Stobbe brothers coming home to play with PGSO

Two sons of symphony are coming home.

Karl and Joel Stobbe are two of the city’s most successful orchestral musicians, both of them nationally acclaimed for their cello skills. They have each gotten the chance to return to their hometown for past performances but a conspiracy of fortunes are allowing them to come back as feature guests of the PGSO at the same time.

“We had scheduled a piece that needed a prominent cello, and we had our professional cellist Flora Camuzet picked to do it, but then she left the orchestra so we had this big hole in our plans,” said PGSO general manager Teresa Saunders. “We had already heard from Karl that he was interested in performing with us, if we ever got the chance, but musicians of his calibre are in high demand, they are often booked months or even years in advance but we thought we would float the idea of taking on this piece and by great luck, he happened to be free at that time.”

Someone who was not available for that date was new PGSO artistic director and conductor Michael Hall. He had a prior commitment that night. A guest conductor was going to be needed.

Joel Stobbe is retired from the rigours of the cello profession, but he keeps his hand in the music profession a pair of ways. One is teaching music, the other is conducting.

“We had heard this, and when this challenge came up we thought of Joel, because Karl coming put the Stobbes on our minds,” said Saunders. “What were the odds, we thought, of Joel being free on the same night as his brother? But you never know unless you ask and to our amazement he was available and he was willing. Now we can’t wait. It’ll be such a special event.”

It’ll also be special for the friends and family of Karl and Joel. A contingent of Stobbes from out of town will be making the trip to Prince George to take in this rare night, and the PGSO is officially dedicating the event to their late mother Linda Stobbe who passed away in 2013 after spending 27 years in Prince George as a beloved music teacher and performer.

This special event happens April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Vanier Hall. The concert is entitled Canadian Contemplation & Russian Drama. It features compositions by Roydon, Borodin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.

You never know unless you ask and to our amazement he was available and he was willing.

— Teresa Saunders