Our Sunday matinee series and Thursday morning coffee concerts are a popular favorite with senior groups of 10 or more. The coffee concerts include complimentary coffee and donuts. Our facilities are fully accessible with amenities including bus parking, accessible seating and assistive listening devices.
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Eligible Concerts
Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem
About This Concert
South African soprano Goitsemang Lehobye joins the Minnesota Chorale for a moving program that includes Sibelius’ atmospheric tone poem and Vaughan Williams’ lush cantata.
Program
SIBELIUS
The Swan of Tuonela / 10 min
DEAN
Cello Concerto [U.S. Premiere] / 25 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Dona Nobis Pacem / 40 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Alban Gerhardt, cello
- Marni J. Hougham, English horn
- Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano
- Dashon Burton, baritone
- Minnesota Chorale
- Singers from 29:11
- Gauteng Choristers
Read more
Fun Facts
- Soprano Goitsemang Lehobye joined the Minnesota Orchestra for Sommerfest and a groundbreaking tour to South Africa in 2018, performing as a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and in the world premiere of Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s Harmonia Ubuntu. She is featured again as a soloist in the Orchestra’s Música Juntos Sommerfest series in 2019.
- The Chicago Tribune hails composer Brett Dean as “...a voice of fertile imagination, originality and expressive subtlety.”
- Dean’s Cello Concerto, which will receive its U.S. premiere at these concerts, was co-commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra.
- The late-Romantic and early modernist composer Sibelius was so beloved by his native Finland that his face appeared on the 100-mark banknote until Finland adopted the Euro in 2002.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Handel’s Messiah
About This Concert
Before the season rushes ahead, and the to-do list becomes too long to ever get done, set aside an evening for your soul. Handel’s Messiah opens with a tender call, “Comfort ye,” and its ringing Hallelujah Chorus will echo in your spirit throughout the holidays.
Program
HANDEL
Messiah / 140 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Nicholas Kraemer, conductor
- Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
- Daniel Moody, countertenor
- Richard Croft, tenor
- Benjamin Bevan, baritone
- Minnesota Chorale
Fun Facts
- Handel’s Messiah was originally associated with Easter and premiered in April 1742 in Dublin.
- The Star Tribune crowns the Minnesota Chorale “…one of the area’s preeminent choirs, [combining] impeccable diction with a real commitment to the music.”
- The San Francisco Chronicle hailed Sherezade Panthaki as “a phenomenon” and praised the “multifold splendor of her singing."
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Home for the Holidays
About This Concert
Now in its third year, this merry mix of storytelling, carols and comedy speaks to the meaning of family, Christmas and home, with a uniquely Minnesotan twist.
Celebrate the season with a hilariously heartwarming event featuring Minnesota’s favorite storyteller, Kevin Kling. Led by Sarah Hicks, the Minnesota Orchestra, Kling and special local guest performers illuminate the joy of the season through music, only-in-Minnesota traditions, the power of family and the story of a lost mitten.
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Sarah Hicks, conductor
- Kevin Kling, narrator
- Christina Baldwin, ensemble
- Robert O. Berdahl, ensemble
- Greta Oglesby, ensemble
- Huxley Westemeier, ensemble
Fun Facts
- We’re delighted to welcome a talented cast of Twin Cities-based actors and vocalists for this performance.
- Principal Conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall Sarah Hicks and acclaimed director Peter Rothstein collaborated with Kevin Kling and composers Robert Elhai and Peter Ostroushko to create this original holiday show, with additional material by Stephen Paulus as well as other seasonal favorites.
- Kevin Kling is a Minnesota treasure who has won the prestigious Whiting Award for Drama as well as the 2012 National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award.
- Start your own holiday family tradition! Buy one adult ticket at full price, and additional youth tickets (age 6-17) are just $12.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Merry and Bright with Charles Lazarus
About This Concert
Give your holidays a boost of big, brassy joy in a performance by Minnesota Orchestra trumpeter Charles Lazarus and his dazzling ensemble, including the fabulous Lazarus Brass.
A holiday tradition created by our own trumpeter extraordinaire Charles Lazarus, this concert brings the exuberance of brass to swing arrangements of carols, soulful gospel tunes and boppy pop favorites. Joined by powerhouse vocalists and his high-energy ensemble, Lazarus brings renewed brilliance to beloved classics. (Note: the Minnesota Orchestra does not perform on this program.)
