Inspire the inner spirit to dance as the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with The Metropolitan Chorus and Heritage Signature Chorale, presents “Bliss.” The concert will feature Smetana’s "The Bartered Bride Overture," Hailstork’s "Earthrise" (inspired by Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy"), and Dvorák’s "Cello Concerto" with special guest, world-renowned cellist Lynn Harrell.

Lynn Harrell's presence is felt throughout the musical world. A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor and teacher, his work throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia has placed him in the highest echelon of today's performing artists. A frequent guest of many of the leading orchestras, Mr. Harrell has performs regularly with the leading orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Dallas, and in Europe, with the orchestras of London, Munich, Berlin and Israel. He has also toured extensively to Australia and New Zealand as well as the Far East, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the summer of 1999 Mr. Harrell was featured in a three-week "Lynn Harrell Cello Festival" with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He regularly collaborates with such noted conductors as James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman.

In recent seasons Mr. Harrell has particularly enjoyed collaborating with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and her husband and pianist, Andre Previn. In January 2004 the trio appeared with the New York Philharmonic performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Maestro Masur conducting. An important part of Lynn Harrell's life is summer music festivals, which has included regularly appearances at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. For many years, Mr. Harrell also taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival.

On April 7, 1994, Lynn Harrell appeared at the Vatican with the Royal Philharmonic in a concert dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The audience for this historic event, which was the Vatican's first official commemoration of the Holocaust, included Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Rome. That year Mr. Harrell also appeared live at the Grammy Awards with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, performing an excerpt from their Grammy-nominated recording of the complete Beethoven String Trios (Angel/EMI).

Highlights from an extensive discography of more than 30 recordings include the complete Bach Cello Suites (London/Decca), the world-premiere recording of Victor Herbert's Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields led by Marriner (London/Decca), the Walton Concerto with Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI), and the Donald Erb Concerto with Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony (New World). Together with Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mr. Harrell was awarded two Grammy Awards - in 1981 for the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio and in 1987 for the complete Beethoven Piano Trios (both Angel/EMI). A recording of the Schubert Trios with Mr. Ashkenazy and Pinchas Zukerman (London/Decca) was released in February 2000. His May 2000 recording with Kennedy, "Duos for Violin & Cello," received unanimous critical acclaim (EMI). Most recently, Mr. Harrell recorded Tchaikovsky's Variations for Cello and Orchestra on a Rococo Theme, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 2, and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Gerard Schwarz conducting (Classico).

Lynn Harrell's experience as an educator is wide and varied. From 1985-93 he held the International Chair for Cello Studies at the Royal Academy in London. Concurrently, from 1988-92, he was Artistic Director of the orchestra, chamber music and conductor training program at the L.A. Philharmonic Institute. In 1993, he became head of the Royal Academy in London, a post he held through 1995. He has also given master classes at the Verbier and Aspen festivals and in major metropolitan areas throughout the world. Since the start of the 2002-03 academic year, Mr. Harrell has taught cello at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.

Lynn Harrell was born in New York to musician parents. He began his musical studies in Dallas and proceeded to the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the first Avery Fisher Award. Mr. Harrell plays a 1720 Montagnana. He makes his home in Houston, Texas.