Due to limited seating capacity per the State of Minnesota guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are unable to take online Group Reservations for the 2020-21 season at this time. Contact Group Sales at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 612-371-5662 to check on availability.
Eligible Concerts

Vänskä Conducts Brahms Symphony No. 3
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Mozart, Prokofiev and Strauss
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Chamber Music: REFLECTIONS
At a Glance
Minnesota Orchestra musicians come together in small ensembles to perform cherished classics and innovative new music on Sunday afternoons in the Target Atrium.
Did You Know?
- Reflection on the past can create a spark that leads to great works of art, including these pieces for chamber ensembles by Du Yun, Dmitri Shostakovich, Jean Françaix and Johannes Brahms.
- Tattooed in Snow, a work written in 2015 by New York-based composer Du Yun, explores the delicate art forms of sand and snow sculpture through the lens of a string quartet.
- Yun was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition in 2019 and was recently selected by The Washington Post as one of the top 35 female composers.
- For his unique Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, Brahms reflected on his own past and decided to write a piece that featured the three instruments that he himself knew how to play.
- Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet earned him the State Stalin Prize in 1941, an award that came with one of the largest cash prizes in chamber music history at the time.
Program and Artists
YUN
Tattooed in Snow / 15 min
- Hanna Landrum, violin
- Emily Switzer, violin
- Sam Bergman, viola
- Silver Ainomäe, cello
SHOSTAKOVICH
Quintet for Piano and Strings / 32 min
- Cecilia Belcher, violin
- Rebecca Corruccini, violin
- Megan Tam, viola
- Beth Rapier, cello
- Mary Jo Gothmann, piano
INTERMISSION / 20 min
FRANÇAIX
Divertissement for Bassoon and String Quintet / 15 min
- Fei Xie, bassoon
- Susie Park, violin
- Sarah Grimes, violin
- Rebecca Albers, viola
- Silver Ainomäe, cello
- Kristen Bruya, bass
BRAHMS
Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano / 35 min
- David Brubaker, violin
- Bruce Hudson, horn
- Susan Billmeyer, piano
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Bartók and Debussy
Program (Subject to Change)
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

MusicMakers
At a Glance
Innovation center stage! We’ve asked the most exciting emerging orchestral composers in America today to send us their most imaginative work. From that inspiring collection we proudly share with you this concert, the culmination of the Orchestra’s 18th annual Composer Institute.
Bold, colorful, tender and always surprising, the music proclaims with confidence that tomorrow’s orchestra is in superb hands. Come hear the future!
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Osmo Vänskä, conductor
- Kevin Puts, Composer Institute director
Did You Know?
- Experience a perfect night out with $5 happy hour, decadent local eats and a chance to meet and chat with Minnesota Orchestra musicians and tonight’s featured composers.
- If you’ve ever been curious about the composition creative process, you do not want to miss this. You get a front row seat to experience how these up-and-comers in the classical world are forging classical music’s future.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

König, Grieg and Schumann
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Manze, Gomyo and Tchaikovsky
Program (Subject to Change)
BACEWICZ
Concerto for String Orchestra / 15 min
TCHAIKOVSKY
Violin Concerto / 34 min
INTERMISSION / 20 min
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 5 / 48 min
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

Nordic Fire: Osmo Vänskä and Truls Mørk
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Chamber Music: CHARACTER
At a Glance
Minnesota Orchestra musicians come together in small ensembles to perform cherished classics and innovative new music on Sunday afternoons in the Auditorium.
Did You Know?
- The final concert of the 2020-21 Chamber Music series teems with character and concludes with Louis Spohr’s Nonet, especially written to showcase the individual characters of its nine featured instruments.
- Andrew Norman, a participant in the 2004 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, is a Grammy-nominated composer and a member of the faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music. Gran Turismo was inspired by the unlikely combination of Baroque string playing, Italian futurist art and a car-racing video game.
- Façade began as an at-home project combining the artistic talents of British poet Edith Sitwell—whose poems were considered abstract, exotic and dramatic—and the young composer William Walton, who found himself “adopted” into the Sitwell family while studying at Oxford University.
- A child prodigy, composer-pianist Jean Françaix began writing music at the age of ten and was mentored and championed from a very young age by two other French musical geniuses, Maurice Ravel and Nadia Boulanger.
Program and Artists
FRANÇAIX
Woodwind Quartet / 11 min
- Greg Milliren, flute
- Julie Gramolini Williams, oboe
- Gregory T. Williams, clarinet
- J. Christopher Marshall, bassoon
NORMAN
Gran Turismo for Eight Virtuoso Violinists / 9 min
- Susie Park, violin
- Felicity James, violin
- Natsuki Kumagai, violin
- Sarah Grimes, violin
- Ben Odhner, violin
- Hanna Landrum, violin
- Sophia Mockler, violin
- Emily Switzer, violin
WALTON
Suite from Façade / 17 min
- Roma Duncan, flute and piccolo
- Timothy Zavadil, clarinet and bass clarinet
- James Romain, alto saxophone
- Douglas C. Carlsen, trumpet
- Katja Linfield, cello
- Kevin Watkins, percussion
INTERMISSION / 20 min
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Phantasy Quintet / 15 min
- Sophia Mockler, violin
- Milana Elise Reiche, violin
- Rebecca Albers, viola
- Kenneth Freed, viola
- Pitnarry Shin, cello
SPOHR
Nonet for Strings and Winds in F major / 28 min
- Rui Du, violin
- Gareth Zehngut, viola
- Pitnarry Shin, cello
- Kristen Bruya, bass
- Adam Kuenzel, flute
- Julie Gramolini Williams, oboe
- Gabriel Campos Zamora, clarinet
- Fei Xie, bassoon
- Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, horn
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Season Finale: Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Beethoven: The Artist’s Influence

Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony
Program (Subject to Change)
BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonata No. 14, Moonlight
THORVALDSDOTTIR
Metacosmos
SMETANA
The Moldau, No. 2 from Má vlast (My Homeland)
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 6, Pastoral
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Kerem Hasan, conductor
- Jon Kimura Parker, piano
- Free Black Dirt, video design
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Ingrid Fliter Plays Mozart
Program (Subject to Change)
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

Lunar New Year Concert with the Minnesota Orchestra
At a Glance
NEW THIS SEASON!
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Minnesota Orchestra and welcome the Year of the Tiger! This vibrant event will draw upon cultural traditions past and present.
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Conductor and guest artists to be announced
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall

Rick Steves’ Europe–A Symphonic Journey with the Minnesota Orchestra
At a Glance
Travel writer and television host Rick Steves is coming to Orchestra Hall and is giving you a front-row seat to some of the most iconic sights and sounds in Europe. From Italy, England, Austria, Norway and beyond, Steves pairs personal photos and breathtaking video with beloved classical music selections by Wagner, Smetana, Verdi, Elgar, Grieg, Saint-Saëns and Beethoven on this historical and musical tour of Europe.
Artists
- Minnesota Orchestra
- Sarah Hicks, conductor
- Rick Steves, host
Did You Know?
- Read the fine print: Steves' first self-published his first book with a disclaimer stating: “Anyone caught reprinting any material herein for any purpose whatsoever will be thanked profusely.”
- Born into music: Steves’ dad was a piano technician and high school band teacher.
Accessibility at Orchestra Hall