Editor’s note: Drum and bugle corps are back this summer for the first time in more than two years because of the pandemic. Anoka-based River City Rhythm’s field show is making its only Minnesota appearance on Thursday, Aug. 5, in Rochester at March On! Also appearing will be the Colt Cadets and Colts of Dubuque, Iowa; the Cavaliers of Rosemont, Illinois; and the Blue Stars of La Crosse, Wisconsin. After the field shows, Twin Cities rapper Nur-D will join RCR for a genre-mixing performance. Until then, enjoy these performances from RCR’s 2019 show, Breaking the News, when the corps’ horns visited Minnesota Public Radio for a special recording session for our weekly Regional Spotlight.

Imagine the sound — 14 trumpets, 10 mellophones, 14 baritones and eight tubas! The horns of the Twin Cities-based River City Rhythm drum and bugle corps, along with director Bo Hoover and drum major Katherine Stone, join Steve Staruch for a big, bold and brassy experience.

The performers of River City Rhythm, who also include percussionists and color guard members, are in the midst of summer competitions and are at the top of their musical game.

Now, get ready for a Regional Spotlight special event, recorded live at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown St. Paul. The RCR horns play two numbers from their 2019 field show, Breaking the News — the title tune and the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" — as well as the corps' song, the hymn "The Water Is Wide."

River City Rhythm also has granted permission for listeners to download an MP3 of the latter.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

15 of 15

1 of 15

2 of 15

Next Slide

The Minnesota Youth Symphonies (MYS) has been training young orchestral players for more than 30 years. The quality of music-making is top notch. In this week's Regional Spotlight, Manny Laureano conducts the top orchestra in the MYS family in Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus Overture. You'll be inspired.

The Minnesota Youth Symphonies organization has been training young orchestral players for more than 25 years. The quality of music making is top notch. The passion is palpable. In this week's Regional Spotlight, Manny Laureano conducts the top orchestra in the MYS family in Franz von Suppe's Morning, Noon and Night Overture. You'll be inspired.

There are two sonatas in Beethoven's Op. 27. The second sonata (Op. 27 No. 2) gets most of the attention. Its subtitle is "Moonlight," but the "older sister" (Op. 27 No. 1) has charms and mysteries also worthy of musical exploration.

In his March 1 Chopin Society recital, pianist Zoltan Fejervari played Beethoven's Op. 27 No. 1 with skill and passion. His performance is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

The music laughs! Pianist Joyce Yang opened her February Chopin Society recital with the Bach French Suite No. 5. The dances in the suite are free-wheeling and energetic, and Yang performs with stylistic abandon. You won't be able to sit still.

Pianist Elliot Wilcox is on the music faculty at Century College in White Bear Lake. From a Thursday Musical performance in early February, he performs Aaron Copland's 'Four Piano Blues.' Each of the four pieces is dedicated to a different friend. Written over the course of 22 years (1926-48), the four movements are concise and soulful.

Cellist Ruth Marshall and pianist Garret Ross are the Artu Duo, artists with Classical MPR's Class Notes Concerts. Marshall and Ross have been sharing their passion for Beethoven with school students across the region. The Artu Duo joins Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio for conversation and highlights from the five Beethoven sonatas for cello and piano.

Sprig of That is an ensemble that performs with Classical MPR's Class Notes Concerts, sharing its music with school kids around the state. The group's mix of standards and originals is as unique as its instrumentation — violin, guitar and tabla. Listen as they join Steve Staruch for this week's Regional Spotlight.

The Artaria Quartet will celebrate Beethoven's 250th birthday by performing all of the composer's string quartets in a series of 6 concerts. The first of those 6 is this coming weekend at Sundin Music Hall.

The Artaria Quartet joins Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio to share a few highlights from this weekend's performance.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 2

2 of 2

Next Slide

How did it happen that a terrific guitarist from Bolivia and an expressive singer from Colombia came to the frozen north to form a hot ensemble with two other musicians named "Peterson"? In this week's Regional Spotlight, Steve Staruch welcomes Mestifonia to the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio. Mestifonia is part of Classical MPR's Class Notes Concerts program.

The holiday season is filled with sweets. The food is sweet. The sentiments are sweet. And the music is sweet. But maybe you like a little spice in your holiday eggnog. For the last 17 seasons Orkestar Bez Ime has wowed audiences with the full-bodied music from the Black Sea region.

The ensemble joined Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio in anticipation of their holiday concert.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

11 of 11

1 of 11

2 of 11

Next Slide

Let the young guys of the Minnesota Boychoir put some warmth in your eggnog. They joined Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio for a sample of their upcoming holiday performances. With singing both merry and bright, warm and inviting, the holiday season truly begins with the Minnesota Boychoir.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

12 of 12

1 of 12

2 of 12

Next Slide

Juliana Soltis is a cellist of remarkable gifts and insights. She is on a solo tour performing Bach's Cello Suites. Her take on these iconic works is unconventional and most passionate. She says Bach's notes are only the starting point for bringing his music to life. You've never heard Bach played this way before. She joins Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio.

