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. This past fall, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his tenure 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.

Hicks’ career has seen collaborations with a diverse range of artists, from Hilary Hahn and Dmitri Hvorostovsky to Rufus Wainwright, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson. She has been an artistic leader in concerts featuring artists from Minnesota’s internationally-renowned popular music scene—including shows with The New Standards, multiple sold-out performances with Dessa and a live-in-concert recording released on Doomtree Records, and collaborations with indie band Cloud Cult. A specialist in film music and the film in concert genre, she is passionate about creating concert experiences which combine sight and sound, and that welcome new audiences to the orchestral genre.

Chan Poling is a songwriter, bandleader, composer of theatrical, television and film scores, and a seasoned performer. His alternative rock band, The Suburbs, became a touchstone of the “Minneapolis Sound” in the 1980s, recording albums for Polygram and A&M Records. His charismatic jazz trio The New Standards performs in theaters and clubs around the world, including Orchestra Hall with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has written musical scores and songs for a variety of award-winning theater productions, TV shows, documentary and independant films and, commercials. Among the honors for his work are an Ivey for Glensheen, two Emmys and a Cine Golden Eagle for documentaries featuring his musical scores.