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
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
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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
In his Concerto for Orchestra, Bartók upends the concerto form by treating each section of instruments in a soloistic and virtuosic manner. The mood progresses from stern to spooky to life-affirming, with two witty scherzos scattered into the mix. 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
- After French composer Henri Tomasi wrote his Trumpet Concerto, it was originally deemed too difficult to perform. As more trumpet players took on the challenge, it became Tomasi’s best-known work, popular among soloists and audiences alike.
- 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.
- Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen is comfortable conducting masterworks of classical music as well as opera, and was recently appointed the Artistic and General Director of Bergen National Opera for the 2020-2021 Season.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall
Prokofiev and Shostakovich
About This Concert
Masterpieces by two Russian powerhouses of 20th-century music, along with an Azerbaijani pioneer, comprise a stunning and far-reaching program featuring acclaimed German violinist Christian Tetzlaff and electric Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits.
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
- Tetzlaff is known for his cerebral yet spiritual style, which focuses on fully inhabiting the music and honoring the composer’s original intentions.
- In addition to his rising fame as a conductor, Karabits has made great contributions to musical research and restoration, including work on the transcription of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Johannes Passion (thought to have ben permanently lost) and the discovery, premiere and recording of Telemann's previously unknown opera, Pastorelle en Musique.
- 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.
- In the early 2010s, Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena led a recording of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony for Hyperion with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been described to “utterly redefine the terms under which past/current/future Turangalîlas need to be judged."
- 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. Special guests for this concert are the Sphinx Virtuosi—one of the nation’s most dynamic professional chamber ensembles, comprising 18 top Black and Latinx classical soloists—who will open the concert with two South American showpieces and join the Orchestra for an unforgettable Scheherazade.
Program
ROMERO
Fuga con Pajarillo, from Suite No. 1 for Strings / 7 min
PIAZZOLLA
Fuga y misterio / 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
- Sphinx Virtuosi, chamber orchestra
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.
- The Sphinx Organization is a Detroit-based national organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.
- The Sphinx Virtuosi’s national tour this season includes performances at Carnegie Hall, Miami’s New World Center and St Paul’s Ordway Center.
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. Special guests for this concert are the Sphinx Virtuosi—one of the nation’s most dynamic professional chamber ensembles, comprising 18 top Black and Latinx classical soloists—who will open the concert with two South American showpieces and join the Orchestra for an unforgettable Scheherazade.
Program
ROMERO
Fuga con Pajarillo, from Suite No. 1 for Strings / 7 min
PIAZZOLLA
Fuga y misterio / 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
- Sphinx Virtuosi, chamber orchestra
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.
- The Sphinx Organization is a Detroit-based national organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.
- The Sphinx Virtuosi’s national tour this season includes performances at Carnegie Hall, Miami’s New World Center and St Paul’s Ordway Center.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- Hadelich, who will be playing his own cadenza for the Britten Violin Concerto at these performances, offers the following thoughts on the concerto: “Benjamin Britten was a passionate pacifist and poured his anguish about the suffering of the Spanish civil war (which raged from 1936 until 1939) into this piece. I think Britten’s concerto can be heard almost programmatically. The first movement is the idyllic Spain before the conflict, the second movement depicts the war and its cadenza the human pain and suffering. Then the moving and deeply personal third movement is about Britten himself trying to come to terms with what happened, with moments of mourning, moments of denial, and finally a glimmer of hope.”
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
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
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