Senior Groups

Program

DVOŘÁK
Serenade in E major for String Orchestra / 27 min

DVOŘÁK
Violin Concerto / 31 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 7 / 38 min

At a Glance

A string-lover’s paradise. We open with Dvořak’s lush, song-filled Serenade for Strings, then welcome phenom James Ehnes for Dvořak’s Violin Concerto. And though his Seventh Symphony is not as famous as his Ninth, it is arguably the greatest of Dvořak’s symphonies—full of fiery Czech dance rhythms and bold harmonies, and holding one of the most exciting finales of all.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• James Ehnes, violin

Did You Know?

• Canadian violinist (and two-time Grammy-winner) James Ehnes has remarkably logged almost 50 different recordings since 1995, including being featured on a 2005 recording.
• Hyperspeed engaged: In addition to the Serenade in E major, 1875 also saw the creation of Dvořák’s Fifth Symphony, his Second String Quintet, First Piano Trio, the Moravian Duets and the opera Vanda.
• While Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony is a celebration of all things Czech, it’s also deeply personal. Initial sketches of the slow movement contained the footnote, “From the sad years,” likely referring to the recent death of his mother and previous death of his oldest child.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

DVOŘÁK
Serenade in D minor for Wind Instruments  / 23 min

DVOŘÁK
Piano Concerto  / 36 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 9, From the New World  / 43 min

At a Glance

We guarantee you’ll go home humming the African American spiritual-inspired melody, one of the most beloved in the world of classical music, found in the slow movement of Dvořak’s dramatic Ninth. Discoveries are here as well in his wonderfully captivating Wind Serenade and the magnificent Piano Concerto, performed by Sunwook Kim.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• Sunwook Kim, piano

Did You Know?

• Sunwook Kim was just 25 years old when he made his debut at the BBC Proms, one of the largest classical music festivals in the world. Of his performance, Bachtrack said: “Kim placed pianissimos always on the edge of disappearance so that the audience almost had to strain to hear; the effect was spellbinding.”
• Out of this world: Astronaut Neil Armstrong brought a tape recording of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 along with him during the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969.
• While not the first noteworthy Czech composer, Dvořák’s was the first to reach international acclaim and did it with a style drenched in Czech folk and dance themes.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

About Symphony in 60

Symphony in 60 concerts feature classical music's most beloved composers and pieces. Our musicians have curated the list and can't wait to share this program with you. This bite-sized concert featuring Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 begins at 6pm–plus, there are happy hour specials and a post-concert onstage reception with Minnesota Orchestra musicians. Come as you are and enjoy the best of orchestral music!

Program

DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 9, From the New World 

At a Glance

One of the most famous symphonies in the all the world was finished not far from here, in the cornfields of northeast Iowa. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák spent a summer there letting the songs of Native Americans and African Americans play in his imagination. In this quick 60-minute concert, you’ll hear the whole glorious piece complete, and most likely leave Orchestra Hall humming the unforgettable melody at its heart.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Did You Know?

• Symphony in 60 gives you even more ways to enjoy your night out. $5 happy hours, tasty treats and a chance to meet the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra.
• Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the most well-known symphonies in classical music. With Music Director Osmo Vänskä at the podium, this is sure to be a very special performance.
• If you’re interested in seeing where Dvořák composed this masterwork, you don’t need to drive more than a few hours south of the Twin Cities to Spillville, Iowa. Dvořák wrote this symphony (and two other pieces) during a summer stay in the small Iowa town.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

SØRENSEN
Evening Land / 13 min

MOZART
Piano Concerto No. 23  / 26 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

RACHMANINOFF
Symphony No. 1 / 41 min

At a Glance

Sorensen’s Evening Land, a shimmering and emotional work, sets in motion this concert full of melody, including one of the most touching passages that Mozart ever created. You’ll hear it in the middle of his Piano Concerto No. 23, played by Ingrid Fliter, famous for her crystalline tone. And a Rachmaninoff rarity to close: his First Symphony, written when he was only in his early 20s, yet one of his most powerful scores.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Thomas Søndergård, conductor
• Ingrid Fliter, piano

Did You Know?

• Evening Land was premiered by its commissioning ensemble, the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of former Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Edo de Waart.
• In addition to being an outstanding concert pianist, Argentina native Ingrid Fliter is also a painter. According to Fliter, painting has “unleashed a magical new world to me.”
• A creative burst: Within two months of completing his Piano Concerto No. 23, Mozart completed the next one (Piano Concerto No. 24) and saw the premiere of his opera, The Marriage of Figaro.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

MENDELSSOHN
Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra / 36 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

L. BOULANGER
D’un matin de printemps  (On a Spring Morning) / 5 min

DELIUS
Idylle de printemps (Spring Idyll) / 8 min

DEBUSSY
Printemps (Spring) / 15 min

At a Glance

The spirit of springtime bursts from nearly every bar of this program, from the quicksilver glint in Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto, to Lili Boulanger’s buoyant depiction of a morning in May and Debussy’s seductive Spring. These are all specialties of one of the esteemed Orchestra Hall guest conductors of recent seasons, Juanjo Mena.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Juanjo Mena, conductor
• Erin Keefe, violin
• Juho Pohjonen, piano

Did You Know?

