Summer at Orchestra Hall 2024: The Twenties Are Roaring Again
Our summer festival is all planned out, and it's the cat's pajamas—the bee's knees, even. This year, we're bringing the music of a century ago to downtown Minneapolis, with concerts that celebrate the artistic innovations of the 1920s. (Subscribers get first access to tickets starting April 9—tickets go on sale to the general public on April 22.)
The centennial of the Roaring Twenties is not the only milestone we'll be honoring, either, as we'll also mark the 50th anniversary of Orchestra Hall. As a nod to a half-century in our orchestral home, a number of concerts will feature music the Orchestra performed during its 1974-75 inaugural season at the Hall; our annual Day of Music festivities will also offer backstage tours and family activities to commemorate the anniversary.
Though the festival presents long-standing traditions and century-old music, we're not dwelling on the past. In fact, some of this generation's most compelling conductors will make their Minnesota Orchestra debuts throughout the five weeks of concerts, including Norman Huynh, Delyana Lazarova, Stephanie Childress and Lina González-Granados.
The festival is again curated by virtuoso pianist and Creative Partner Jon Kimura Parker, who will also perform as soloist in multiple programs. "I can’t wait to be back in Minneapolis for Summer at Orchestra Hall!" says Parker. "The festival will dive into one of music’s most transformative decades—the Roaring Twenties. I'm thrilled to perform works by Ravel and Gershwin, two prolific composers inspired by jazz. Plus, you'll hear works written for ballets and operas that illustrate the enduring influence of jazz on orchestral music."
Summer at Orchestra Hall Highlights
Before transporting you to the Roaring Twenties, our summer festival will open with a week of free outdoor concerts around the Twin Cities metro and beyond, July 8 to 13. Led by Norman Huynh, our long-standing Symphony for the Cities initiative will include performances at Minneapolis' Lake Harriet Bandshell and venues in Plymouth, Hudson and Winona. The following week, Delyana Lazarova will lead concerts with Orchestra violinist Natsuki Kumagai as soloist in a violin concerto by Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
The Day of Music will return from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on July 27. This year's lineup features local musicians, dancers and visual artists, as well as a Relaxed Family Concert at 1 p.m. and a culminating performance by the ensemble at 8 p.m. Both Orchestra concerts will involve Igor Stravinsky’s Infernal Dance from The Firebird, which was performed at the very first concerts at Orchestra Hall in October 1974. Another tradition we’ll reprise is the Grand Piano Spectacular, which brings together four virtuoso pianists on a single stage, with guests to include Gabriela Martinez, Osip Nikiforov and Szuyu Su.
The festival’s Roaring Twenties theme begins in earnest on July 26 when Stephanie Childress and the Orchestra take on jazz-inspired works written for period ballets and operas; Parker will play Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, too. On August 2, Lina González-Granados brings repertoire that spotlights George Gershwin, including his jazz-influenced Concerto in F, again featuring Parker.
Then, prepare to swing, as conductor and trumpeter Byron Stripling, Grammy-nominated vocalist Carmen Bradford and tap dancer Leo Manzari will headline Uptown Nights, a one-night concert event inspired by the music of Harlem's nightclubs. ’S Wonderful news that the festival will conclude with a live-in-concert presentation of the 1951 film An American in Paris, which has Gershwin melodies stamped all over it.
Whether you come to relive the Jazz Age, share your favorite Orchestra Hall memory or make an entirely new one, we invite you downtown for a festival like none other.
