Minnesota Orchestra and YourClassical MPR's broadcast partnership continues for the 2025-26 season. This page features a schedule of the upcoming concerts that you can hear on YourClassical MPR, and when possible, on-demand audio of the performance available for 30 days after the broadcast. Bookmark this page for updates throughout the season!
A note from the Minnesota Orchestra: We regret to share that Jamie Barton has had to withdraw from the June 4-6 performances due to an unforeseen family circumstance, and we wish her all the best. We are pleased to welcome instead Minnesota native Evren Ozel performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27.
Here is your chance to hear one of the most-beloved works in the 20th-century repertoire performed live: Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Taken from the central movement of his String Quartet and arranged for string orchestra, the work gestures to the mysticism and melancholy of Gregorian chant in its stepwise melodies and use of modal scales. Also on the program: Minnesota native Evren Ozel plays W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27, and Music Director Thomas Søndergård leads the Orchestra in Sergei Prokofiev’s final symphony. Listen to the live broadcast with host Melissa Ousley at 8 p.m. Friday, June 5, on YourClassical MPR.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Evren Ozel, piano *
SAMUEL BARBER Adagio for Strings
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 27 *
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 7
Yo-Yo Ma at Orchestra Hall
A guiding principle for Yo-Yo Ma is to make the listener feel like the most important person in the room. The fact that he’s done that for more than 60 years is a testament to his commitment. Ma’s performance of Elgar’s soulful Cello Concerto on Tuesday, March 3, was part of an all-English program that was tailor-made for Thomas Søndergård and the Minnesota Orchestra. Enjoy pictures of the event below!
Meet YourClassical MPR's Melissa Ousley
Previous Concerts
Hindoyan and Rieppel perform Akiho with the Minnesota Orchestra
As principal timpani of the Minnesota Orchestra, Erich Rieppel can usually be found near the back of the stage. Sometimes he sits quietly, waiting to make a subtle mark or a grand entrance, and sometimes there’s a lot happening. On Friday, May 29, Rieppel took center stage in a concert featuring guest conductor Domingo Hindoyan to play a new concerto by a composer who’s also a virtuoso percussionist: Andy Akiho. Listen to the concert now!
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Domingo Hindoyan, conductor
Erich Rieppel, timpani *
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK An American Port of Call
ANDY AKIHO Timpani Concerto *
CÉSAR FRANCK Symphony in D minor
Søndergård leads the Minnesota Orchestra in Wagner and Bartók
Opera love stories tend to unfold quickly, leaving the composer with the task of supporting a plot with music that speaks volumes. The chord progression at the beginning of Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde is a textbook example of musical foreshadowing. In Béla Bartók's psychological thriller Bluebeard's Castle, two extraordinary artists portray a doomed couple. Enjoy selections from both on this Minnesota Orchestra program featuring Music Director Thomas Søndergård and guest soloists Michelle DeYoung and Nathan Berg. Listen to the concert now!
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano (Judith)
Nathan Berg, bass-baritone (Bluebeard)
Christina Baldwin, prologue speaker
Adam Larsen, creative director
RICHARD WAGNER Prelude to Lohengrin
RICHARD WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde
BÉLA BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle
Upcoming Broadcasts
Friday, June 12 — Søndergård and Tchaikovsky
When Jennifer Higdon began to compose blue cathedral, she imagined a journey through a glass cathedral in the sky. Her creativity leaves the door wide open for you to explore “humanity’s perennial question of existence” with Charles Ives, and be drawn into Alexander Scriabin’s own brand of musical mysticism.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano *
JENIFER HIGDON blue cathedral
PYOTR ILYCH TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 *
CHARLES IVES The Unanswered Question
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN The Poem of Ecstasy
Friday, June 19 — Juneteenth with the Minnesota Orchestra
This can’t-miss concert is a celebration and exploration of Black ritual and spirituality through the music of the African diaspora. A wide array of instruments, traditions and guests take center stage in this powerful program.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Kedrick Armstrong, conductor
Melody Betts, vocals
Brian Raphael Nabors, Hammond Organ
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR The Bamboula
BRITTANY J. GREEN Testify!
NKEIRU OKOYE Voices Shouting Out
BRIAN RAPHAEL NABORS Concerto for Hammond Organ
Friday, July 17 — Beethoven Triple Concerto
Archduke Rudolph of Austria was the pianist for the premiere of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto—and he also happened to be one of the composer’s most important patrons. To make him shine, Beethoven brought in two of the best players of the day. We’ve got our own trio of all-stars on tap for this program, which includes Robert Schumann’s reflection of life in the Rhineland.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Sarah Grimes, violin
Silver Ainomäe, cello
Alessio Bax, piano
BENJAMIN BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Atlas (Piano Concerto) *
ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish)
Minnesota Orchestra - Listening Project will be recorded to be post produced on another date.
When the Minnesota Orchestra launched its Listening Project in 2021, our goal was to present and record top-notch performances of music by underrepresented composers—in other words, to share music that many of us were not hearing. The project continues this season with Music Director Thomas Søndergård and soprano Janai Brugger.
‘Thomas Søndergård: Taken by the Sound’
Melissa Ousley joined Minnesota Orchestra music director Thomas Søndergård in his native Denmark last year to explore some of the most important places in his life. Join them as they walk through his memories, musical and otherwise, in this documentary short.
‘Celebrating a Century on the Airwaves’
On most Friday nights, no matter where you are in the state — or in the world, for that matter — you can look forward to tuning into YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio to hear a live concert. From a radio debut in 1923 under Bruno Walter to television transmissions in the 1950s and the ensemble’s unprecedented international broadcast from Havana in 2015, the orchestra has always been on the forefront of finding new ways to connect audiences with music.
Reflecting on 100 years of radio broadcast history, MPR host Melissa Ousley sat down with historian John Michel, technical director Michael Osborne and former broadcast host and current orchestra staffer Brian Newhouse for a spirited retelling of this vital history.
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment‘s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
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