Artists
- Charles Lazarus, trumpet
- Tommy Barbarella, piano and keyboards
- Jeff Bailey, jazz bass
- Tonia Hughes, vocals
- Bruce A. Henry, vocals
- Cameron Kinghorn, vocals
- Daryl Boudreaux, percussion
- David Schmalenberger, drums
- The Lazarus Brass
Fun Facts
- At age 19, Charles Lazarus made his Carnegie Hall solo debut with the New York String Orchestra while he was a student at Juilliard.
- New York Newsday praises Lazarus’ “bedazzling technique and refined sense of musicianship.”
- Keyboard player Tommy Barbarella was a member of Prince’s New Power Generation.
- This program features sparkling versions of traditional songs including a big band reimagining of “We Three Kings,” and a New Orleans riff on “Frosty the Snowman.”
Please note: The Minnesota Orchestra does not perform on this program.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
MusicMakers with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra
About This Concert
The culmination of the Orchestra's 17th annual Composer Institute, this performance features the music of some of the country's most gifted young composers, plus a behind-the-scenes look at the craft of music-making through onstage interviews with each composer.
Program
THEO CHANDLER
Songs from Brooches for Two Sopranos and Orchestra
PAUL FRUCHT
Acadian Vista
CLARE GLACKIN
Archaea
MARC MIGO
Movement II from Double Concerto for Violin and Piano
PATRICK O'MALLEY
Rest and Restless
LIZA SOBEL
Ticking Time Bomb
NICKY SOHN
Bird Up
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Kevin Puts, Composer Institute director
Fun Facts
- The Composer Institute is co-presented with the American Composers Forum.
- Ticket price includes a pre-concert and intermission beverage. Plus, meet the composers at a post-concert reception.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Mahler and Ravel
About This Concert
Romantic, artful and expressive, these selections by three giants of early 20th-century music bring meditative warmth to mid-winter evenings.
Program
MAHLER
Blumine, from Symphony No. 1 / 10 min
Rückert Lieder / 17 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
RAVEL
Pavane for a Dead Princess / 6 min
Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe / 16 min
DEBUSSY
Jeux, Poème dansé / 17 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Simone Young, conductor
- Tara Erraught, mezzo
Fun Facts
- Despite its somewhat deceptive title, Ravel’s Pavane was not intended to be sad, but rather to convey the image of a young Spanish princess dancing a traditional courtly dance.
- Guest conductor Simone Young was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia and has received a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Brahms Prize of Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein and the Goethe Medal.
- Debussy, known for his “impressionistic” style, created the intuitively beautiful Jeux in about three weeks.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Beethoven, Bach and Britten
About This Concert
Strings take center stage as noted cellist and conductor Paul Watkins joins us for a luminous cello concerto, Britten’s idyllic musical portrait and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony.
Program
BRITTEN
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge / 25 min
C.P.E. BACH
Cello Concerto in A major / 20 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 4 / 32 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Paul Watkins, conductor and cello
Fun Facts
- The Fourth Symphony represents a lighter, more relaxed version of Beethoven’s music, as it falls in between his bold Third (Eroica) and Fifth Symphonies. Robert Schumann described the Fourth as “a slender Greek maiden between two Nordic giants.”
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was Johann’s son and held a 30-year job as harpsichord accompanist to King Frederick the Great.
- Britten’s Variations pay tribute to his teacher Frank Bridge, with each variation representing one facet of Bridge’s character.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Frank and Ella
About This Concert
The artistry of 20th-century legends Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra takes center stage for an evening celebrating the talent and tenacity of two great American singers.
Driven by passion, grit and captivating musical talent, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald’s live collaborations revealed real warmth, wit and sophistication. Award-winning vocalists Tony DeSare and Capathia Jenkins beautifully recreate Frank and Ella’s friendship, onstage rapport and sparkling harmonies in a performance that truly shines.
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Sarah Hicks, conductor
- Tony DeSare, piano and vocals
- Capathia Jenkins, vocals
Fun Facts
- Sinatra and Fitzgerald appeared together on stage and on television, but they never made an album together because of contractual obligations to their respective record labels.
- Frank Sinatra is one of the best-selling artists ever and sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.
