Orchestra Hall: 50 Years, 50 (Plus) Memories

Though I’ve seen many great performances at the Hall all these years, the one that will always stand out the most was my first time there. I was just 14 when I went by myself in 1976 to see, of all things, George Carlin. He came onstage giving us the finger. For several minutes he did this in complete silence, moving it all around, from the balconies to the front row. Then he finally said “Well, isn’t this the skyline of your city? This is the sight that welcomes me to your town?” The IDS tower was the only dominating building downtown in the early ’70s. I thoroughly enjoyed that and countless other events at the hall.

—Glenn Blessing

This tale concerns a performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in the late ’70s or early ’80s. Some good friends of ours attended the performance. We weren’t able to go but recorded it from home. He was a person of great—almost crippling—empathy.

The symphony opens with a trumpet solo, setting up the opening theme. This performance had a bit of added drama, with the trumpeter standing high in the third balcony, overlooking the audience, stage and conductor. He came on strong with “Taa-taa-taa-taa, Taa-taa-taa-taa, Taa-taa-squeek-squawk.” Silence. Dead silence. Our friend, so empathetic, nearly crawled under his seat with embarrassment. After a brief moment of recovery, the trumpeter went bravely forth, initiating a beautiful performance of the Fifth.

I caught the whole thing on tape. Later, I dubbed a copy for our friend, including the opening fluff, copied twice in succession. Our friend took it on a second trip. He started playing it, skipping ahead far enough to avoid the fluff, only to encounter the second one. Later, his wife told us that he nearly drove off the road.

—Robert Dufault

I was a member of the Messiah Chorale and performed Handel’s Messiah with the Minnesota Orchestra in December 1974. The choir and Orchestra were under the direction of Margaret Hillis, the choral director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. As far as I can determine, this was the first choir to sing in Orchestra Hall. The Chorale consisted of 32 members. We performed Messiah three times at Orchestra Hall and once at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, and one concert was broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio. I recorded it on my 8-track recorder. Our Chorale sang again in March of 1975 under the direction of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, performing The Wedding by Stravinsky. I appreciate the quality of the Orchestra, attend when I can and listen to MPR at other times.

—Ron Fossell

I have so many memories of Orchestra Hall. It is a treasure to those of us who grew up in the Twin Cities and have been influenced by the wonderful music and musicians who have performed here over the past five decades. My first memory was of joining Minnesota Youth Symphonies [MYS] at age 8, and our first fall concert was at the newly opened Orchestra Hall. Our elementary string orchestra played the Overture to Die Meistersinger by Wagner, and it was thrilling to be joined by wind players from the junior high orchestra.

During my years growing up, I was privileged to perform here with Edith Norberg and the Carilon Choristers, Dr. Frank Bencriscutto and his All-Area Honor Band, the All-State Band and many times with MYS, including memorable performances of Dvořák’s Eighth, Scheherazade and Pines of Rome, conducted by Minnesota Orchestra Principal Viola Clyn Dee Barrus. I was also able to study violin with Principal Second Violin John Sambuco during elementary school, and when in high school, horn with David Kamminga from the horn section. As an adult, I have performed at the Hall with VocalEssence and as a collaborative pianist for many competitions.

As a child, it was always a treat to come to concerts. Our mom made sure the family attended several every year, conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski when I was a child, as well as kids’ concerts with Henry Charles Smith. As a teenager, it was fun to meet friends (other music nerds) at concerts and get in line for student rush tickets. Hearing the epic Mahler 5 for the first time was very memorable! I have many programs and ticket stubs in my old music scrapbooks from these performances. Sommerfest was always fun with the added benefit of food and music on Peavey Plaza. I especially remember dancing the polka with my dad on the Plaza after Sommerfest performances, where his friend Leon Bonrud would perform with his band, the Bavarians.

After getting our degrees in other cities, my husband and I moved back to Minnesota, where we have raised our children, bringing them to hear the kids’ concerts and outdoor concerts when they were toddlers, and other concerts as they grew up. It was special for them to perform in the Hall at Suzuki graduations, and later at MYS concerts and side-by-side rehearsals with Orchestra musicians. Our oldest was able to study in high school with Associate Concertmaster Sarah Kwak. And she was thrilled to be able to solo with the orchestra at age 12 as a part of the Minnesota Idol competition, and at age 16 as a YPSCA competition winner. Now we have two daughters in the Orchestra—Sarah and Lydia—so we continue to enjoy concerts at the hall many weekends!

