The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning recordings, broadcasts and educational engagement programs; and a commitment to intentionally build concert programs to feature more works by composers of color, exploring music both contemporary and historic. In September 2024, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his second season as music director.

Ahmed Fernando Anzaldúa El Samkary is a Mexican conductor and pianist of Egyptian descent and the founder and artistic director of Border CrosSing. He is an active musician, performing in Mexico and the U.S. frequently as a soloist and conductor with choirs and orchestras, and also performs as a pianist in solo recitals and collaborative settings. He is a recognized authority in Latin American and Spanish music, particularly the compositions of Federico Mompou and Miguel Bernal Jiménez, and he collaborates regularly with composers to premiere new works, including music by Helmut Lachenmann, Paul Lansky and Arturo Márquez.

Twin Cities-based choral ensemble Border CrosSing was founded in 2017 by Ahmed Anzaldúa as a response to a lack of representation of Latin American culture in choral music in the United States. In its first five years it has grown into a vibrant organization with several programs and has expanded beyond Latin American repertoire, with a mission to integrating historically segregated audiences and musicians through the performance of choral music.