Classical Minnesota Stories

Composer Gerald Gurss was listening to NPR one day when he heard the story of an HIV-positive man who found life-saving drugs on the black market during the AIDS crisis. Moved by this and similar stories, the composer created ‘Stigmata,’ a 35-minute suite that’s airing on TPT in a performance by the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus.

Hip-hop and horns go together like peanut butter and jelly. But what happens when you take a typically small horn section and multiply it by 10? You get something like “Brighter Day,” Minnesota rapper Nur-D’s collaboration with the Anoka-based River City Rhythm drum and bugle corps.

Four notes, arranged into a simple melody of 24 tones, played by a solitary bugler, might be one of the nation’s most recognizable and enduring pieces of music: “Taps.” Volunteers ensure that it’s heard at all military burials at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

At 71, Keith Swanson is completing his 30th year as conductor of the Itasca Symphony Orchestra, based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. His final concert is May 21, and two of his grown sons will be among the players. Find out more about his life and career.

The Challey School of Music at North Dakota State University has released a milestone collection documenting its Concert Choir’s best performances over the past 32 years. Listen to our hourlong special featuring highlights from the project, and explore a 144-track compilation for free online.

The Minnesota Orchestra’s Rosemary and David Good Fellowship is designed to “support the career development of outstanding young musicians of African American, Latin American and Native American descent.” See how the current honorees, bass trombonist Lovrick Gary and cellist Esther Seitz, are helping to increase diversity and fair representation in classical music.

Listen now to the Singers’ Dale Warland Tribute Concert to celebrate the 90th birthday of the choral legend, hosted by Steve Staruch.

Minnesota musicians Ted Manderfeld and Dave Eichholz make up the keyboard-pounding duo Deuces Wild Dueling Pianos, a musical cocktail of concert, comedy sketch and variety show. Learn more about the ensemble and their continual tours across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

Much British choral music of the Victorian and Edwardian period has drifted into obscurity. But a University of Minnesota project, led by music professor Matthew Mehaffey, is rescuing these “lost” works and making their scores freely available as part of the English Heritage Music Series.

When Caroline Shaw won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her dazzling vocal work Partita for 8 Voices, one lingering doubt assailed her — she wasn’t sure that she was even a proper composer. Today, years later, she reflects on her identity and the journey she’s taken as a musician as she visits the Twin Cities for a concert.