Thomas' Pick: The Listening Project

It's Thomas Søndergård's first season as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra—and while he's looking forward to an entire season of beautiful programs, he'd particularly recommend The Listening Project. Now in its third year, has grown out of an initiative to spotlight the music of historically underrepresented composers and to collaborate with a broader group of composers living today. 

"When I heard and read about The Listening Project, I was so proud, again, of being a part of this organization. Because it's a wonderful idea to rehearse, perform and record works that have just been in the drawer for many, many years."

In an event announcing the 2023-24 season earlier this year, Søndergård shed some light on why having high-quality recordings of these works is essential to the future of their performance life: because conductors, artists and Orchestras need quick access to these pieces for study, circulation and programming. "This is fantastic, because we can then, very easily, access the music and then hear it. And the fact that the audience will have access...to listen to the piece afterward is a brilliant idea. And this will widen our program ideas and our views of many things in life."