Classical Minnesota Stories

The Minneapolis youth choir Known MPLS is making an impact in song and in community. “Known MPLS first and foremost exists to consistently provide a safe space for youth to thrive,” director Courtland Pickens says. Find out more about these remarkable singers, and catch one of their holiday shows.

Minnesota music explorers are in for a treat when world-renowned tabla percussionist Zakir Hussain and fifth-generation sitar player Niladri Kumar perform Saturday at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul as part of the 40th-anniversary celebration of the Indian Music Society of Minnesota.

The scholastic marching arts continued their post-COVID comeback as 34 of the top high school marching bands from Minnesota and beyond competed Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as part of the Youth in Music Championships. Relive the excitement and pageantry of the event through our huge photo gallery.

Like so much of the world in late-winter 2020, the premiere of the opera ‘Edward Tulane’ was canceled. But on Oct. 8, Jack Swanson finally takes the stage in the title role, and Paola Prestini’s setting of Mark Campbell’s libretto, based on a novel by Kate DiCamillo, will come to life at the Ordway. 

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.