Students from the South African National Youth Orchestra reflect on their August 2018 Immersion Experience with the Minnesota Orchestra and what is next in their musical lives.

We know what you're thinking. An orchestra concert. Audiences formally clad in tuxes and gowns. A light smattering of polite applause. An uncomfortable seat with lots of shushing. Not an ideal way to spend your Saturday night, right?

Forget about it.

For over a century, enthusiastic Orchestra patrons have made generous contributions to guarantee our ability to present awe-inspiring performances for the community each season. We are grateful for this outpouring of generosity that helps to sustain our remarkable Orchestra. Equally heartening are the unique Minnesota Orchestra stories these donors have shared through the years. Read some of their unforgettable experiences that have inspired such generous support at every level.

Florence Beatrice Price was the first African American woman to have her work performed by a major American orchestra. During our American Expressions Festival this month, the Minnesota Orchestra performs her First Symphony, the piece that first put her on the map as a great American composer.

In Minnesota Orchestra concerts November 15, 16 and 17, the Orchestra performs Inspiring Beethoven by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, who has also served as the director of Minnesota Orchestra's Composer Institute since 2014. This marks the Minnesota Orchestra premiere of this work. We asked Puts about how to approach new music, what inspired him to write Inspiring Beethoven and his role in the Minnesota music scene.

By Matthew Philion 

For those looking to begin—or expand--a classical collection, audiophile Matthew Philion compiles this short list of Minnesota Orchestra recordings that should be in your music library.

Fresh off a successful two-night collaboration, Dessa recaps her recent performances with the Minnesota Orchestra and tells us what it's like to collaborate with conductor Sarah Hicks and the Orchestra musicians. 

The spirit that fills the stage at Minnesota Orchestra’s holiday concerts spreads throughout the entire building with a variety of additional performances and activities, making Orchestra Hall the perfect place to celebrate the season with your loved ones.

Minnesota Orchestra audiences were introduced to the artwork of Mary Pettis in June 2017, when the Orchestra hosted her Beyond the Surface solo exhibition through the OH+ program in conjunction with the Orchestra’s concert of French impressionistic music.

In honor of Veterans Day, we salute current and former members of our country's Armed Forces. The Minnesota Orchestra is fortunate to have a number of military veterans among our current and retired musicians and staff. We asked some of them to tell us about their military experience and how it contributed to their roles in the Minnesota Orchestra.

The Young People’s Symphony Concert Association (YPSCA) is excited to start a new season of activities that encourage a love of great music in young people. One particularly thrilling project is the annual Young People’s Concerto Competition (formerly called School Music Auditions).

By C. C. Yager

If you’re the type of person who seeks out unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, then this list is for you. Along with a series of new pieces this season, the Minnesota Orchestra will perform several works that are rarities here, having graced the Orchestra’s music stands only once or twice in its 115-year history. Here are a few of the highlights.

In her first concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra in April 2017, Minneapolist native rapper-vocalist-writer Dessa shared with us an EnviroRider developed by the Minneapolis-based Effect Partners. When she returns on October 5 and 6 to perform again with the Orchestra, Dessa’s EnviroRider does, too. We are thrilled to partner with her for both the music onstage and in ways that reach far beyond Orchestra Hall. 

The Minnesota Orchestra’s upcoming season features the work of many great American composers, including Florence Price, Missy Mazzoli, Libby Larsen, and Amy Beach. Enjoy pieces by these four composers in our OH+ listening station, curated by Hymie’s Vintage Records, and read on to learn more about their lives and when you can hear the Orchestra perform their work during the 2018-2019 Season!

Minnesota Orchestra's 2018-19 season includes many works new to the Orchestra's repertoire, and the first of these is a work titled Ramal by Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom. Get to know the composer before his Minnesota Orchestra debut on September 27, 28 and 29.

As the Orchestra launches its season opening concerts, President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns welcomes audiences to the 2018-19 season.

The Minnesota Orchestra is excited to welcome three additional musicians to its roster this season. Violist Jenni Seo has been appointed Assistant Principal Viola, a position held since 2010 by recently-appointed Principal Viola Rebecca Albers; cellists Minji Choi and Erik Wheeler have been appointed to section positions.

Seven-time Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax joins us on September 21 and 22 to open the season with Brahms’ exquisite Second Piano Concerto. We spoke with him about the challenges and joys of this extremely difficult piece, and about his 44-year relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra.

