The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.

A young and energetic talent with a quickly-expanding international career, maestro Thiago Tiberio is often praised for mature musicianship, clarity of expression, and accurate technique. His classical, operatic, and film music career includes work with the world’s most prestigious orchestras in countries such as the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Bulgaria, South Korea, China and Brazil.

Originally from Colombia, Natalia Romero Arbeláez is an experienced performer, educator and musician. As an educator, she thrives in the intersection of academic and applied music making. She is passionate about access and student voice and ownership in her classroom and performing practices. She performed with the Minnesota Orchestra in December as a member of Border CrosSing in El Mesías, a bilingual Spanish-English holiday performance conducted by Ahmed Anzaldúa.

Australian-born Susie Park, the Minnesota Orchestra’s first associate concertmaster since 2015, will be featured as soloist with the ensemble in June 2023 in Brahms’ Double Concerto with Associate Principal Cello Silver Ainomäe. She has performed solos with numerous major orchestras in Europe, the U.S. and Australia, as well as Korea’s KBS Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand. She was the violinist of the Eroica Trio from 2006 to 2012, with which she recorded the ensemble’s Grammy-nominated CD of all-American repertoire, and toured internationally. Her interest in music of all genres has also led to collaborations with artists such as jazz trumpeter Chris Botti.

Maria Dively has been an American Sign Language interpreter for eight years in Minnesota and California. A NIC/Trilingual Interpreter, she is a graduate of North Central University in Minneapolis. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico and has been involved personally and professionally in the Deaf community since college. From a young age, she has been involved with music as a woodwind player, percussionist and steel drums player, among other roles.