• Child prodigy: Lili Boulanger accompanied her older sister, Nadia, to classes at the Paris Conservatory before she was even 5 years old.
• What could have been: The first version of Debussy’s Printemps was actually lost in a fire. The version we know today was rewritten in 1908.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

MAZZOLI
Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)  / 12 min

PROKOFIEV
Violin Concerto No. 2  / 26 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No. 6, Pathétique  / 45 min

At a Glance

Audiences and musicians are captivated by conductor Nathalie Stutzmann, and for good reason. One of the world’s leading contraltos, she often sings her direction to the musicians in rehearsal, with inspiring results. “Pure connection,” they say. Song—here in the winds, there in the brass, now in the strings—is in nearly every bar of Tchaikovsky’s final symphony.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
• Tobias Feldmann, violin

Did You Know?

• A champion for the new: Though most of Missy Mazzoli’s influences are past composers, she says, “I want to reflect the era that I’m living in now and make music that can only be written now.”
• Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of his Sixth Symphony just nine days before his death.
• A true collaborator, Nathalie Stutzmann understands the value of a good audience to deliver a powerful performance. “If you come in open, relaxed and abandon yourself to what the performers have to give, then we can connect.”

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

About Symphony in 60

Symphony in 60 concerts feature classical music's most beloved composers and pieces. This bite-sized concert featuring Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 begins at 6pm–plus, there are happy hour specials and a post-concert onstage reception with Minnesota Orchestra musicians. Come as you are and enjoy the best of orchestral music!

Program

TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No. 6, Pathétique  / 45 min

At a Glance

One of Tchaikovsky’s final pieces, and the last music he conducted in his all-too-short lifetime. Did he know it would be his swan song? Debate about that has raged since its 1893 premiere. Regardless, he poured himself into the Sixth Symphony like nothing else he’d ever created, and made it a 45-minute journey into the tenderest parts of the human heart.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor

Did You Know?

• Excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony have appeared in almost a dozen different movies and were even featured in one episode of Nickelodeon’s animated show Ren & Stimpy.
• Tchaikovsky was reticent to have his voice recorded. When asked to play something on the piano or say something for a recording, Tchaikovsky allegedly replied, “I am a bad pianist and my voice is raspy. Why should one eternalize it?”
• Symphony in 60 gives you even more ways to enjoy your night out. $5 happy hours, tasty treats and a chance to meet the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

JANÁČEK
Taras Bulba, Rhapsody for Orchestra  / 23 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

BARTÓK
Bluebeard's Castle  / 59 min

At a Glance

As soon as Prince Bluebeard brings his new bride home to his castle, she demands to know what lies behind seven mysterious locked doors. Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle unfolds from there, in a two-character, one-act operatic masterpiece. To sing it, we’ve invited Gábor Bretz, one of the most supple and soaring baritone voices of our day, and mezzo Michelle DeYoung, whose artistry The New York Times praises as “powerful, warm, and seductive.”

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Juraj Valčuha, conductor
• Michelle DeYoung, mezzo
• Gábor Bretz, baritone

Did You Know?

• Bluebeard’s Castle, an intensely dramatic operatic work, offers a stirring interpretation of the French folktale Bluebeard, where Bluebeard’s new wife, Judith, explores the dark and unsettling stories of the castle (including those of Bluebeard’s previous wives) for the first time.
• In terms of vocal range, Bluebeard’s Castle is particularly taxing for the mezzo. Three-time Grammy winner Michelle DeYoung is certainly up for the challenge and has previously performed this role.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

MAHLER
Symphony No. 3 / 92 min

At a Glance

Applause is coming from all over the world for the Orchestra’s Mahler symphony cycle. Here is Mahler’s Third, voted one of the 10 greatest symphonies of all time in BBC Music Magazine. Sasha Cooke was breathtaking in performances of the Second, and in the Third she sings one of Mahler’s most hauntingly beautiful moments: “Man, take heed. Deep is the world’s pain, but deeper still is joy.”

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• Sasha Cooke, mezzo
• Women of the Minnesota Chorale
• Minnesota Boychoir

Did You Know?

