Music in Motion: Announcing Summer at Orchestra Hall 2023

Hands flying on a keyboard. Feet whirling across a stage. A blur of mallets in action. Summer at Orchestra Hall returns to downtown Minneapolis from July 14 to August 5, with programming designed to move you. Alongside pianist and Creative Partner Jon Kimura Parker, who will again serve as the festival’s curator, frequent host and soloist, the pioneering breaking collective BRKFST Dance Company will be the festival’s artist in residence, bringing the festival’s “Music in Motion” theme to life with dance performances in Orchestra Hall and on Peavey Plaza.

Summer at Orchestra Hall Highlights 

The festival’s opening weekends bring together an eclectic mix of music: on July 14, conductor Lee Mills leads the ensemble in two lively works by contemporary Brazilian composers Clarice Assad and Rodrigo Cicchelli Velloso; conductor Elias Grandy then leads concerts on July 21 and 22 that include a suite from Igor Stravinsky’s famed ballet score The Firebird alongside Daniel Bernard Roumain’s Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents, to which BRKFST will perform their original choreography. (Fun fact: Roumain wrote this piece in honor of a dance between Barack Obama and Ellen DeGeneres in 2007.) 

Summer at Orchestra Hall 2023 will reprise favorite programs from festivals past. The International Day of Music returns from noon to midnight on July 15, presenting dozens of free performances from musical guests and dance artists across multiple indoor and outdoor stages. On July 20, Parker will revive the Grand Piano Spectacular—a concert with four piano soloists taking over the stage together. From August 3 to 5, following her previous groundbreaking collaborations with the Orchestra, native Minnesotan singer, rapper and writer Dessa will return for another unforgettable endeavor concert series at Orchestra Hall. 

Finally, in the spirit of setting music in motion, the festival features a premiere and new commissions. From July 28 to 29, pipa player Gao Hong, Principal Cello Anthony Ross and the Orchestra will deliver the North American premiere of the live-in-concert version of the 2000 martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And, in a first-of-its-kind concert on July 25 that explores the healing potential of music, the Orchestra will debut Serenity, a work by Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute alumnus Molly Joyce that weaves together community voices to broaden perspectives on anxiety; this Music & Healing program will also include new music from local singer-songwriter Chastity Brown. 

Regardless of which performances speak to you, we can’t wait to see you at Orchestra Hall, enjoying a concert in your chair or dancing on top of it.