Hear concerts from the 2025 Lakes Area Music Festival

The Lakes Area Music Festival (LAMF) 2025 season, MYTHS AND MAGIC, brings world-class orchestra, opera, and chamber music to central Minnesota from July 25 to August 17. This year’s festival will transport audiences to enchanted realms, where fairy tales, legends, and epic sagas come to life through the power of music, with fairy-tale favorites like Hänsel & Gretel and The Nightingale, alongside epic sagas including The Lord of the Rings and Wagner’s Ring Without Words.

The Lakes Area Music Festival is Minnesota’s summer home for world-class opera, orchestra, and chamber music. Celebrating its 17th anniversary season, more than 200 artists from the nation’s top orchestras and opera companies will present 60 concert, education, and community outreach activities this July and August. Under the leadership of Executive and Artistic Director Scott Lykins, Artistic Director John Taylor Ward, and Music Director Christian Reif, LAMF continues its rise as one of the nation’s fastest-growing classical music organizations. The festival’s hallmark is its vibrant community of internationally acclaimed musicians who return each summer.

“We are thrilled to return with a season that celebrates the transformative magic of music,” Lykins says. “This summer’s programming will explore myths, folklore and legendary storytelling, featuring works that highlight the supernatural and the sublime. As hundreds of artists from around the globe return to their summer home for music-making, we’ll be reminded of the enchanting experiences that bring them back year after year: sharing laughter, reuniting with friends, and — of course — creating unforgettable music.”

Even if you can’t attend in person, concerts will air on YourClassical MPR. Listen Monday to Friday, July 28 to August 1, during the 9 a.m. hour and Friday afternoon during the 3 o’clock hour.

We’ll also add concert audio below as it becomes available so you can listen on demand.