—Sonja K. Grimes, adjunct professor/collaborative pianist, University of Northwestern, St. Paul

One time while I was performing at Orchestra Hall with the Augsburg Masterworks Chorale, I was coming down the backstage steps to go to the rehearsal room before the concert. There was a woman getting a drink of water from the water fountain—dressed in a housecoat, fluffy slippers, curlers in her hair. When she stood up, all I could say was “Welcome to Minnesota, Miss Clooney.” We both smiled when she said thank-you. I kept walking since we were not supposed to bother the guests. The next time I saw her—Rosemary Clooney—we were on stage behind the Orchestra, and she came onstage in a beautiful gown and hair done.

—Elaine Heistercamp

My first encounter with Orchestra Hall and, naturally, the Minnesota Orchestra, was sometime in 1996—when the Minnesota Orchestra and Eiji Oue invited the students of that year’s MMEA All-State Orchestra for a side-by-side rehearsal. We played Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, among others. But it wasn’t until the following year that I got paired with an Orchestra musician—violist Sifei Cheng—at a Young People’s Concert. It was then I knew I wanted music to become a permanent part of my life. My fellow classmates made a field trip out of it, busing from St. Cloud, and it was a really special and big deal for me. It completely overturned my original plan to hang up my instrument once I graduated high school.

In fact, I started to seriously consider music as a profession, so we got to talking about colleges, and he offered to give me advice on that whole process—even giving me his phone number so we could talk about it after the concert (this was well before cellular technology was so accessible, so it was probably a really big deal). Naturally, I never called and instead found that my calling was to be a mechanical engineer (probably better that way for everyone’s hearing), but I still continued to play the viola in community orchestras as enthusiastically as ever.

Fast forward many years and many significant historical periods in the Orchestra’s history, and through the power of social media, I received a follow on Instagram from a musician that happened to play in the Minnesota Orchestra viola section—from Sifei himself! I don’t think he knew who I was at the time, so at some point around Thanksgiving, while still in lockdown due to the pandemic, I figured I’d reveal who I was—I sent him a picture of the Young Peoples’ Concert program order sheet that was distributed to the musicians and where he wrote his phone number on the back, and I thanked him for helping to firmly plant music in my life. At the time we first met, the Minnesota Orchestra’s motto was “Enriching lives with great music,” which seemed so fitting.

Shortly after I graduated high school, Osmo Vänskä succeeded Eiji as the music director, and from afar I watched the Orchestra bloom into what it has become today. I cheered from a bus stuck in Seattle traffic as I watched their plane make its way to Cuba, and basically the Orchestra had become a staple of my listening (thank you for the live Friday MPR broadcasts!). What I had never seen with my own eyes, though, was the Orchestra playing together with Osmo, and I vowed one day to do so. When he announced his final concerts, it forced me to take action (finally), so I flew over for one of his last concerts with the Orchestra in June of 2022, particularly the concerts in which Jaakko Kuusisto’s Symphony received its world premiere.

I hadn’t been in Orchestra Hall since its renovation (it had been just over 25 years!), but I was there with my dear friend, who was also one of my classmates in the hall during the 1997 Young People’s Concert, so it was wonderful to experience that. To bring everything full-circle in a way, I was also able to get a few things signed by Osmo, I got to tell him how much I appreciated his work with the Orchestra, and I also got to meet up with Sifei and talk in person again (and apologize for ghosting him about the whole applying to colleges thing).

—Jonathan Icasas

Over 20 years ago, when I was probably 3 or 4, my grandparents took me to see the Orchestra. The concert that night was the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and every section was wearing different colored t-shirts. I remember being amazed by all of it. My grandma was a piano teacher for 60 years and wanted to make sure my sibling and I were introduced to music young. I ended up playing cello, and the Orchestra has been a huge part of my life since that concert 20-plus years ago.

My grandma unfortunately passed earlier this year, and as we planned her funeral I was brought back to all the musical moments we shared, whether it was listening to MPR in her car or Sibelius in Orchestra Hall. My partner is a music educator, and we go to two or three concerts a year where we both nerd out over the Orchestra. Our first concert together was Thomas Søndergård conducting The Rite of Spring. I will never forget the pure excitement on their face seeing how many bassoons were on stage, as that is their primary instrument, and how happy I was to share their first time at Orchestra Hall. I wondered if that’s how my grandma felt taking little me years ago. 

The Orchestra has always meant so much to me and the community. Minnesota is lucky to have such an incredible group of musicians, librarians, ushers, and everyone else who makes Orchestra Hall happen.

—Grace Lehman

I proposed to my wife on the south side of Peavey Plaza on August 9, 1983. Fortunately, she said yes! We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this past August. We loved going to Sommerfest concerts when we were first dating and married. We have bought packages throughout the years and just this year we brought our grandchildren to the Orchestra Hall for a family concert. Their eyes lit up when they pulled the bow across the violin and cello strings in the lobby before the performance. They both said, “we can’t wait to play an instrument!”

