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 commissioning and performing the music of our time.  In September 2025, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his third season as music director.

Sarah Hicks is the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall, a role in which she oversees planning for and conducts many concerts in the broad-spectrum series of popular music, jazz, Broadway classics, movie scores and other genres. She also conducted the Inside the Classics and Sam & Sarah series for ten seasons.

With a distinctive sound that resists categorization, Grammy-nominated violinist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird makes his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in November 2026. Balancing swelling sounds with jazz, folk and pop melodies in an unforgettable display of unique virtuosity, Bird celebrates the 20th anniversary of his acclaimed record The Mysterious Production of Eggs. Featuring a top-to-bottom album performance with orchestral arrangements, Bird caps off the performance with a suite of fan-favorite tunes from his near 30-year repertoire.