Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Around Town

When Minnesota Orchestra musicians aren’t at Orchestra Hall, you can find many of them around the Twin Cities and beyond in other types of musical performances such as solo recitals and concerts with chamber music groups, concerto appearances with other orchestras, forays into rock music, stage productions and more. Some of the Orchestra’s musicians are skilled composers, arrangers, conductors and recording artists, to name just a few of their talents. Taking on outside projects gives them chances to flex musical muscles that aren’t engaged as often in a typical Orchestra setting—while expanding musicians’ tool kits in ways that often come in handy at Orchestra performances.

On this continually updating page you’ll find details about Minnesota Orchestra musicians’ local performances beyond the confines of Orchestra Hall. Meanwhile, another opportunity to get to know the musicians in new ways right here at Orchestra Hall is at our Symphony in 60 concerts—hour-long performances with a 6 p.m. start time and other enhancements including a post-concert onstage gathering. The schedule of Symphony in 60 concerts for the 2023-24 Minnesota Orchestra season will be announced in April 2023.

Musicians Around Town

On Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 4 p.m. at Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Assistant Principal Bass William Schrickel will conduct the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, as part of the ensemble’s 40th anniversary season. Performances of the Metropolitan Symphony are offered free of charge. Schrickel, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1976 and is the second longest-tenured member of the bass section, has been the music director of the Metropolitan Symphony since 2000.

On Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m. at Cast & Cru in Excelsior, Principal Percussion Brian Mount and bass player Matthew Frischman will perform with their band the MOB (Minnesota Orchestra Band), playing the Beatles entire Let It Be album and other Beatles hit songs. The MOB is an independently run group whose core members are Minnesota Orchestra musicians who explore roles they don’t play on the Orchestra Hall stage—including Mount on guitar and vocals and Frischman on drum set. Hear a short sample of the MOB in action.

On Monday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Ted Mann Concert Hall on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota, Principal Tuba Steven Campbell will join the University Wind Ensemble in a performance of Stacy Garrop’s Alpenglow for alto saxophone, tuba and wind ensemble under the direction of Dr. Emily Threinen. Campbell, a member of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2005, will be featured with the Orchestra at performances of Wynton Marsalis’ Tuba Concerto from May 18 to 20 at Orchestra Hall.

On Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Principal Trumpet Manny Laureano will conduct the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Laureano, who has served as the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal trumpet since 1981, has been the Bloomington Symphony’s music director since 2013.

On Sunday, April 16, at 4 p.m. at MacPhail Center for Music’s Antonello Hall in Minneapolis, Assistant Principal Viola Jenni Seo, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2018, will perform in a concert of music by Crumb, Frank and Hermann with the Bakken Ensemble.

On Saturday, May 13, at 4 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, just south of Orchestra Hall on Nicollet Mall, First Associate Concertmaster Susie Park and Principal Cello Anthony Ross will be part of a chamber ensemble performing the world premiere of Jungyoon Wie’s For the Sleepwalkers, the fourth work commissioned by the Michael Steinberg & Jorja Fleezanis Fund. The fund was established by the late Jorja Fleezanis, the Minnesota Orchestra’s concertmaster from 1989 to 2009 who passed away last fall, after the passing in 2009 of her husband, musicologist Michael Steinberg, in order to commission new works that combine their shared passion for words and music. For the Sleepwalkers employs text from the first collection of poems by Edward Hirsch. Tickets for the performance, which also includes Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2, are available via the Minnesota Orchestra’s website.

On Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m. at Roseville Lutheran Church in Roseville, Assistant Principal Bass William Schrickel will conduct the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in a performance of works by Cordero Berlioz as part of the ensemble’s 40th anniversary season. Performances of the Metropolitan Symphony are offered free of charge. Schrickel, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1976 and is the second longest-tenured member of the bass section, has been the music director of the Metropolitan Symphony since 2000.