Minnesota Orchestra Season Opens with Concerts Spotlighting Joyce DiDonato and Anthony Ross

September 18-19 concerts feature Joyce DiDonato, ‘perhaps the most potent female singer of a generation,’ singing Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été and Søndergård leading works by Bernstein, Connesson and Richard Strauss;

September 26-27 concerts showcase Anthony Ross in Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass and Heitzeg’s EcoSaga, with Søndergård conducting works by Tower and Bartók.

Music Director Thomas Søndergård opens his third season with the Minnesota Orchestra in a pair of programs examining the multi-faceted artistry of mezzo Joyce DiDonato, a towering figure described as “a transformative presence in the arts,” and Anthony Ross, the Orchestra’s influential principal cello who has been shaping its sound and spirit for over three decades. Joyce DiDonato makes her Minnesota Orchestra debut interpreting Hector Berlioz’s radiant song cycle Les Nuits d’été in concerts taking place on September 18 and 19. Anthony Ross takes the solo spotlight the following week, September 26-27, performing Leonard Bernstein’s epic Three Meditations from Mass for Cello and Orchestra and EcoSaga, a new work composed for him by St. Paul composer Steve Heitzeg.

The programs will be performed at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis with the first set of concerts held on Thursday, September 18, at 11 a.m., and Friday, September 19, at 8 p.m. The second set will be on Friday, September 26, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, September 27 at 7 p.m. Choose Your Price tickets are available to all concertgoers for select seating sections for the September 26 concert.

The two programs mark the beginning of Søndergård’s third year with the Minnesota Orchestra, a season that features him leading collaborations with some of America’s great singers, a new installment of the popular Nordic Soundscapes festival, the return of the Listening Project spotlighting works by underrepresented composers, and opera-in-concert performances of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

Søndergård, DiDonato and Strauss (September 18-19, 2025)—“Joyce sings and the world is suddenly brighter

Born in Kansas into a family of seven children, Joyce DiDonato studied at Wichita State University, preparing for a career as a high school music teacher but “the stage was calling me,” she told The New York Times in a 2018 interview. Answering that call has led her to the pinnacle of her profession, entrancing audiences across the globe with opera and recital performances, winning multiple Grammy Awards and developing a reputation as “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation,” according to The New Yorker.

Composer Jake Heggie described DiDonato in Gramophone Magazine as “not only a great, brave and inspiring artist—one of the finest singers of our time—but she is also a transformative presence in the arts. Joyce sings and the world is suddenly brighter.”

Portraying Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking at New York City Opera in 2002 was a seminal early role for DiDonato, one which she reprised to acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera in 2023. She subsequently performed the opera at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in a special performance that featured inmates onstage as chorus members, all part of Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program. DiDonato has also played a key role in Carnegie’s Lullaby project, encouraging single mothers in the Bronx to write cradle songs for their babies. She performed some of the lullabies in recital and sang on the 2018 Decca album Hopes & Dreams, The Lullaby Project. “Music heals and it can fire people up with purpose and courage to change the world,” she has said.

In February 2025 DiDonato joined Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara onstage at the Grammy Awards for a performance of “All Along” from composer Kevin Puts’ opera The Hours. That trio of singers—with DiDonato playing Virginia Woolf—starred in the world premiere staging of the opera at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022, as well as its unprecedented revival the very next season. In her Minnesota Orchestra debut, DiDonato will sing Hector Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été (Summer Nights), an exquisite Romantic-era song cycle on love and loss drawn from a collection of six poems by Théophile Gautier.

Søndergård rounds out the program with Leonard Bernstein’s glittering Candide Overture; a 2017 work, Céléphaïs from Les cités de Lovecraft, by French composer Guillaume Connesson inspired by the wild fantasy world of American author H.P. Lovecraft and Richard Strauss’ opulent Der Rosenkavalier Suite, drawn from his 1911 comedic opera.

Søndergård and Ross (September 26-27, 2025)

Born in Rochester, New York, Anthony Ross originally joined the Minnesota Orchestra as a section cellist before winning its principal position in 1991. Across more than 30 seasons, his decisive presence, unflagging commitment and lush sound has helped to mold the Orchestra’s style and approach. Following the ensemble’s 2012-14 labor dispute and lockout, Ross was one of the key musician leaders who worked to rebuild the organization, connecting with board leaders and audiences, and heading the musicians’ artistic committee. “It’s the community that owns our orchestra,” he has said.

Keenly interested in new music, Ross has given performances of Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, James MacMillan’s Cello Concerto and Paul Moravec’s Montserrat in recent seasons with the Minnesota Orchestra and numerous other contemporary pieces with the many chamber ensembles with whom he regularly plays including Accordo, the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, and as part of the annual performance of a new commission from the Michael Steinberg & Jorja Fleezanis Fund.

