Click on Classical: History through music in Minnesota, and "pro-pot" classical concerts in Colorado

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Every Monday morning at 9:15, I join John Birge on Classical MPR to talk about the stories we're featuring on our website. This week, Sheila Regan wrote about two local shows that tell history through music.

Now playing at the History Theatre just down the street from us at MPR, The Working Boys Band tells the true story of a band created in Minnesota at the turn of the twentieth century to help uplift working youth — kids who would work in factories, and then go hang out at pool halls — through music education. Music education is a top priority for us at Classical MPR, and our staff have been raving about this show, composed by the late Hiram Titus.

Coming up this Saturday, the Oratorio Society of Minnesota will perform Let My People Go!, an eclectic oratorio by Donald McCullough that's subtitled A Spiritual Journey Along the Underground Railroad. Read Sheila's preview to learn why this concert — which will feature Classical MPR's own Tesfa Wondemagegnehu as a soloist — has been a decade in the making.

Also this week, Classical MPR's Luke Taylor writes about an upcoming series of concerts the Colorado Symphony Orchestra that, as Luke puts it, gives a new meaning to the term "high notes." Cannabis is legal in Colorado, and Edible Events — identified by the Denver Post​ as a "pro-pot promoter" — is organizing a series of bring-your-own-pot concerts that are being billed as fundraisers for the orchestra, which will play a "themed program of classical music" at each show. You can have fun guessing what pieces that might include; read Luke's post​ to learn what kind of new audiences the orchestra's executive director expects these concerts to attract.