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The top high school marching bands from Minnesota and beyond competed Oct. 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as part of the Youth in Music Marching Band Championships.


Ceremony Photos for MPR

Photos: Highlights from the 2025 Youth in Music Marching Band Championships

Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.

Rhapsody in Black - Miles Davis

Vernon Neal is the host of the podcast ‘Rhapsody in Black,’ where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music.


Host/Producer

Vernon Neal

Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis redefined the genre in subtle and caustic ways. While he had great success he was always restless for innovation. Find out more in the latest episode of the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast. 


Rhapsody in Black - March 23, 2023

Miles Davis - Blue In Green (Official Audio)

Bitches Brew

Rhapsody in Black

Hulton Archive | Getty Images

Miles Davis reinvented the jazz scene 

Extra Eclectic - Oct. 8, 2025

We get mathematical on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ with John Cage’s ‘Four2,’ and we’ll hear Michael Gandolfi’s concerto for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn: ‘Imaginary Numbers.’ Listen now with host Steve Seel!


Extra Eclectic

courtesy of artist

Math meets music

New Classical Tracks (extended interview): Angela Hewitt

New Classical Tracks - Angela Hewitt

Julie Amacher's desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, Wis. She went from rock 'n' roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Minnesota Public Radio in 1997 as an on-air host and also produces New Classical Tracks, a weekly podcast sharing behind-the-scenes stories about a new release each week. It airs locally at 7:15 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesdays and at 9 a.m. on Saturdays.


Julie Amacher

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ pianist Angela Hewitt releases the third volume of her complete recording of Mozart’s piano sonatas. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!


Angela Hewitt - Mozart: Piano Sonatas K457, 533, 545, 570 & 576

New Classical Tracks® 

Keith Saunders

Angela Hewitt concludes her complete Mozart Piano Sonatas project

YourClassical Fellow

Mya Temanson

These five mysteries are sure to leave you shivering in fright, just in time for the spookiest night of the year. 


Isabella Quintana from Pixabay

Five chilling tales from the world of classical music 

Extra Eclectic - Oct. 1, 2025

A Concerto for Orchestra is usually a piece that gives each section of the orchestra a turn in the spotlight — and there’s a new one, from American composer Kevin Puts, that host Steve Seel shares with us on the lateset episode of Extra Eclectic.


man sitting at a desk with a musical score

© David White

Kevin Puts' new concerto

New Classical Tracks (extended interview): Tamar Segiv

New Classical Tracks - Tamar Segiv

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ cellist Tamar Sagiv explores the different facets of grief on her debut solo recording. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!


New Classical Tracks (Extended Interview) - Tamar Segiv

A woman laughs and presses her forehead to the scroll on a cello

Shades of Mourning

Marije Van Den Breg

Cellist Tamar Sagiv explores the different facets of grief

Reading the title of a classical piece of music can make you feel like you are already behind. Symphony, prelude, toccata, opus, all those numbers.... Is it important to know what they mean? Performance Today host Valerie Kahler will help decode this confusing taxonomy and give some tips for the next time you open a concert program.

Classically Training, Episode 4 – “Sonatas, concertos, and preludes, oh my!”

Aerin O'Malley

In this episode, Performance Today host Valerie Kahler gives some tips for the next time you open a concert program.


Graphic for Classically Training podcast featuring head with treble clef inside

Two women have a conversation in a recording studio with a piano in the background

Classically Training

YourClassical MPR

Classically Training: “Sonatas, concertos, and preludes, oh my!”

Class Notes is seeking students in grades 9-12 to serve on the inaugural Class Notes Teen Council for the 2025-26 school year! Applications are due Monday, October 13, 2025.


A high school audience member raises their hand in an auditorium at a Class Notes concert

Courtney Perry

Apply to be a Class Notes Teen Ambassador

Extra Eclectic - Sept. 24, 2025

It’s modern classical sounds from down under on the latest episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ as Steve Seel brings us a bevy of Australian composers (and one from New Zealand — since we’re right there). Listen now!


MPR Hero Stories