• You know you’ve made it when: A reference to Mahler’s Third Symphony appears in Prince’s song, Good Love.
• The Minnesota Boychoir is celebrating its 59th season and has performed with ensembles from the Minnesota Orchestra to the Baltimore Symphony to the Prague Philharmonic.
• Mahler’s epic Third is almost two symphonies in one. Six total movements in two different groups (plus a host of voices) makes this a monumental piece of music.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

HILLBORG
Through Lost Landscapes  / 13 min

GINASTERA
Harp Concerto / 21 min

WALKER
Lyric for Strings / 6 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

BRAHMS
Symphony No. 3  / 33 min

At a Glance

Minneapolis’ Grace Roepke is the first harpist ever to win the Grand Prize of the national Young Artist Competition put on by the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra. Alongside her exciting debut is the U.S. premiere of Through Lost Landscapes, an evocative new work from Sweden’s Anders Hillborg, and George Walker’s tranquil Lyric for Strings. Brahms’ Third Symphony, his most noble and deeply personal work, caps the concert.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• Grace Roepke, harp

Did You Know?

• Swedish composer Anders Hillborg began his musical career in pop music, playing keyboards for a band that played music from artists like Chicago, Elton John, and Blood, Sweat and Tears.
• Music critic (and Johannes Brahms’ friend) Eduard Hanslick referred to Brahms’ Third Symphony as artistically “nearly perfect.”
• In an interview with Southwest News Media, Young Artist Competition winner Grace Roepke said, “One of the biggest misconceptions is that [harpists] can’t play loud.” Osmo Vänskä, one of the competition’s judges, said he was impressed by how Roepke’s sound filled Orchestra Hall.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

About Symphony in 60

Symphony in 60 concerts feature classical music's most beloved composers and pieces. This bite-sized concert featuring Brahms' Symphony No. 3 begins at 6pm–plus, there are happy hour specials and a post-concert onstage reception with Minnesota Orchestra musicians. Come as you are and enjoy the best of orchestral music!

Program

BRAHMS
Symphony No. 3  / 33 min

At a Glance

Ask just about any conductor which of the four Brahms symphonies is their favorite, and you'll be money ahead if you bet on the Third. This is Brahms at his best: touching melody, driving rhythm, and the richest Romantic-era harmonies. In a compact Symphony in 60 setting, you'll hear this beauty, then be on with your Saturday night on the town.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Did You Know?

• Music critic (and Johannes Brahms’ friend) Eduard Hanslick referred to Brahms’ Third Symphony as artistically “nearly perfect.”
• A symphony worth fighting over: An intense public feud between Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner led many of Wagner followers to try and interfere with the Third Symphony's premiere.
• Brahms the perfectionist: Before publishing his First and Second String Quartets, Brahms claimed he destroyed about 20 others because he was unsatisfied by their quality.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

MOZART
Overture to The Marriage of Figaro  / 4 min

PROKOFIEV
Piano Concerto No. 3  / 28 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

R. STRAUSS
Sinfonia domestica / 44 min

At a Glance

Simon Trpčeski’s concerts routinely leave audiences searching for words to describe the dazzling experience. Though London’s Telegraph did it nicely recently: “A performance that was extraordinary in its capacity to expose the music’s very heart.” For you, he’ll perform Prokofiev’s fireworks-as-music Third Concerto. We bookend this with the grace of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture, and the full-orchestra virtuosity of Strauss’ Sinfonia domestica, which the composer described as a “partly lyrical, partly humorous” day-in-the-life depiction of his household.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Marc Albrecht, conductor
• Simon Trpčeski, piano

Did You Know?

• The Viennese premiere of Strauss’ Sinfonia domestica was conducted by Gustav Mahler.
• In addition to touring as a concert pianist, Simon Trpčeski launched a project celebrating the folk music of his home country of Macedonia.
• Sergei Prokofiev himself played the piano at the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1921.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

BARTÓK
Violin Concerto No. 2  / 36 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

DEBUSSY
Suite from Pelléas and Mélisande / 22 min

RAVEL
La Valse / 13 min

At a Glance

Presented for the first time at Orchestra Hall, Debussy’s early 20th-century operatic masterwork Pelléas and Mélisande is rendered in this sensuous concert suite. Beautiful French repertoire like Debussy’s is a specialty of Fabien Gabel, the charismatic leader of the Quebec Symphony. In his Orchestra Hall debut, Gabel also conducts Bartok’s Second Violin Concerto, featuring Isabelle Faust, as well as Ravel’s whirling, swirling La Valse.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Fabien Gabel, conductor
• Isabelle Faust, violin

Did You Know?