—Ronald Lutes

My father is what some would call a classical music aficionado. Growing up, the bookshelves of our living room were lined with one classical music CD after another. He had huge speakers and a fancy system, which played orchestral music every evening. (Many decades later nothing has changed, except his system is even better.)

When I was 10, a full 30 years ago, we drove up from Rochester and had a nice dinner out—followed by my very first Minnesota Orchestra concert. It was a special night, and the tradition has continued ever since. It's a sacred part of my life, both for the experience of spending time with my dad, but also for the music. Someday, I too will take my own child, and tell the stories of Orchestra concerts past, the time I got Osmo Vänskä’s autograph at Broders' Pasta Bar, and when my dad called out one of the trombone players by name who was passing by after a concern at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (he was utterly shocked to hear his name called). 

The Orchestra has not only created a special connection with my dad but also strengthened my ties with our community. I hope it continues for many years to come.

—Erica Mayerle

I have so many memories of Orchestra Hall, but my early ones from high school and college stand out as particularly formative for me:

First, singing in the Minnesota All-State Choir on the stage in 1979. Second, being enthralled by Helmuth Rilling leading the Gächinger Kantorei in the Bach B-minor Mass in 1981 and enraptured by the King’s Singers in concert in 1982. And finally, performing with the St. Olaf Choir and the Minnesota Orchestra in the “Tonight Scandinavia” Concert in fall 1982 for the crowned heads of Scandinavia (a night that included a VERY funny accidental double entendre between emcee Neville Marriner and Birgit Nilsson over the medals she displayed).

Since then, I've enjoyed countless performances—both on the stage and in the audience—that have enriched our lives. Minnesota can and should be proud of the gem we have in Orchestra Hall. May the place continue to be a temple for sharing music in community!

—Dr. David L. Mennicke, Professor of Music, Concordia University, St. Paul

It was the Saturday evening following September 11, 2001. My friends and I were pretty subdued when we gathered to attend the Minnesota Orchestra concert. When the Orchestra started to play The Star-Spangled Banner, everyone in the Hall rose and sang—what a feeling of unity and strength! The program was changed to provide music of healing and hope. So needed and incredible—I will never forget it.

—Carolyn Mueller

I came to Orchestra Hall as a part of the Concordia College Choirs for their annual Christmas Concerts at Orchestra Hall in 1995. As a college freshman from northern Minnesota, my world was kind of small. Orchestra Hall was anything but. I always remember the beauty of that first concert experience whenever I come to concerts and programming at the Hall, and see the WCCO sign in the distance at intermissions. Thanks for the memories and the music!

—Belle Nelson

My interest in classical music began when I was in grade school. I was fortunate to live in Minneapolis, and our school took children by bus to Orchestra Hall. I think this began my interest in the Orchestra, but am not positive of my first experience with the Orchestra. We may have started attending the concerts in elementary school when  I attended Longfellow and Corcoran Elementary. Many years later my husband and I moved to the Quad Cities in Iowa and attended the Quad City Orchestra concerts. After many years we moved back to Minneapolis and we attended Minnesota Orchestra concerts together in the evening. I now am alone and enjoy the Coffee Concerts. I never had the opportunity to study an instrument, but sang in choirs all throughout my school years.

I treasure the opportunity to attend the Orchestra Hall concerts and hope to continue this opportunity as long as I can make it down to Orchestra Hall (I am 80-plus years old). Thank you for continuing this wonderful tradition in our community.

—Janet M. Nelson

Greetings from a native Minnesotan, now living in Dublin, Ireland! Some of my favorite Orchestra Hall stories stem from opportunities I had to spend significant chunks of time backstage back in my high school and college days (I'm 31 now, for reference).

I think such a special part of Orchestra Hall’s story is how it's a space that’s also open to aspiring younger musicians. I’m not a professional musician by any means now, but I still love thinking back about my memories of playing in Orchestra Hall for three years as part of the Robbinsdale Area Schools Fall Festival; for five years with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS); and as part of the St. Thomas Symphonic Wind Ensemble during their Christmas concerts—and the growth, lessons, laughter and love that followed me throughout those years and chances to play in such a renowned space. 

As many a musician will hopefully tell you, some of our best ensemble stories don’t take place during performances themselves. Instead, they come from hanging with friends backstage, passing around friendly gossip, laughing at inside jokes, or ducking out for a cheeky Caribou between your stage time and mass rehearsals of Holst’s Jupiter. Or from plotting out how you'll spend the day in and around Nicollet Avenue with your best friends in between call times. Or, of course, there's always that glow-up rush of seeing your 17-year-old crush slouch around in sweats during morning rehearsals, only for them to then ‘wow’ in a tux onstage later that night.