- This performance includes favorites such as “Get Happy,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” “Body and Soul,” “Sing, Sing, Sing” and many more.
- Fitzgerald’s career took off in 1934, after she won Amateur Night honors at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Ravel Piano Concerto
About This Concert
Acclaimed American conductor Karina Canellakis leads the Orchestra in a vivacious performance that includes Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto and Lineage by Zosha Di Castri.
Program
DI CASTRI
Lineage / 11 min
RAVEL
Piano Concerto in G major / 21 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
BARTÓK
Concerto for Orchestra / 38 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Karina Canellakis, conductor
- Francesco Piemontesi, piano
Fun Facts
- Winner of the 2016 Georg Solti Conducting Award, Canellakis is the first female chief conductor of the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Zosha Di Castri is a Canadian composer-pianist whose work includes non-traditional projects with electronics, installations, video and dance collaborations.
- The Spectator praises Piemontesi’s “…stunning technique with an intellectual capacity that few can match.”
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Grieg and Rachmaninoff
About This Concert
Norwegian genius takes the stage as Eivind Gullberg Jensen conducts Romantic masterpieces by Grieg and Rachmaninoff, a colorful trumpet concerto featuring Tine Thing Helseth, and a new work by Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute alumnus Anna Clyne.
Program
CLYNE
This Midnight Hour / 12 min
GRIEG
Selections from Lyric Suite and Three Songs / 13 min
TOMASI
Trumpet Concerto / 15 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
RACHMANINOFF
Symphony No. 2 / 60 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Eivind Gullberg Jensen, conductor
- Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet
Fun Facts
- Tine Thing Helseth was named “Newcomer of the Year” at the 2013 Echo Klassik Awards. In addition to her classical performances, she leads an all-woman brass ensemble that plays Piazzolla, Brubeck, Bach, Joni Mitchell and Irish-inspired Balkan folk music.
- Edvard Greig had a “lucky frog” figurine that he kept with him during performances. The frog is on display in Greig’s former home and now-museum at Troldhaugen in Bergen, Norway.
- Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony was panned by critics when it premiered in 1897. Stung by its failure, he composed the Second in secret in 1906-07.
- Anna Clyne is one of four Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute alumni to have earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Classical Composition, in 2014 for her Prince Of Clouds.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Tetzlaff Plays Shostakovich
About This Concert
Don’t miss this chance to experience a revelatory performance of Shostakovich’s brilliant Second Concerto from acclaimed German violinist Christian Tetzlaff.
Program
ALI-ZADEH
Fairy Tales / 14 min
SHOSTAKOVICH
Violin Concerto No. 2 / 29 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
PROKOFIEV
Symphony No. 5 / 46 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Kirill Karabits, conductor
- Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Fun Facts
- When Shostakovich worked as a pianist for silent movies, he would improvise specific tunes for each character.
- Tetzlaff is known for his cerebral yet spiritual style, which focuses on fully inhabiting the music and honoring the composer’s original intentions.
- Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is a composer and pianist known for works exploring the musical tradition of Azerbaijani mugham and 20th-century Western composition techniques. Her works have been performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Gerstein Plays Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
About This Concert
Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein brings rigor and wit to Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto in a program that also features Shostakovich’s heroic Leningrad Symphony.
Program
RACHMANINOFF
Piano Concerto No. 2 / 36 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 7, Leningrad / 70 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Juanjo Mena, conductor
- Kirill Gerstein, piano
Fun Facts
- Gerstein will join the Orchestra throughout the calendar year 2020 to perform all of Rachmaninoff's major works for piano and orchestra.
- Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony premiered in its namesake city in 1942 while it was under siege by Nazi Germany. Loudspeakers broadcast the symphony throughout the city to erode German military morale.
- The Boston Classical Review praises Gerstein, stating he has the “poetic sensitivity to match the technical fireworks.”
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Vänskä Conducts Scheherazade
About This Concert
Prepare to be stunned by the percussive journey of Aho’s concerto, then enchanted by the ornamental wonder of Rimsky-Korsakov’s universally-revered Scheherazade.
Program
PÄRT
Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten / 6 min
AHO
Sieidi, Percussion Concerto / 36 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Scheherazade / 47 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Martin Grubinger, percussion
Fun Facts
- For Aho’s propulsive percussion concerto, the soloist moves from drums to marimba to vibraphone to tamtam.