• Ravel’s La Valse is billed as a choreographic poem, and though most often experienced as a concert piece, it was originally drawn up as a ballet.
• A happy accident? German violinist Isabelle Faust’s first violin lesson was at five years old when she accompanied her father to his lessons after he decided he wanted to learn to play. After that, she was hooked.
• Debussy’s opera Pelléas and Mélisande tells the story of a heated love triangle drenched in mystery, passion and tragedy.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

GRIEG
Piano Concerto / 30 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

SCHUMANN
Symphony No. 3, Rhenish / 32 min

At a Glance

When conductor Christoph König was a young boy, he trained in one of Germany’s celebrated boychoirs, quickly added piano and then took up the conductor’s baton—all with remarkable results. In his first Orchestra Hall concert, he leads Schumann’s Third—nearly every bar of which is full of melody inspired by the Rhine River. Russian-American pianist Olga Kern also makes her Minnesota Orchestra debut, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Christoph König, conductor
• Olga Kern, piano

Did You Know?

• Schumann’s Third Symphony is also known as the Rhenish Symphony and was inspired by a sublime trip the composer took to Rhineland, Germany with celebrated composer and concert pianist (and wife), Clara.
• Not a typo: As a young boy, Christoph König sang with Dresdner Kreuzchor, a Dresden boychoir that just celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2016!
• Sending the ladder back down: In 2016, pianist Olga Kern launched her own international piano competition aimed at providing a “venue for young pianists to develop an international career.”

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

BACEWICZ
Concerto for String Orchestra

TCHAIKOVSKY
Violin Concerto

INTERMISSION / 20 min

SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 5

At a Glance

A celebration of strings, beginning with the buoyant Concerto for String Orchestra by Grażyna Bacewicz. It holds an echo of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and its 1948 premiere made her a leading composer of post-war Poland. Star violinist Karen Gomyo graces the party with the most beloved of all the great 19th-century concertos, by Tchaikovsky. And violinist-turned-conductor Andrew Manze concludes with Shostakovich’s triumphant Fifth Symphony.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Andrew Manze, conductor
• Karen Gomyo, violin

Did You Know?

• Fit for a feast: Tchaikovsky’s superlative Violin Concerto was featured in the soundtrack to Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the transfixing documentary about an 85-year-old man who owns one of the best sushi restaurants in the entire world.
• In addition to stunning interpretations in the classical world, violinist Karen Gomyo also has a passion (and an immense talent) for Nuevo Tango music.
• Grażyna Bacewicz is one of Poland’s cultural treasures and even appeared on a stamp from the Poczta Polska (the Polish Post) on what would have been her 100th birthday.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

FAGERLUND
Ignite / 28 min

PROKOFIEV
Sinfonia concertante for Cello and Orchestra  / 37 min

INTERMISSION / 20 min

NIELSEN
Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable  / 36 min

At a Glance

What a thrill to welcome Truls Mørk to our stage again! The acclaimed cellist was last here nearly 20 years ago and moved Minnesotans with his white-hot playing. In this much-anticipated return he brings the cellist’s supreme challenge, Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante. Speaking of white-hot, musical flames dance throughout Ignite by Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund, and in Nielsen’s Fourth, The Inextinguishable.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• Truls Mørk, cello

Did You Know?

• Following an 18-month rehab and hiatus after what he thought was a career-ending paralysis, Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk was able to return to the stage and continue an illustrious professional career.
• Of his creative process, Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund says the compositional work “requires me in a way to fade myself out,” and let the music speak for itself.
• While he wasn’t celebrated during his lifetime, Danish composer Carl Nielsen later became one of the country’s most beloved cultural figures and even appeared on Denmark’s 100-kroner mark from 1999 until it was taken out of circulation in 2010.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Program

FRANK 
Pachamama Meets an Ode  / 10 min

BEETHOVEN
Missa Solemnis  / 81 min

At a Glance

Though Beethoven called this his Solemn Mass, it bursts with moments of ecstatic joy. It comes from the same time as his Ninth Symphony when his powers were visionary. As a prelude and pairing to it, one of today’s most acclaimed contemporary composers Gabriela Lena Frank has created Pachamama Meets an Ode, co-commissioned by Classical Movements as part of a consortium that includes the Minnesota Orchestra.

Artists

• Minnesota Orchestra
• Osmo Vänskä, conductor
• Carolyn Sampson, soprano
• Carolyn Sproule, mezzo
• Barry Banks, tenor
• James Rutherford, bass-baritone
• Minnesota Chorale

Did You Know?

• While Beethoven isn’t typically known for large-scale liturgical works, the mass Missa Solemnis is considered one of the greats for the genre, up there with the likes of Bach.
• Join the Minnesota Orchestra for an on stage reception immediately following the concert.
• Gabriela Lena Frank composes for Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble and contributed a work for their 2009 Grammy-nominated record, Off the Map.

Accessibility at Orchestra Hall