But I have some magical stories from performing onstage in a space as vaunted and special as Orchestra Hall, too. These are core memories I’ll keep as long as my mind lets me hold onto them. I’ll never forget playing a solo flute line in the ninth movement of Carmina burana alongside my best friends from high school, or being so proud after doing a decent job with the piccolo lines in Copland’s Buckaroo Holiday during a GTCYS spring festival—the day after senior prom, no less! I realized the first time I stepped offstage post-performance at Orchestra Hall, way back when I was in 8th grade, that these are not opportunities every student in Minnesota gets. I’ve never felt anything but grateful and lucky that I got to spend even a sliver of time doing something so cool and so meaningful there, with some of my absolute favorite people.

—Sydney Nolan

We have season tickets at Orchestra Hall—and here’s why. About nine years ago, a group of Minnesota Orchestra musicians was performing the National Anthem at a running race at Minnehaha Falls. There was also a concert ticket drive. A woman asked me if I was interested in season tickets, and I said in a half-joking manner “I will buy season tickets if Hilary Hahn is coming.” She opened the concert schedule to page 24 and showed me Hilary Hahn’s photo. I wrote Hilary a letter and told her why we bought season tickets. She sent me the most appreciative note: “From all of us in the Orchestra World, thank you.” We’re so glad that we have season tickets!

—Bob Rorke

Our introduction to the Minnesota Orchestra began when we received a cold call from the Orchestra offering tickets to a new program called Casual Classics, conducted by David Alan Miller. It offered a series of three concerts, wherein the first half of the program highlighted certain aspects of the piece, played by the Orchestra, that you could then listen for when it was played in full, and also provided some historic background on the composer and the time period. After the intermission, the piece was played in its entirety.

In addition, we had the option of enjoying a catered meal on the mezzanine at a reasonable cost prior to the concert. The caterers included The Local, possibly Brit’s, and one or two other area restaurants and catering services. It offered those of us not familiar with downtown Minneapolis to have dinner and a concert in one stop at Orchestra Hall. Dress code was casual, not the formal wear usually associated with an orchestra concert. It was an opportunity for those not familiar with classical music to get a taste of it in a comfortable setting. Concerts at the end of November and early December concerts were always fun, as we could enjoy our meal, and then watch a good portion of the Holidazzle parade as it proceeded down Nicollet Avenue from the comfort of the second floor windows overlooking Peavey Plaza.

That introduction to the classics has kept us as subscribers ever since. When the original director of Casual Classics left, we were concerned about the continuation of the program. The Orchestra came through with the coming of Sarah Hicks and the Inside the Classics with Sarah and co-host Sam Bergman. We’ve continued to enjoy the Inside the Classics concerts when they fit our schedule, but also enjoy our build your own series which has included, to name a few, classical concerts as well as movies, vocal guests and Charles Lazarus Christmas programs. We also enjoy the Thursday morning Coffee Concerts, and try to include at least one each year.

—Glen and Linda Stenlund

On Monday, December 2, 1974, I got a call from a man, Dr. Bob Thomasson, asking me on a blind date to the Minnesota Orchestra that Friday. (How he got my name is another story.) He wanted to meet me before the concert so we had lunch at the auxiliary cafe at Fairview Riverside Hospital where I was working. That lunch went well and we made plans for Friday evening. I remember I wore a long dress and my sister’s long black opera coat. Bob had two six-concert season tickets and we attended the rest of that season together.

We were married in May 1975, and for the last 49 years have attended six Friday-night concerts a season, along with added concerts each season. In our 49 years together we raised five children, and sometimes that Friday night concert was our only time alone. This fall we began our 50th season as concert goers and donors to the Orchestra.

—Barbara Thomasson

I have so many great memories at Orchestra Hall: from Movies & Music to classic holiday shows to family concerts with our daughter, nieces and nephews, to the phenomenal collaboration between the MN Orchestra and Cloud Cult.

One memory that stands out in particular was seeing Red Baraat perform at Orchestra Hall in April 2014. I was expecting the age range of attendees to skew closer to our age (mid-20s, at the time), but there were a large number of older folks in the crowd. Red Baraat brought so much energy and had every single person on their feet dancing through the whole show. It was so much fun, and at a fantastic venue to see this band!

—Ben Vinar

Although I’ve attended perhaps hundreds of concerts at Orchestra Hall over the years, I have a few two special memories—aside from the many, many fabulous musical experiences while listening to our amazing Orchestra.

We were discussing the news of then-new Music Director Osmo Vänskä when my young granddaughter began saying “Smoke.” I didn't know what the 2-year-old was referring to, so I forgot about it. One day as I was picking up tickets at the Hall, I placed her on the countertop at the ticket office. She pointed at the Vänskä bobblehead doll on the counter and said “Smoke.” I realized she was saying her version of “Osmo.” I showed her the lobby, and of course we couldn’t enter the concert hall. She then asked “Where da moosic?”

