Tuesday December 21, 2021
Orchestra Announces This Is Minnesota Orchestra Broadcast Line-Up for Duration of 2021-22 Season
Audiences will be able to view six additional Minnesota Orchestra concerts live on Twin Cities PBS (TPT-2) this season, as well as on minnesotaorchestra.org and social media;
Concerts will be performed for both in-person audiences and TV/streaming audiences at 8 p.m. Central on February 5 and 25, April 1, May 6, June 3 and July 15, 2022;
Broadcasts to be hosted by Sarah Hicks, William Eddins and Brian Newhouse; Ashleigh Rowe to join the Orchestra staff as director of broadcasts and digital initiatives in January;
Friday night Classical concerts will continue to be available as live radio broadcasts on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio.
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Music lovers will be able to watch six additional live Minnesota Orchestra concerts on Twin Cities PBS (TPT-2), as well as on the Orchestra’s website and social media channels, in the months ahead as part of the This Is Minnesota Orchestra series. The Orchestra had previously announced four fall concerts that would be televised and livestreamed for free, and now that calendar is extended to include additional programs from February to July 2022, including a Lunar New Year performance and a collaboration with indie band Cloud Cult. The Orchestra’s Friday night Classical concerts will continue to be broadcast live on the radio, as part of a longstanding partnership with YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).
The evening concerts designated for livestreaming and television broadcast will feature: Junping Qian leading a Lunar New Year celebration (Saturday, February 5); Karina Canellakis conducting Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances (Friday, February 25); Sarah Hicks on the podium for a collaboration with Cloud Cult (Friday, April 1); Music Director Osmo Vänskä in a MusicMakers concert of music by emerging composers (Friday, May 6); Concertmaster Erin Keefe and pianist Juho Pohjonen performing Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto, conducted by Vänskä (Friday, June 3); and pianist Jon Kimura Parker performing Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, led by conductor Nicholas Collon (Friday, July 15). These concerts are all performed live for in-person audiences, as well as for TV/streaming audiences.
Sarah Hicks, the Orchestra’s principal conductor for Live at Orchestra Hall concerts, will share hosting duties for the 2022 This Is Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts with conductor William Eddins and with Brian Newhouse, formerly of YourClassical MPR and now a member of the Orchestra’s Development team. (See calendar listing below for a schedule.)
The newest addition to the Minnesota Orchestra staff is Ashleigh Rowe, who will join the organization in mid-January as its director of broadcasts and digital initiatives. Working for TPT since 2009, Rowe has managed a diverse portfolio of projects at the public broadcasting station, including serving as managing director of arts and culture; executive producer of the arts program Minnesota Original; and managing director of Moving Lives Minnesota. Over the last 16 months, she has been instrumental in creating and developing This Is Minnesota Orchestra as a collaborative project between TPT and the Minnesota Orchestra.
“It is outstanding to have a professional of Ashleigh Rowe’s experience and caliber to join our team to lead the build-out of our digital capabilities,” says Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns. “Live broadcasts, concert streams and made-for-digital programming are all initiatives that are growing in importance to the Orchestra as we identify ways to augment the live concert experience and to connect with new audiences.”
Said Music Director Osmo Vänskä, “Ashleigh has just the right artistic sensibilities to lead these projects. We have felt a great connection to her and TPT following their work in producing the Music for Mandela: Minnesota Orchestra in South Africa documentary, and I am so happy she will be joining our staff and we will continue our partnership with TPT in a new way.”
HOW TO WATCH
Audiences will be able to access concerts in the following ways in addition to attending in person at Orchestra Hall:
- For TV viewing live on Twin Cities PBS (TPT-2) on designated concert days (audiences can check local listings for rebroadcast times);
- For livestream viewing at minnesotaorchestra.org and on the Orchestra’s social media channels live on designated concert days;
- For radio listening on stations of YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio live for Friday night Classical concerts, available at 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities and online at yourclassical.org, hosted by Melissa Ousley.
Most This Is Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts and livestreams will be available to audiences at no cost as they debut live and for up to a week afterward on the Orchestra’s website; subsequent on-demand access will be available for purchase, and select subscribers and donors will receive a free Digital Concert Hall membership as a benefit. The Digital Concert Hall will offer easy, anytime-you-want-to-watch access to This Is Minnesota Orchestra performances from the current season, as well as additional premium content including interviews with artists such as violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Emanuel Ax.
The Cloud Cult broadcast/livestream will be structured slightly differently. It will be available to audiences at no cost as it premieres live on TPT-2 and via streaming. The concert will also be available for purchase as on-demand viewing on the Orchestra’s website and available to TPT Passport members on the TPT website after the initial broadcast.
UPCOMING TV/LIVESTREAM BROADCASTS
A NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION (previously announced as part of the fall season line-up)
Friday, December 31, 2021, 8:30 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Helena Juntunen, soprano
William Eddins, broadcast host
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7
Hertig Magnus
Luonnotar
Autumn Evening No. 1
Symphony No. 2
LUNAR NEW YEAR WITH THE MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Saturday, February 5, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Note: This concert will air on TPT’s Minnesota Channel 2.2
Minnesota Orchestra
Junping Qian, conductor
Gao Hong, pipa
Zhengang Xie, jing hu master
Mei Hu, yue qin master
Fei Xie, artistic consultant
Asian Media Access, artistic partner
William Eddins, broadcast host
TAN Internet Symphony Eroica
TRADITIONAL/Kim Shin Arirang
CHEN/HE The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
SON/J. Kuusisto Circle of Unity
WU In the Dark Night
TANG Sketches of Singapore
GAO Reminiscences of My Hometown
LI Spring Festival Overture
CANELLAKIS CONDUCTS DON QUIXOTE (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Friday, February 25, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Karina Canellakis, conductor
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
William Eddins, broadcast host
PERRY A Short Piece for Orchestra
STRAUSS Don Quixote
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
CLOUD CULT WITH THE MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Friday, April 1, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Sarah Hicks, conductor and broadcast host
Cloud Cult
Program to be announced.
MUSICMAKERS (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Friday, May 6, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Kevin Puts, Composer Institute director
Brian Newhouse, broadcast host
HENRY L. DORN TransitionsADELIIA FAIZULLINA BolgharBOBBY GE Remember to Have FunMOLLY JOYCE Over and UnderYAN LINDVEIT Close Up at a DistanceNINA SHEKHAR LuminaSAM WU Wind Map
VÄNSKÄ AND KEEFE (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Friday, June 3, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Erin Keefe, violin
Juho Pohjonen, piano
Sarah Hicks, broadcast host
MENDELSSOHN Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings
KUUSISTO Symphony [world premiere]
BEETHOVEN’S THIRD PIANO CONCERTO (newly announced as a broadcast/livestream)
Friday, July 15, 2022, 8 p.m. Central / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Nicholas Collon, conductor
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Broadcast host to be announced
SIMON Fate now conquers
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
Symphony No. 2
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This program series is made possible in part by generous lead gifts from Kathryn and Charles Cunningham & Nancy and John Lindahl