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Internationally known Norwegian cellist Truls Mork will make his Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra debut Nov. 2 and 3 at Hilbert Circle Theatre. (Provided by Indianapolis Symphon for The Star)

After playing in the United States for about 20 years, cellist Truls Mork finally is making his Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra debut this weekend at Hilbert Circle Theatre.

The 46-year-old Norwegian musician has a substantial career in Europe, but even after performing with numerous American orchestras, he is still building his reputation on this side of the Atlantic.

Eric Edberg, a professor of cello at DePauw University, said Mork has "a dazzlingly big career in Europe." In fact, he will debut this month with the Vienna Philharmonic, and will perform this season with the Bavarian Radio Symphony in Munich.

But Edberg doesn't believe that Mork has come "into huge prominence in this country. In the States, it's hard for other cellists to break through the Yo-Yo Phenomenon," meaning the concert career developed by American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who is only about six years older than Mork.

"Yo-Yo has just captured the public's imagination so much, it's really hard for anybody else to get a foothold."

Even so, among cellists, and among many classical music fans nationally, Mork is well-known. Edberg said his students at DePauw are excited that the Norwegian will be performing in Indianapolis.

And Butler University cello professor William Grubb will host a "Cello Day" on the Butler campus Saturday, featuring a free, public master class with Mork from 11.a.m. to 1.p.m. in Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall.

In an interview, Mork pointed out that he's not exactly a stranger to the United States. "The fact is that I have been traveling for, like, 24 years in general. I made some tours in the States with European orchestras, including the Oslo Philharmonic.

"I used to travel about 200 days a year, and that's quite a lot. Now I play about 80 to 100 concerts every season ..... and I have restricted myself to two, three weeks in the States every half year."

This fall, Mork will perform only with the ISO and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. For both programs, he scheduled concertos by 20th-century Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich -- No. 1 in Indy, and No. 2 in Boston.

These days, Mork said, he spends as much time as he can in Oslo, where he lives with his wife and three children. He began teaching there two years ago.

"As a soloist," he said, "you can travel around all the time, but you don't really belong anywhere. It's kind of nice to have a home base."