I also recall the days of Viennese Sommerfest, the fun rug concerts and wonderful conductor Leonard Slatkin. Before a concert, our group was doing the bunny-hop around the Peavey Plaza pool to some outdoor band. After the concert there was to be a screening of a movie. As we were sitting on the crowded concrete steps on the Plaza, a hand touched my shoulder. I looked up and exclaimed “Is it Leonard?” He smiled and said “Hello, how are you?” as he made his way down he steps to present the movie.

Later while I was working as a daytime usher during Sommerfest, I was observing the outdoor pre-concert activities. A woman and small child were eating ice cream cones when the child dropped his cone. Then I noticed that our guest soloist, a young Greek violinist, also saw this. He went outside, spoke to the woman, left and returned with a new ice cream cone for the boy. They were unaware of who their rescuer was.

Another time I was ushering at a children’s concert when a small boy, dressed in a suit and tie, casually asked me “Where's Bill today?” I thought...hmm...Bill? After a few seconds I realized he meant William Eddins, and was able to tell him that Bill was in Chicago today—and he gave me a happy thumbs-up.

—Jacki Weibye

At a Young People’s Concert that my daughter Sara and I attended, the smaller-sized Minnesota Orchestra musicians provided a huge, beautiful sound. Easily viewed by us from our balcony wing seats, the Orchestra enhanced the live performance day in the way only live music can do, in our view. There were young musicians as well as physical “acrobats” performing that day. There were young jugglers and dancers and people of amazing talents giving a performance for us all to enjoy. This was NOT just a young person’s concert—this was music and performance shared with everyone lucky enough to be in Orchestra Hall that afternoon, almost 20 years ago.

The acoustics have always been top-notch in the Hall. However, the Orchestra and young people—combining to show their talents—opening up the Hall in a way I had not ever experienced at an ‘adult’ musical concert event. A young girl playing harp. A young man playing violin. The Minnesota Orchestra playing the music perfectly to accompany the young artists, physical and musical artists, and enhanced the day in a surreal, fantastic way.

My daughter is now 24, and in a Ph.D. program in college. She still sings and plays piano and harp. She will become a doctor in psychology—and retain her musical soul as well. It’s possible to be a doctor and a music lover too, yes?

—Steve Weiland

Some time after I arrived in Minnesota for graduate school in the fall of 1975, I was delighted to learn that I qualified for a discounted student subscription to the Minnesota Orchestra. Orchestra Hall was an easy bus ride from my apartment near 26th and Hennepin—and I could get two tickets, enabling me to take a fellow Oberlin classmate, Richard, along with me. Decades later, he and I still attend. Our seats are still in the third balcony, on the side, close enough to see the faces of the musicians. We’re grateful for our current front-row seating in the balcony, as too much of the stage was obscured for those second-row discount tickets. The sound is fabulous, though, in either location.

Over the years, we have appreciated the variety of conductors. I remember a special concert event, a British Festival with Neville Marriner, connecting this English conductor with British-influenced local organizations. About the time he started conducting, we had started singing with the newly formed Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. It was a perfect connection for that special concert event. Richard and I donned costumes that would have identified us to any G&S fan as characters from Iolanthe: he as the Lord Chancellor and me as Iolanthe, a fairy. My parents were visiting, and we borrowed matching costumes for them to portray the jointly-ruling temporary kings of Barataria from The Gondoliers.

It was a fine, festive occasion. We had parked in a nearby ramp rather than taking the bus (what with having my parents’ car), and we were unprepared for how long it can take to get out of a crowded ramp when everyone wants to leave at once. After waiting some time to try to back out of our parking spot, I decided to use my fairy powers. I leaped out of the back seat and, waving my wand to stop the flow of cars, held up traffic long enough for us to extricate the car.

As a side note—over the years, we’ve enjoyed noting which of the Orchestra are Oberlin Conservatory grads (though we were both in the College, not the Conservatory).

—Holly Windle and Richard Rames

My first experiences with the Orchestra occurred in 2007. In March, I went with my third-grade class to my first Young People’s [YP] Concert, where Sarah Hicks and the Orchestra did a concert of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Fast forward to December that same year, in another YP Concert Sarah led the Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and, to conclude, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

As a fourth grader playing violin as part of the string program of the Ramsey International Fine Arts Center, I along with many other kids onstage and in the aisles performed “Ode to Joy” with the Orchestra. During the dress rehearsal the day before, I was standing in the aisle in which I expected to be for the performance, but shockingly for the concert, I was performing onstage, which I didn’t expect. The reaction afterwards from the school audiences was amazing and just wonderful. Also to my surprise, I got a picture of me holding my violin and the photo ultimately popped up in the newspaper the next morning. That day was one of the most special moments I will never forget at Orchestra Hall.

