Thomas Søndergård Opens New Minnesota Orchestra Season with Concerts Featuring Piano Phenom Yunchan Lim and Violin Great Leila Josefowicz

September 20-21 concerts feature ‘prodigiously gifted’ pianist Yunchan Lim in Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 and Søndergård leading works by Berlioz, Tarrodi and Respighi;

September 26-28 concerts showcase Josefowicz in Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto, with Søndergård conducting additional works by Adès and Ravel, the latter in tribute to the 50th anniversary of Orchestra Hall;

Programs mark the beginning of Søndergård’s second season with the Minnesota Orchestra

Music Director Thomas Søndergård opens his second season with the Minnesota Orchestra in programs spotlighting two fearless classical music talents. Pianist Yunchan Lim, the youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn Competition, makes his Minnesota Orchestra debut playing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto in concerts taking place September 20 and 21. Violinist Leila Josefowicz returns to Orchestra Hall the following week, September 26-28, performing contemporary composer Thomas Adès’ whirling Violin Concerto, Concentric Paths, a work she performs with “stunning musical and technical finesse,” according to Bachtrack. 

The programs will be performed at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis. The first set of concerts will be on Friday, September 20, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, September 21, at 7 p.m. The second set will be held on Thursday, September 26, at 11 a.m.; Friday, September 27, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, September 28 at 2 p.m. Choose Your Price tickets are available to all concertgoers for select seating sections for the September 28 concert.

The two programs mark the beginning of Søndergård’s second year with the Minnesota Orchestra, a season that features him conducting a two-week January Nordic Festival, the return of the Future Classics concert spotlighting top next-generation orchestral composers, and opera-in-concert performances of Puccini’s Turandot. It is also a season in which the organization celebrates the 50th anniversary of its downtown Minneapolis home, Orchestra Hall, with musical call backs to the Hall’s opening season.

Søndergård, Lim and Rachmaninoff (September 20-21, 2024)

Korean pianist Yunchan Lim burst onto the scene in 2022 when at age 18 he became the youngest pianist to win the prestigious Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas. His gold medal-earning performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto went viral and amassed 15 million views on YouTube, and his subsequent performances and recordings have continued to draw capacity audiences and critical accolades. The Guardian described him as “a prodigiously gifted artist. His technique [is] dazzlingly immaculate and the musical impulses propelling it startlingly original.” Pianist Stephen Hough, who served on the jury that awarded Lim the top Van Cliburn prize, described his Rachmaninoff interpretation: “He caught in a remarkable way the many facets of this hugely challenging piece: the need for control but also to feel that things are on the edge; huge power yet lyrical tenderness too.” In his Minnesota Orchestra debut, Lim will play Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, a work known for its brooding intensity and beautiful melodies.

Søndergård rounds out the program with works inspired by Italy. French composer Hector Berlioz’s dazzling, colorful Roman Carnival Overture—premiered in 1844—evokes a wild carnival in a Roman piazza. Contemporary Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi wrote her deeply atmospheric Liguria in 2012 after visiting five small fishing villages in Italy off the Ligurian Sea, and Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome is a picturesque tone poem. Premiered in 1924, it captures the Italian composer’s memories and visions of the scenes around his country’s capital.

Søndergård, Josefowicz and Ravel (September 26-28, 2024) 

In the second weekend of concerts, Søndergård leads a program juxtaposing two masters of orchestration: 20^th-century French composer Maurice Ravel and contemporary British composer Thomas Adès. Ravel’s evocative Valse Nobles et sentimentales, a set of seven waltzes originally written for piano and orchestrated in 1912, open the program. Two works from his Miroirs—another suite of piano pieces that were orchestrated—close the concert, with Une barque sur l’océan suggesting the vastness of the ocean and Alborada del gracioso summoning the distinct colors of Spain.

The Ravel works hold an additional significance: each was played during the Orchestra’s inaugural season in Orchestra Hall in 1974, with Alborada del gracioso performed on the first-ever concerts in the venue 50 years ago, on October 18 and 21, 1974. Throughout the fall, the Orchestra will continue performing a variety of works from its first season in Orchestra Hall and will share historic memorabilia in its lobby.

