Press Release
For immediate release:
On Friday, September 15, 2023, at 12 noon, in the Sanctuary of Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E. Chestnut), there will be a performance of a rarely heard work written by French composer Claude Bolling (1930-2020) entitled “Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio”. Bolling dedicated the work to the cellist who also appeared on its 1984 premiere recording, the great Yo-Yo Ma.
On this Friday’s 4th Presbyterian Church Noonday Concerts Series performance, the cellist will be Ann Arbor resident and Juilliard graduate, Thor Sigurdson, who has performed this highly virtuosic work on two other occasions with the same stellar trio of musicians, each of whom is a critically-acclaimed soloist in their own right. In addition to his 25-year career as an orchestral cellist, Sigurdson had appeared as soloist on the recordings of several best-selling artists including Gloria Estefan and Collective Soul, and he continues to perform as concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the Midwest and beyond.
Virtuoso pianist Richard Sladek has performed regularly on hundreds of solo and chamber music concerts throughout the Chicago area, as well as touring throughout the US and abroad as a regular member of the acclaimed Beatles tribute band, American English.
Over the course of his stellar career, bassist Geoffrey Lowe has performed in a broad variety of styles with many big-name artists including Dave Sanborn, Fareed Haque, and Patti Page. He continues to regularly appear in venues across the US, and frequently in Key West.
Drummer Ken Kazin continues to be one of the most in-demand percussionists in the Chicago area, and he enjoys a career that shares his talents both as a performer and educator, including as director of bands at Evergreen Park Community High School.
Past performances:
So what's happening with Thor and cello right now?
HaydnSEEK11: Wed May 31st, at 7pm at Ann Arbor’s Northside Community Church, Thor will play the entire Meditation Hebraique entitled Schelomo by Swiss composer Ernest Bloch, alongside pianist Sarah Kim.
HaydnSEEK10: Wed, April 26th, at 7pm at Ann Arbor’s Northside Community Church, Thor will play the entire D Minor cello concerto of French composer Eduard Lalo alongside pianist Sarah Kim.
He followed up that Apr 26 recital with another performance of the Lalo concerto on Friday, May 7th, at 8pm at Royal Oak Middle School with the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its Music Director, John McLaughlin Williams.
past performances…
HaydnSEEK10: Wed, April 26th, at 7pm at Ann Arbor’s Northside Community Church, Thor played the entire D Minor cello concerto of French composer Eduard Lalo alongside pianist Sarah Kim.
He followed up that Apr 26 recital with another performance of the Lalo concerto on Friday, May 7th, at 8pm at Royal Oak Middle School with the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its Music Director, John McLaughlin Williams.
Sunday, March 26th, at 4:30pm at Ann Arbor’s historic Hill Auditorium:
UofM’s Life Sciences Orchestra performed a program featuring soloist Thor Sigurdson playing Haydn’s D Major Cello Concerto, under the baton of maestro Luca Antonucci.
also…
Previous HaydnSEEK recitals at NCC:
June 1, 2022: HaydnSEEK1 – Haydn Cello Concerto #1 in C Major
July 7, 2022: HaydnSEEK2 – Haydn Cello Concerto #2 in D Major
Aug 18, 2022: HaydnSEEK3 – Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor
Sep 28, 2022: HaydnSEEK4 - Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A Minor
Oct 26, 2022: HaydnSEEK5 - Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor
Nov 30, 2022: HaydnSEEK6 - Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor
Feb 1, 2023: HaydnSEEK7 - Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso & Rococo Variations
Mar 1, 2023: HaydnSEEK8 - Boccherini/Gruetzmacher Cello Concerto in B-flat Major
Upcoming monthly HaydnSEEK recitals at NCC (all at 7pm):
Wed, May 31, HaydnSEEK 11 - Bloch Schelomo
Hope to see you there ...and bring friends!
Wednesday, March 29, at 7:00pm
Ann Arbor's Northside Community Church
929 Barton Drive
After a successful performance as soloist with the Life Sciences Orchestra, HaydnSEEK 9 will have Thor presenting an encore performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major, accompanied by the stellar pianist Sarah Kim.
For more info, please kindly goto this link: https://www.ncca2.org/events or feel free to reach out to Thor directly at 708-205-4212.
Sigurdson "on the record"
Thanks for visiting this site to learn more about Thor Sigurdson.
Please click on the following page links:
~ Performance
~ Instruction
~ About
~ Contact
to easily navigate across site content.
In addition to his accomplishments on stage and as a private teacher, Thor is proud to have his solo performances featured on recordings by well-known popular artists including Gloria Estefan, Extreme, Collective Soul, Zakk Wylde, Julio Iglesias, and many others.
For over 20 years he's had the honor of being among a select number of recording artists who are also voting members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), which presents the annual Grammy Awards.
Thor's own debut recording of favorite cello solos (as cellist in Duo Sull' Aria with harpist Nichole Luchs,) entitled After a Dream, is now available on CD Baby and may be sampled below. The CD was recorded and mastered by John Ovnik at Deaf Dog Records in Chicago.
Sigurdson's lovely recording (as cellist of Duo Sull' Aria), entitled 'After a Dream', is now available online. Here's the title track:
Other Projects
Recently, Thor has begun his first-ever collaboration with a non-classical ensemble as an actual “band member”. The ensemble is called Blue, and it is the brainchild of flutist/vocalist, Kelly McDermott, and her jazz bassist husband, Rob Crozier. Other current members of Blue include keyboardist Mike Harrison, drummer Geno Parker, and spoken word artist Terry Jackson. Together, the six musicians appeared at the renowned Ann Arbor venue, Kerrytown Concert House, for a sold out performance on April 8, 2023.
Over the past several years, Thor has been collaborating with a brilliant singer-songwriter from the Chicago area named Vessy Mink. Her songs and performances have been featured on episodes of Gilmore Girls. One of her recent song releases is entitled, 'Splash', and Thor is honored to have provided some backing cello solos on this outstanding track. Please check out Vessy's music on YouTube, and you can also see her perform live along with her phenomenally-talented husband, Kevin Hill, on drums.
Thor is a trained Suzuki Cello Teacher, and teaches under the name Mr Thor. He’s committed to teaching children as young as three about the joy of experiencing music through the cello or bass, and he considers it an honor and a privilege to help children establish a relationship with music that they'll cherish throughout their lives. He’s recently incorporated a non-profit to offer outstanding chamber music education: HaydnSEEK (pronounces Hide-n-seek)
More info on these exciting coachings is at: www.haydnseek.com