—Derek Parshall, front-of-house usher

My earliest memory of Orchestra Hall might be the most special one. I was in sixth grade, and my music teacher Jeffrey Ruhnke had mentioned the Orchestra’s upcoming performance of a piece he thought I’d like, Gustav Holst’s The Planets. My mother bought two tickets, and we soon took our right-side balcony seats at the Hall. Edo de Waart gave the downbeat, and from the odd-metered rhythms of Mars I was transfixed. The sheer power of a large, live symphony orchestra—the variety of colors—the stirring melodies—the very idea of instrumental music painting pictures and telling a story—it was all a revelation. Now I have the good fortune to work in support of the same ensemble that inspired my love of orchestras and classical music.

—Carl Schroeder, publications editor

Having the opportunity to play Bruckner with [former Music Director Stanislaw] Skrowaczewski conducting in the first year or two after I joined the Orchestra was a special highlight for me. Also, although they were away from Orchestra Hall, our tours to both Cuba and South Africa were not only highlights of my time here with the Minnesota Orchestra, but highlights of my whole life! The opportunity to play music and share our Orchestra with people in other countries is so special and exciting. Meeting and sharing music with people around the world is without a doubt one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had in my life. I thank the Minnesota Orchestra and the vision our leaders have had for these life-changing opportunities.

—Kristen Bruya, principal bass, 2015-present

I was performing a solo in front of the Orchestra for one of our many Young People’s Concerts. My then-3-year-old son was sitting in the balcony with my parents and he shouted, “Daddy!!” right before I started to play! I had a hard time not laughing through my tuba. 

—Steven Campbell, principal tuba, 2005-present

My favorite memory is my first memory: walking out on stage to the raucous and joyous audience waving flags for the first concert after the lockout. A close second is hearing the YL Male Voice Choir of Finland singing Sibelius’ Kullervo and Finlandia. That still gives me shivers. I love how the warmth of the sound of the Hall’s acoustics is mirrored by the relationship and energy between the audience and the Orchestra on stage.

—Andrew Chappell, bass trombone, 2014-present

The first concert back from the lockout was electric. The energy coursing through the Hall that night was palpable. Coming back from an uncertain future made me redouble my efforts as a musician. I will forever be grateful for the community support that brought us back from the brink.

—Sifei Cheng, viola, 1995-present

My most lasting memory will be the first time I heard the Orchestra live in 2017. I was in town to shadow Paul Gunther, our previous principal librarian, before I started full-time. I decided to step into the auditorium and listen to some of the rehearsal for Stanislaw Skrowaczewski’s memorial concert in April. I sat up in the dark auditorium and was completely blown away by the amazing playing I was hearing. I was excited and a bit overwhelmed by the knowledge that these were my new colleagues, and I was joining an incredible Orchestra.

—Maureen Conroy, principal librarian, 2017-present

I have a fond memory of performing the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto written by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang with my dear Orchestra colleagues under all the lavishing decorations to celebrate Lunar New Year in 2022. In our beautiful Hall, I was very proud to represent and share this great music from my homeland, China to our Twin Cities’ music lovers. 

—Rui Du, assistant concertmaster, 2015-present

I officially joined the Orchestra in September 2024, although I have been lucky enough to be playing with the Orchestra a bit over the summer and last season. My favorite memory so far has to be looking up during a Family Concert, and seeing my two little boys (2 and 5 years old) waving wildly at me! Their excitement and enthusiasm for experiencing music, especially while getting to know a brand-new city, is contagious! 

—Cheryl Loser Feder, principal harp, September 2024-present

I have many memories of this beautiful Hall, but one in particular that stands out took place the first time we performed with Osmo after the lockout. The reaction of our beloved audience when we walked out on stage was nothing short of earth-shattering. Face paint, Finnish flags, yelling, hooting and hollering were proof positive that we were home again, and our hometown crowd wanted us to know it.

—Kenneth Freed, viola, 1998-present

One of my favorite memories at Orchestra Hall was coming to see a concert when I was in middle school. One of the members of the viola section spotted me in the crowd and waved me over. He had coached my chamber group in the past and was a role model for me as a young musician. The way he engaged with me and encouraged me in my viola playing made me feel overjoyed and gave me a sense of belonging in the music world.

—Lydia Grimes, viola, 2022-present

My special memory at Orchestra Hall was in my first month when my former high school principal Dr. Waring and his dear wife Anne came up to the stage and said hello during intermission. They often attended my performances when I was a teenager. It was a joyful surprise. They also had moved to Minnesota from the East Coast and became concert subscribers. I felt suddenly more at home. Orchestra Hall is a magical place of reconnecting with loved ones. Music truly brings people together!