Bookended between the Ravel works are two daring pieces by composer and conductor Thomas Adès, whose work Søndergård greatly admires. Born in London in 1951, Thomas Adès is one of the most successful classical composers of his generation. His compositions include three operas: the most recent of which, The Exterminating Angel, premiered at the 2016 Salzburg Festival and received a 2024 revival at the Paris Opera. Called “one of the finest operas of the century so far” by The New York Times, it centers around a collection of society characters who find themselves trapped together at a post-opera party. The Exterminating Angel Symphony is an orchestral rendering of music from the opera, composed by Adès in 2020. These concerts mark the Minnesota Orchestra’s first performances of the piece.

Adès wrote his Violin Concerto, Concentric Circles, in 2005. It is a three-movement piece which features a constant dialogue between soloist and orchestra and was described by New York Magazine as touring “the boundaries of madness.” A relentless champion of living composers, Canadian-born violinist Leila Josefowicz has included the Adès work in her repertoire for more than a decade and is known for performing the technically-challenging work with great artistry and power. “Part of the reason I’m so attracted to modern repertoire is because I am fascinated by rhythm,” she said in an interview with The Strad Magazine. “When I’m learning a new concerto, I internalize my part with the same intensity that an actor would. You have to take on its personality completely in order to make it convincing.” Josefowicz last appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2019 performances of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto; these performances mark the Orchestra’s first of the Adès Violin Concerto.

About Thomas Søndergård

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his tenure as the 11th music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in the 2023-24 season. A highly regarded conductor in both the orchestral and opera spheres, he has earned a reputation for incisive interpretations of works by composers from his native Denmark, a great versatility in a broad range of standard and modern repertoire, and a collaborative approach with the musicians he leads.

Since 2018 Søndergård has been music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), and prior to that post he served as principal conductor and musical advisor to the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and then as principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW). His upcoming season engagements include leading the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (Grieg’s Peer Gynt), the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Strauss’ Elektra) and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he will again collaborate with Leila Josefowicz on the Adès Violin Concerto. More: minnesotaorchestra.org.

About the Minnesota Orchestra

Founded in 1903, the Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra is known for acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning educational programs; and a commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of tomorrow, all based on the belief that music is for everyone. Each year, Minnesota Orchestra concerts and recordings are seen and heard by more than three million people via television, radio, digital streaming, and on-demand platforms. Led by Music Director Thomas Søndergård, the Orchestra makes its home in the heart of downtown Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall, a venue renowned for its brilliant acoustics and modern design.

Season Opening Celebration
SØNDERGÅRD, LIM AND RACHMANINOFF

Friday, September 20, 2024, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Saturday, September 21, 2024, 7 p.m. / Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Yunchan Lim, piano

BERLIOZ                                       Roman Carnival Overture
RACHMANINOFF                     Piano Concerto No. 2
TARRODI                                      Liguria
RESPIGHI                                    Pines of Rome

Tickets: $46 - $131

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Season Opening Celebration
SØNDERGÅRD, JOSEFOWICZ AND RAVEL

Thursday, September 26, 2024, 11 a.m. / Orchestra Hall
Friday, September 27, 2024, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Saturday, September 28, 2024, 2 p.m. / Orchestra Hall

Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin 

RAVEL              Valse Nobles et sentimentales
ADÈS                 The Exterminating Angel Symphony
ADÈS                 Violin Concerto, Concentric Paths
RAVEL              Une barque sur l’océan and Alborada del gracioso, from Miroirs

Tickets: $5 - $106 (Free tickets available for young listeners age 6-18 with Hall Pass). Choose Your Price tickets are available for select seating sections for the September 28 concert.

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Tickets and subscription packages can be purchased now at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5656. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

The 2024-2025 Classical Season is presented by Ameriprise Financial.

The 2024-25 Season Opening Concert is sponsored by Al and Kathy Lenzmeier

The Hall Pass program makes free tickets available for young listeners ages 6 to18 for select Classical and Symphony in 60 concerts, and all kids under 18 for Family concerts. The program is sponsored by Cynthia and Jay Ihlenfeld.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.