The modern symphony orchestra has been built on centuries of musical traditions. Orchestral musicians have each trained for thousands of hours in classical techniques which have stood the test of time. Listeners might find familiarity and comfort in works by the great pillars of orchestral composing, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and—especially here in Minnesota lately—Sibelius and Mahler. However, in this art form, there will always be room for new ideas, new voices and new sounds. 

About the Northrop organ

On Saturday morning, August 18, the Minnesota Orchestra crew completed their final load-in of the tour at Johannesburg’s City Hall and the musicians boarded the buses for a short trek to the venue. Even the chilly winter morning couldn’t erase the afterglow of Friday night’s concert in Soweto!

Four musicians jumped on a bus in Johannesburg on Friday morning, August 17, headed to Soweto to attend a special Books for Africa event. Their day began with solo and chamber music performances for hundreds of students at Missourilaan Secondary School and ended with a grand Orchestra concert at one of South Africa's most historic venues.  

On Thursday, August 16, the Orchestra performed their third concert of the South Africa tour, in the Aula Centre at the University of Pretoria. Before the performance, however, Minnesota Orchestra musicians fanned out around the campus, working with students from the University and from the South African National Youth Orchestra.

By Ashidy Adams, a student at Missourilaan Secondary School

The Orchestra headed to the University of Pretoria on Wednesday, August 15, for an afternoon side-by-side rehearsal with the South African National Youth Orchestra (SANYO) and an evening rehearsal with the Minnesota Chorale and Gauteng Choristers.

Musicians enjoyed a free day on Monday. Some spent the time in sunny Durban, while others opted for a trek to Pilanesberg National Park, roughly three hours drive from Johannesburg, for a short and sweet safari experience at Bakubung Lodge, complete with lions, hippos and giraffes.

The Orchestra landed in Durban on Saturday night, immediately feeling the more temperate weather of this busy port city known for expansive Indian Ocean beaches and a subtropical climate in the “garden province” of KwaZulu-Natal. A cheerful band of Orchestra wind players headed out first thing on Sunday morning to join the young musicians of the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Wind Band in rehearsal.

The spirit of Nelson Mandela was alive as the Minnesota Orchestra kicked off its South Africa Tour with a performance at Cape Town City Hall on Friday evening, August 10.

Minnesota Orchestra musicians arrived in bright and breezy Cape Town on Wednesday morning, and if any spirits were lagging after the 11-hour night flight, a welcome-to-the-city performance by a traditional, brassy Kaapse Klopse band—this one called Happy Sounds Youth Development and comprising students from 12 to 18—helped to revive them.

On August 6, the Minnesota Orchestra made a triumphant return to the BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical music festival, with an all-American program. Music Director Osmo Vänskä led the Orchestra in a performance of Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, featuring Inon Barnatan as soloist, and Charles Ives’ visionary Symphony No. 2.

As the Orchestra concludes its 2017-18 season at Orchestra Hall, it offers a big round of applause for someone who is not normally in the concert spotlight: retiring piano tuner Jerry Ouska, who served the Orchestra, its pianos and world-famous pianists for 34 years. By Dan Wascoe

“One of the most admired pianists of his generation," according to The New York Times, pianist Inon Barnatan recently played with the Minnesota Orchestra in January for the Tchaikovsky Marathon and the Midwest Tour. Last year, he debuted at the world's largest classical music festival, the BBC Proms; he returns to the prestigious venue next month with the Orchestra to perform Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F.

We totally agree with you: road construction in the Twin Cities is making it tough to get around right now! The Minnesota Orchestra is still here and working hard to create world class performances for you at Orchestra Hall, and we don’t want traffic cones and detours to spoil your summer concert experience.

The Minnesota Orchestra announced this month that Akiko Fujimoto, who joined the Orchestra’s artistic roster as assistant conductor in 2017, has been named associate conductor for the 2018-19 season.

Bongani Ndodana-Breen

Born: August 1975, Queenstown, South Africa; now living in Cape Town, South Africa

Associate Concertmaster Roger Frisch's retirement at the end of August 2018 marks the end of a memorable 44-year career. Congratulations, Roger!

The Minnesota Orchestra invites you to mark your calendar and spread the word about the Family Concert on the afternoon of Saturday, July 14. The concert, which features music by Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, John Williams and other favorite composers, will be the Orchestra’s first full-ensemble Sensory-Friendly Concert.

When Kevin Smith joined the Minnesota Orchestra as interim President and CEO in July 2014, the Orchestra was emerging from a 16-month lockout, with questions lingering about its ability to raise donations, sell subscriptions and re-establish relationships.

Happy Fourth!

By Dr. David Hilden

Roderick Cox remembers highlight moments of his Orchestra tenure (and we’ve got video!)

Live at Orchestra Hall