New York. While in New York she became a member of the Apple Hill Chamber Players of New Hampshire when she toured and performed with the ensemble for two seasons.

In 1986 she became a member of the Minnesota Orchestra and in 1991 was given the position of Assistant Principal Cello. She remained in that position until 2022 when she decided to go into the cello section. During her career with the orchestra she has performed several times as a soloist and performed the world premiere of Sinfonia Concertante by Kevin Puts, which was commissioned by the orchestra in 2006.

As a chamber musician she has won many awards in competitions and is a co-founder of the Rosalyra String Quartet, which was the recipient of a McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship. She later won a further fellowship with her husband, the Minnesota Orchestra Principal Cello Anthony Ross, for their performances as a duo in many benefit performances in the Twin Cities.

She has also been a regular guest at numerous chamber music festivals and a participant at the Minnesota Orchestra’s MacPhail and Target Atrium Chamber Music concerts and Sommerfest.

Recordings she has performed on include Jagadamba by Jane Evershed, Shostakovich: String Quartets 2 & 8 and Rosalyra String Quartet Plays Beethoven & Bartok by the Rosalyra String Quartet, William Schrickel’s Heavy Rescue: Vintage ’88 – Chamber Music with Double Bass by William Schrickel and Love Comes in at the Eye by various artists.

Sources:

Rapier, Beth

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