—Helen Chang Haertzen, first violin, 2003-present

Being a member of the Minnesota Orchestra has blessed me with a career full of wonderful memories, at Orchestra Hall and elsewhere in the world. Our Cuba tour was an especially meaningful time. For a very excited audience, some packed into a small auditorium in Havana, and others huddled around radios near and far, we began our program with the Cuban National Anthem. The crowd went wild, and their cheering was overwhelming! This was real gratitude and national pride. They sang along with full voice. You could see the tears on their faces and ours. We all felt it. It was the beginning of beautiful new friendships, admiration for human life and accomplishment, acknowledgment of tremendous human suffering and a mutual desire to do better and be better than before. That is the power of music.

—Brian Jensen, horn, 2002-present

One of my favorite memories at Orchestra Hall was in May 2016 when I performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Orchestra. It was during the Suzuki Association’s bi-annual conference, and my former Suzuki teacher Teri Einfeldt, as well as many of my former mentors, were able to be there for the performance. There was a reception afterwards onstage, and it was so great to be able to celebrate with friends and colleagues from both my past and present!

—Erin Keefe, concertmaster, 2011-present

One of my favorite memories is the summer I joined the Orchestra in 1990. Summer at Orchestra Hall was then known as Sommerfest, and all nine Beethoven symphonies were programmed in four weeks!

—Adam Kuenzel, principal flute, 1990-present

In addition to my duties as principal trumpet of our great Orchestra, I was also privileged to become the co-artistic director of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies. Conducting those fine young people in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem at Orchestra Hall will forever be a highlight of my life. To date, four of those then-teenagers are now full-time members of the Minnesota Orchestra! What a delight it is to share my “second home” of 43 years with these great young players.

—Manny Laureano, principal trumpet, 1981-present

A favorite memory of Orchestra Hall is recalling the staggering energy and love for the Orchestra when we returned to the stage in February 2014. Preparing the music for that concert and having the privilege of performing Beethoven’s Third Symphony and Strauss' Don Juan with Maestro Skrowaczewski and my colleagues in the viola section that day is a singular experience in my tenure here.

—Valerie Little, assistant principal librarian, 2015-present (previously acting assistant principal librarian)

I’ll never forget seeing my parents in the audience during my audition trial week playing Mahler’s First Symphony with Osmo Vänskä. I was so grateful to feel the support and excitement from both of them in the Hall.

—Sonia Mantell, cello (currently acting co-associate principal cello), 2020-present

My favorite memories include years of meeting and greeting audience members in our lobby before concerts; playing Bruckner with Skrowaczewski, Sibelius with Vänskä, Strauss with Søndergärd; and doing a (mic’ed, public, terrifying) Osmo impression during his farewell party in the lobby.

—Kathryn Nettleman, associate principal bass, 2009-present

While greeting patrons in the lobby before a concert I had the pleasure of meeting a sailor, very advanced in age, who served on a submarine during World War II. He told me that he was very much looking forward to hearing that night’s performance of Sibelius’ First Symphony. It had been his favorite piece since first hearing it on a Victrola record player aboard his ship!

And here’s another favorite: My very first concert at Orchestra Hall was Doc Severinsen’s 70th birthday celebration in 1997. Then-Music Director Eiji Oue was conducting with a guest appearance by Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops. Of course, Doc was there along with surprise guest Ed McMahon. I grew up watching Doc and Ed on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, so that was pretty cool for me.

—Brian Mount, principal percussion, 1997-present

There have been countless memorable moments in my time here, but the one that I keep coming back to is from October 2016. We played an amazing Bruckner Symphony No. 8 in what turned out to be our last concerts with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski before he passed away. When I walked offstage, I came across Osmo Vänskä and Stan embracing. The level of respect and admiration between them was so evident.

—David Pharris, clarinet (2005-present)

My favorite Orchestra Hall memory was getting to watch the Champagne Polka at last year’s New Year’s Eve concert. I did not play the piece, but had the chance to sneak into the audience and watch the Champagne bottles pop while the Orchestra played. It was very exciting!

—Jaclyn Rainey, associate principal horn, 2024-present (previously acting associate principal horn)

Over the years, one of my favorite times at Orchestra Hall has not actually been on the stage, but in the incredible buzz of activity backstage and in the dressing rooms post-concert, the night before we head out for a tour. During my time here we have had many memorable tours: to Carnegie Hall, the West Coast, Florida, Symphony Hall in Boston, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Tanglewood Festival, Japan, Europe, South Africa, Cuba, Midwest and Minnesota tours. The excitement and collective pride of taking our wonderful group on the road has been a special bonding experience. It is an amazing feat to move a symphony orchestra, and I’ve always loved it when the hallways of Orchestra Hall, backstage and all around, are lined with our travel trunks for instruments, music and wardrobes, and we are all getting ready to take our music from Orchestra Hall out to the world.