In the September 26-27 program, Ross first interprets Leonard Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass for Cello and Orchestra, a 1977 work Bernstein distilled from his larger-scale Mass that was written for the inauguration of the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in 1971. Ross recorded the work with the Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue conducting, for an all-Bernstein CD in 1999. Reviewed in ClassicsToday, the album was dubbed “probably the most important Bernstein recording since Lenny’s own” and “excellently played by cellist Anthony Ross.”

Ross also performs the world premiere of a work composed especially for him, Steve Heitzeg’s EcoSaga (Concerto in Three Landscapes). “Tony has such enormous musical charisma and artistry. It was an absolute joy to write for him,” says Heitzeg. “He is a social activist and nature lover, and for me music, the natural world and activism are all entwined. I envisioned him playing his cello in a wild landscape with the music swirling around him.” EcoSaga unfolds in three movements—water and stone, forests and fells, and wild life—with the cellist “acting as heroic witness, sometimes paying tribute to the beauty of wild spaces, sometimes protesting their destruction,” according to Heitzeg. The work calls for percussionists to play instruments ranging from a driftwood, stones and an ocean drum to a Starling bird call and birdy box.

Søndergård opens the concert with Joan Tower’s 2004 work Made in America, a rumination on America the Beautiful, and closes it with one of the greatest of all orchestral showpieces, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, premiered in 1944.

About Thomas Søndergård

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his tenure as the 11th music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in the 2023-24 season. A highly regarded conductor in both the orchestral and opera spheres, he has earned a reputation for incisive interpretations of works by composers from his native Denmark, a great versatility in a broad range of standard and modern repertoire, and a collaborative approach with the musicians he leads.

Since 2018 Søndergård has been music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO). His upcoming season engagements include tours to Europe and China with the RSNO, as well as performances with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Finnish Radio Symphony and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. More: minnesotaorchestra.org.

About the Minnesota Orchestra

Founded in 1903, the Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra is known for acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning educational programs; and a commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of tomorrow, all based on the belief that music is for everyone. Each year, Minnesota Orchestra concerts and recordings are seen and heard by more than two million people via television, radio, digital streaming, and on-demand platforms. Led by Music Director Thomas Søndergård, the Orchestra makes its home in the heart of downtown Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall, a venue renowned for its brilliant acoustics and modern design.

Season Opening Celebration
SØNDERGÅRD, DIDONATO AND STRAUSS 

Thursday, September 18, 2025, 11 a.m. / Lindahl Auditorium, Orchestra Hall
Friday, September 19, 2025, 8 p.m. / Lindahl Auditorium, Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo

BERNSTEIN                                  Overture to Candide
BERLIOZ                                        Les Nuits d’été (Summer Nights)
CONNESSON                                Céléphaïs from Les cités de Lovecraft
R. STRAUSS                                   Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

Tickets: $51 - $125 (Free tickets available for young listeners age 6-18 with Hall Pass)

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Season Opening Celebration
SØNDERGÅRD AND ROSS

Friday, September 26, 2025, 8 p.m. / Lindahl Auditorium, Orchestra Hall
Saturday, September 27, 2025, 7 p.m. / Lindahl Auditorium, Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello

TOWER                           Made in America
BERNSTEIN                   Three Meditations from Mass for Cello and Orchestra
HEITZEG                         EcoSaga (Concerto in Three Landscapes)
BARTÓK                           Concerto for Orchestra

Tickets: $5 - $120 (Free tickets available for young listeners age 6-18 with Hall Pass). Choose Your Price tickets are available for select seating sections on September 26.

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Tickets and subscription packages can be purchased now at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5656. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

The 2025-26 Classical Season is presented by Ameriprise Financial.

The 2025-26 September 18-19 Season Opening Concerts are sponsored by Bill and Katie Miller. The 2025-26 September 26-27 Season Opening Concerts honor the memory of Bruce Taylor and Dennis Carey.

EcoSaga was co-commissioned by the Orchestra and Linda Lovas Hoeschler and Peter Blyberg “in honor of their families who are challenged, vitalized and healed by music.

The Hall Pass program makes free tickets available for young listeners ages 6 to 18 for select Classical concerts, and all kids under 18 for Family concerts. The program is sponsored by Cynthia and Jay Ihlenfeld.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

PRESS CONTACTS

Gwen Pappas, Vice President of Communications and Public Relations
gpappas@mnorch.org

Alexandra Robinson, Content and Communications Manager
arobinson@mnorch.org