About

UPbeat

Buses arriving at Orchestra Hall

The UPbeat program cultivates in-depth partnerships between the Orchestra and public school districts, providing students with additional opportunities to learn about symphonic music. The Minnesota Orchestra brings an entire grade level from a number of metro area school districts to Orchestra Hall for a Young People’s Concert each year, providing subsidized or free tickets and transportation. More than 18,000 students from eleven districts, including Minneapolis and Saint Paul, currently participate in UPbeat.

UPbeat partner districts for the 2011-12 season include:
   •   Anoka-Hennepin
   •   Columbia Heights
   •   Forest Lake
   •   Hudson (Wisconsin)
   •   Minneapolis—seventh season
   •   Richfield
   •   River Falls (Wisconsin)
   •   Robbinsdale
   •   Saint Cloud
   •   Saint Paul—sixth season
   •   White Bear Lake
   •   Zumbrota-Mazeppa

Interested in becoming an UPbeat district? Contact Jim Bartsch, Director of Education, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or Chris Johnson, Young People's ticket coordinator, at (612) 371-5671 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Young People's Concerts

Courtney Lewis

Minnesota Orchestra Young People’s Concerts are for schools, homeschools and families looking for an outstanding arts experience that is both educational and engaging. Each Young People’s Concert focuses on a specific musical element, composer, time period or theme, that is supported by free online preparation materials and multi-disciplinary performance elements.

2012-13 Young People's Concerts

Young People's Concerts

Ferdinand the Bull

Thu Feb 7, 2013 10AM
Thu Feb 7, 2013 11:35AM
Tue Feb 19, 2013 10AM
Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:35AM

Minnesota Orchestra
Courtney Lewis, conductor
Teatro del Pueblo
Narrator, TBA

MOZART	Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, Allegretto (III) and Molto allegro (IV)
FISH	Ferdinand the Bull
BIZET	Carmen Suite No. 1

Here’s both drama and music—as The Story of Ferdinand is brought to life by Teatro del Pueblo. This beloved children’s book by Munro Leaf tells the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. Also on the program: the Orchestra will perform selections from Bizet’s lively Carmen suite as well as Mozart’s famous Jupiter symphony.

Curriculum & Recordings
(This information will be posted approximately 8 weeks before the concert.)

Homeschool Family workshop: Thursday, January 17, 10-11:30AM at Ferguson Hall, on the U of M West Bank campus. (There will be one workshop this season for all three concerts.)

Illustration from The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson, © 1936 by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, renewed © 1964 by Munro Leaf and John W. Boyd. Used by permission of Viking Children's Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Young People's Concerts

Supersonic Sounds

Thu Mar 7, 2013 10AM
Thu Mar 7, 2013 11:35AM
Fri Mar 8, 2013 10AM
Fri Mar 8, 2013 11:35AM

Minnesota Orchestra
Courtney Lewis, conductor
Sedra Bistodeau, violin

R. STRAUSS	Also sprach Zarathustra, selection
WAGNER	The Ride of the Valkyries
SIBELIUS	Violin Concerto, Allegro, ma non tanto (III)
R. STRAUSS	Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
RESPIGHI	The Pines of Rome, The Pines of the Appian Way (IV)

Big sounds rule! All the works on this concert are powerful and intense, starting with the theme from the classic film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, from Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra. Talented young Sedra Bistodeau of Princeton, Minnesota, who won YPSCA’s 2012 School Music Auditions, will play the high-energy finale of Sibelius’ great Violin Concerto. Rounding out the program will be Wagner’s extraordinary Ride of the Valkyries and Respighi’s Pines of Rome.

Curriculum & Recordings
(This information will be posted approximately 8 weeks before the concert.)

Homeschool Family workshop: Thursday, January 17, 10-11:30AM at Ferguson Hall, on the U of M West Bank campus. (There will be one workshop this season for all three concerts.)

Young People's Concerts

Appalachian Spring

Wed Apr 17, 2013 10AM
Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:35AM
Thu Apr 18, 2013 10AM
Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:35AM
Thu May 9, 2013 10AM
Thu May 9, 2013 11:35AM

Minnesota Orchestra
Courtney Lewis, conductor

COPLAND	Appalachian Spring
SIBELIUS	Finlandia
MÁRQUEZ	Danzon No. 2
WALTON	Crown Imperial March

Appalachian Spring is an iconic American masterpiece that glows with the “American sound” created by its composer Aaron Copland. Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’ Danzon, inspired by a Cuban-style dance, and Sibelius’ Finlandia are both viewed as national treasures in their homelands. A musical symbol of yet another nation brings the concert to a grand close: Walton’s Crown Imperial March, a magnificent work played at every British coronation.

Curriculum & Recordings
(This information will be posted approximately 8 weeks before the concert.)

Homeschool Family workshop: Thursday, January 17, 10-11:30AM at Ferguson Hall, on the U of M West Bank campus. (There will be one workshop this season for all three concerts.)