—Beth Rapier, cello (formerly assistant principal cello), 1986-present

I have many favorite memories at Orchestra Hall, but one of my fondest was seeing my eldest son (16 years old at the time) play Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre on my violin with the Orchestra while balancing on a rola bola as part of a circus act in a season preview concert. He had nerves of steel—and so did I!

—Milana Elise Reiche, first violin, 1995-present

I have so many incredible memories it’s hard to pick the most meaningful, but one memory is truly unforgettable. It is not very happy, but very deep and somehow helped express our humanity. We all remember the Columbine school shooting in April 1999. The next week the Orchestra was performing Mahler’s Tenth Symphony with Mark Wigglesworth. His interpretation was memorable by itself, but in the last movement Mahler scored these hammer blows in the midst of really tragic writing. Those hammer blows were like gun shots, and I’m sure all 2,000 humans in Orchestra Hall were devastated: sometimes a musical event like that makes going on with life, despite great sorrow, possible.

—Anthony Ross, principal cello, 1988-present

The most memorable concert I’ve ever played was Mahler’s Second Symphony during the 1994 Sommerfest. After the famous Wunderhorn song, “Urlicht” (Primeval Light) bridge to the last movement, the finale begins. The brass and percussion are supremely loud with a dramatic musical depiction of the Resurrection, followed by an ominous and blaring march, and then, silence.

My first son, Alex, in utero, did not move or react during all of this very loud and crashing music. It was only at that magical moment where Mahler introduces the human voice—a massed chorus singing their very softest, the Minnesota Chorale whispered “Auferstehen” with a magical quality in their voices, a fervent feeling of hope everlasting. It is a spine-tingling moment for even the most experienced musician, and it was only then that Alex stirred in my womb for the first time— and not just a little — he started drumming and doing somersaults. What an amazing moment! Music speaks to and moves us all, even before birth!

—Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, horn, 1993-present

On June 28, 2008, my wife Beatrice Blanc and I threw the best party we have ever been to—in the Orchestra Hall lobby! It was our wedding reception, with no less than 350 friends and family. Passed hors d’oeuvres by Vincent Francoual, Café Accordion Orchestra bistro band, pipe and drape on all the windows, and even a parquet dance floor that the Orchestra keeps in its warehouse. The guest list included most of the Orchestra, most of MacPhail Center for Music, and my dad Vern Sutton’s guests—a who’s who in the local entertainment world. The only drawback to having that many people in that large of a space was that I really didn’t get to see my wife after the first dance, but now we have the rest of our lives together!

—Michael Sutton, second violin, 1997-present

One of my favorite memories at Orchestra Hall was the first time my dad was able to come see me play in the Orchestra. A former member of the Orchestra, my dad was here when the Hall opened in 1974 and played in its inaugural concerts, so it was pretty special for him to see me playing with the same orchestra in the same hall so many years later. We performed Verdi’s Requiem, which I had never done before, and it was an incredible experience.

—Erik Wheeler, cello (currently acting co-associate principal cello), 2019-present

Ten years later, I can still easily remember the energy and sounds of our audiences when we first returned to Orchestra Hall after the 16-month lockout had finally come to an end. The sound was more like something you’d hear from a rock concert, or jet engine perhaps, than what your typical classical concertgoers might produce. It was tremendous! Before one of our first concerts back in the Hall, I was honored to address our audience with then-Board Chair Gordy Sprenger as a symbol of unity and to assure them that we were, indeed, back! The love and excitement we received from the crowd was beyond palpable and something I know I’ll never forget. This was one of our organization’s first steps toward healing after the bitter lockout, not only internally, but with our community, as well. It’s incredibly fitting that it took place right here at home in Orchestra Hall.

—R. Douglas Wright, principal trombone, 1995-present

I have several favorite Orchestra Hall memories. The first is the Lunar New Year concert of 2022. It was the first time the Minnesota Orchestra offered a Lunar New Year concert, and I served as artistic consultant. My parents were featured as soloists, and my wife Fei Wen (a freelance flutist) and I were both playing onstage. Lunar New Year is a holiday we celebrate with family, and my whole family was onstage performing together while my kids were in the audience watching. It was a very meaningful evening. 

The second was performing the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä. That was early in the pandemic, and while there was no audience in the Hall, the concert was broadcast online and on TV. The feeling of playing into an empty hall was quite complicated, but the warm congratulations I received from my colleagues on stage and people who watched it from home were heartfelt. 

And lastly, the first concert Thomas Søndergård conducted as music director designate was The Rite of Spring in the fall of 2022. When he waited for the auditorium to quiet down completely and signaled me to begin the piece with one of the most famous bassoon solos, I felt the chill and a sense of pride.

—Fei Xie, principal bassoon, 2017-present