It's Chopin, playing as gorgeous and as fleeting as the last rays of the sun on a late Autumn day. Award-winning Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov's Frederic Chopin Society recital in October included Chopin's Nocturne Op. 15, No. 1. Kolesnikov makes the piano sing. His performance is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

There is an impressionistic quality to Ilmari Hannikainen's piano music. There is something profoundly Finnish about it, mysterious and dark. Minnesota pianist Gail Olszewski has just released a new recording of works by Finnish composers. The performances were recorded on a piano from the early 20th century. Hannikainen's Nocturne and Autumn Thoughts are in this week's (Halloween version of the) Regional Spotlight.

Alexander Boldachev is a young Russian harpist. He is on a U.S. tour. His performance of Debussy's Arabesque No. 1 from the Dakota in Minneapolis is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

Tony Ross, the principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra, recently celebrated his 60th birthday performing some of his favorite chamber works with the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota. The highlight of the program was the Schubert Quintet. Joyful and sweet, the opening of this cherished piece is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

The Twin Ports Choral Project, led by Bret Amundson, sing Stephen Paulus' warm and inviting setting of "Arise, My Love." The biblical text from the Song of Songs includes the line, "Behold, the winter is over and gone." The Twin Ports Choral Project members sing as if they mean it.

PopUp Choir is a community of choral-loving singers and conductors and has been in existence in the Twin Cities for five years. This week on the Regional Spotlight, hear the choir's recent performance of Elaine Hagenberg's "O Love (That Will Not Let Me Go)." The music is slow, steady and gorgeous.

The 200th anniversary of Clara Schumann's birth continues at Classical MPR with a performance from this summer's Minnesota Beethoven Festival. Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, winner of the Gold Medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, plays Schumann's Notturno.

There is a place suspended somewhere between earth and sky, a place of beauty and release. It's a place where the right words and the right notes live. The Summer Singers' performance of Minnesota composer Jake Runestad's "Let My Love Be Heard" takes you to that place.

Colleen Meier is the founder and executive director of Journey North Opera Company. While the company is small, it is preparing to present one of Benjamin Britten's most powerful works — The Rape of Lucretia. This work follows the story of betrayal and death in ancient Rome. In the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, Steve Staruch speaks with Meier and stage director Amanda Carlson. The cast also performs two scenes from the opera.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

3 of 3

1 of 3

2 of 3

Next Slide

The Altius Quartet calls Denver home, but is making friends in Minnesota as the recipient of the first String Quartet Fellowship of the Lakes Area Music Festival. Members of the Altius Quartet join Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio to share their artistry and chat about their plans as an ensemble. (They say some nice things about Minnesota, too!) Performances of works by Ravel and Mozart and friendly conversation are in this week's Regional Spotlight.

Newly founded Operatunity Theatre seeks to become a national vocal arts center for emerging professional singers. Artist and entrepreneur Obed Floan has big plans for the organization, starting with a free concert on Aug. 10 on the river in Stillwater, Minn. Obed Floan and Stillwater native Jack Swanson join Steve Staruch in the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio for a conversation about Operatunity and share a few vocal highlights from the upcoming Opera on the River concert.

It started with a classical pick-up concert with a trio of guys who were waiting tables in Brainerd. Now in its 11th season, the Lakes Area Music Festival is recognized worldwide. In this week's Regional Spotlight, Steve Staruch speaks with the founders and directors of the Lakes Area Music Festival. Scott Lykins and Taylor Ward share a few stories about the founding of the event with upcoming highlights.

It's the band that sings. It's the choir that plays instruments. The St. Olaf Band, under the direction of Timothy Mahr, performs an arrangement of a sacred work by Claudio Monteverdi. The piece requires members of the band to sing and play. The instrumental lines in "Adoramus te, Christi" mimic and enhance the vocal lines for a modern take on a Baroque classic.

Julie Albers is the principal cello of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is giving master classes for young cellists during the International Cello Institute this month in Northfield. In addition, her performance on July 15 at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church is the first in the International Cello Institute Recital series.

In a conversation with Steve Staruch, she describes her own master class experiences and introduces one of the pieces on her recital program.

Composer Eric Barnum took the Proverb, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life," and ran with it. Barnum's choral work Wellspring received a sensitive and joyful performance earlier this year with the Twin Ports Choral Project. The piece moves from darkness to light, from a plea for mercy to an exuberant Alleluia. Wellspring is in this week's Regional Spotlight.

Harpist Katherine Siochi performed at the American Harp Society Convention at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. One of the highlights of her recital was the transcription of a Chopin piano etude called The Aeolian Harp. Originally for piano, Siochi makes the piece sounds like it was written especially for her.