- The New York Times has praised soloist Martin Grubinger’s “monstrous fluency” and “ambidextrous talent.”
- Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpiece Scheherazade is an orchestral suite based on the Middle Eastern folk tale collection One Thousand and One Nights, or Arabian Nights.
- Pärt composed his evocative and cinematic tribute to British composer Benjamin Britten in 1976.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Brahms Symphony No. 4
About This Concert
Augustin Hadelich has dazzled Orchestra Hall audiences across several seasons with technical wizardry and heart-and-soul poetic playing. His concerts here are becoming the stuff of legend, so do not miss this! This concert is led by a fast-rising conductor, the Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado, famous in European halls for his fiery podium style.
Program
WEBERN
Passacaglia / 11 min
BRITTEN
Violin Concerto / 32 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 4 / 40 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
- Augustin Hadelich, violin
Fun Facts
- According to the Los Angeles Times, “Hadelich…is an intimate performer whose self-effacing quality allows the music to soar.”
- When Hadelich was a boy, he suffered severe burns and couldn’t play violin for a year. He said, “Because I had this moment where I wasn’t sure if I would ever play the violin again, I appreciate my life more. It made me realize how important music was to me.”
- Hadelich was named Musical America’s 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year and is often heralded for his phenomenal technique, soulful approach and insightful interpretations in solo appearances around the world.
- The New York Times describes Heras-Casado as "the thinking person’s idea of a hotshot young conductor."
- Named Musical America’s 2014 Conductor of the Year, Heras-Casado has a varied and broad-ranging career, which includes appearances with both opera companies and symphony orchestras around the globe.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Park and Ainomäe Play Brahms
About This Concert
Smooth and sonorous, Brahms’ concerto lyrically unites the voices of the cello and violin in a program that showcases two of the Orchestra’s virtuoso musicians.
Program
BRAHMS
Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra / 31 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
BRUCKNER
Symphony No. 9
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
- Susie Park, violin
- Silver Ainomäe, cello
Fun Facts
- Brahms wrote this concerto inspired and encouraged by his friend and fellow collaborator, violinist Joseph Joachim.
- Susie Park started playing the violin at age three and made her solo debut at five. Silver Ainomäe began cello at six and debuted in his first international competition at age eight.
- Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony was his last. When he died, the symphony’s last movement was left unfinished.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Gerstein Plays Rachmaninoff: Paganini Rhapsody
About This Concert
Virtuosic both in technique and emotion, this performance features powerhouse pianist Kirill Gerstein’s Rachmaninoff homage and Stravinsky’s visceral and moving choral work.
Program
RACHMANINOFF
Three Russian Songs / 14 min
Piano Concerto No. 1 / 26 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
RACHMANINOFF
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini / 23 min
STRAVINSKY
Symphony of Psalms / 22 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Kirill Gerstein, piano
- Minnesota Chorale
Fun Facts
- In 1929, Stravinsky composed Symphony of Psalms as a commission to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
- The New York Times cites Gerstein’s background in jazz as influencing his ability to perform classically with both “uncanny delicacy” and “gnashing power.”
- Rachmaninoff’s friend Stravinsky once characterized him as a “six-and-a-half-foot-scowl.”
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Fei Xie Plays Mozart
About This Concert
Mozart’s only bassoon concerto highlights the instrument’s rich versatility in a concert that showcases the talent of the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal bassoonist, Fei Xie.
Program
FAGERLUND
Water Atlas / 18 min
MOZART
Bassoon Concerto / 18 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
SAARIAHO
Ciel d’hiver / 10 min
ENESCU
Symphony No. 1 / 32 min
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Fei Xie, bassoon
Fun Facts
- Fei Xie began playing the bassoon at the age of twelve. Both of his parents are Peking Opera musicians and his uncle is a composer who introduced him to classical music at the age of three.
- Originally created to reinforce an orchestra’s bass line, the bassoon has developed into an instrument with a distinctive, warm tone that allows it to create unique textures when paired with other instruments as well as sing out as a soloist.
- In April 2018, the Orchestra’s Music Director Osmo Vänskä led the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the world premiere of Water Atlas.
- Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho received the 2017 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for her contributions in “breaking down the divisions between acoustic and electronic music.”
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall