The
Mesabi
Community
Orchestra

Celebrating over 30 Years
of Music Making
on the Range

Photo from the Palm Sunday Concert, April 2000
 courtesy of Dane Sorenson, Ely, MN

Josh Aerie, Director

Music Schedule on the Iron Range

Other Music Organizations on the Iron Range:

East Range Choral Society

Mesabi Community Band

 

History

The Mesabi Community Orchestra (MCO) was founded in 1977 by Jeanne Doty. Over the years the orchestra has continued to thrive and provide quality classical music to many communities on the Iron Range. The MCO membership has hailed from Ely, Aurora, Gilbert, Eveleth, Mountain Iron, Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing. Members range from advanced students to adults of all ages. Some members are high school trained and others are university trained. Traditionally, the MCO has performed three concerts per season. One is generally a classical concert, another we share with the East Range Choral Society and and tends to be sacred in nature, and yet another is shared with the Mesabi Community Band and is a pop/variety/light classical concert.

Over the years, the MCO conductors have included Jeanne Doty, William Lavato, Christine Moroni, Ben Smith, Jerri Spampinato, and Sheila Wilcox. The list is incomplete. If you know of others who have directed the MCO, please send us an e-mail.

In May 2008, after 11 years of volunteer hosting on this website, the Mesabi Community Orchestra moved its webpresence to a new URL and is no longer maintained by IRIS Enterprises. To visit the new website, click here.