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!
Pachamama is the word for Mother Earth in the Inca-Quechua language. The ode that Pachamama meets is from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Along with it is a connection to the Industrial Revolution of Beethoven’s time. Composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s message is that “Gifts from the past—especially odes—must be looked at with new and searching eyes.” The Minnesota Orchestra welcomes Earl Lee who will be conducting the concert in place of Eun Sun Kim who is unable to appear due to illness. Listen to the live broadcast with host Melissa Ousley at 8 p.m. Friday, March 20, on YourClassical MPR.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Earl Lee, conductor
Mei Gui Zhang, soprano
Taylor Raven, mezzo
Jack Swanson, tenor
Jarrett Ott, baritone
Minnesota Chorale
GABRIELA LENA FRANK Pachamama Meets an Ode
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Ah! Perfido
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 (Choral)
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
Sondergard leads the Minnesota Orchestra in Bruckner's Symphony No. 8
After devoting three years to his Symphony No. 8, Anton Bruckner was beyond devastated when it was rejected by the conductor he described as his “artistic father.” But instead of giving up, he made many cuts and revisions. Five years later, when it finally had its premiere in Vienna, it was a triumph. Enjoy this piece as performed by the Minnesota Orchestra and Music Director Thomas Søndergård. Listen to the concert now!
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
ANTON BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8
Celebrate the Year of the Horse with the Minnesota Orchestra
On Thursday, Feb. 26, the Minnesota Orchestra and a stunning array of guest artists celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Horse with a concert that explores themes of family, tradition and unity through vibrant orchestral music and some extra special guests. Listen to the concert now!
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Chia-Hsuan Lin, conductor
Yazhi Guo, suona **
Rui Du, violin ***
Fei Xie, artistic consultant
Roz Tsai, host
ZHOU TIAN Gift
HONG NAN-PA/ARR. TEXU KIM Spring in My Hometown *
HAO-FU ZHANG The River Crosses the Desert **
TRADITIONAL/ARR. HUIHUI CHENG Hundreds of Birds Worshipping the Phoenix **
BRIGHT SHENG The Flying Horses, from Concerto for Orchestra: Zodiac Tales
MA SICONG Nostalgia ***
GORDON SHI-WEN CHIN Seed of Eternal Love ***
WANG CHENWEI Confluence
HUANG RUO Flower Drum Song from Feng Yang, from Folk Songs for Orchestra
LI HUANZHI Spring Festival Overture
* World premiere; commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra
Vanska and Keefe join the Minnesota Orchestra for Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Mazzoli
How would music sound if it were in the shape of a solar system? Hear how one of the most successful classical composers on the planet lets her imagination run free with that idea on this Minnesota Orchestra program. Then, audiences got to imagine Carnival time in St. Petersburg as the puppet Petrushka came to life. Listen to the concert now!
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Erin Keefe, violin *
MISSY MAZZOLI Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2 *
IGOR STRAVINSKY Petrushka
Upcoming Broadcasts
Friday, March 27 — Barnatan Plays Rachmaninoff
If you love a lush melody, this program is for you. After a lean and powerful showpiece for strings, you’ll hear how Sergei Rachmaninoff looks at a violin caprice by Niccolò Paganini from 24 different angles as he reimagines it for piano and orchestra. Then, Minnesota Orchestra will send you home with epic storytelling from the well-read and clever Scheherazade.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano *
GRAŻYNA BACEWICZ Concerto for String Orchestra
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade
Friday, April 10 — Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6
Although Leila Josefowicz cut her teeth on standard repertoire, the biggest transformation of her professional life has been the chance to collaborate with living composers. Near the top of that impressive list is John Adams, who she says “changed my life totally.” This Minnesota Orchestra program begins with a treat for American history buffs and ends with Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s emotions riding high.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
John Storgårds, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin *
GEORGE ANTHEIL McKonkey’s Ferry Overture
JOHN ADAMS Violin Concerto
PYOTR ILYCH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)
Friday, April 24 — Brahms Symphony No. 4
You know when you’re asked to do something and your gut reaction is, “Absolutely not!” and then you can’t get the idea out of your head? That’s exactly what happened to 80-year-old Richard Strauss when a young American oboist suggested he write a concerto. Thank goodness he gave it more thought.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello *
JULIA ADOLPHE Underneath the Sheen
RICHARD STRAUSS Oboe Concerto
JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 4
Friday, May 8 — Søndergård Conducts 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.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello *
RICHARD WAGNER Prelude to Lohengrin
RICHARD WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde
BÉLA BARTÓK Bluebeard’s Castle
Friday, May 29 — Hindoyan and Rieppel
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. He’ll take center stage in this concert to play a brand-new concerto by a composer who’s also a virtuoso percussionist.
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
Friday, June 5 — Søndergård, Barton and Prokofiev
Jamie Barton was raised on her family’s farm in Georgia, where “pickin’ and grinnin’s” happened all the time. Friends showed up with their instruments, a potluck dish and a desire to make music. Although she began her musical journey with Bluegrass, Barton has become a musical omnivore. She’ll bring the Neruda Songs to life in her Minnesota Orchestra debut.
Program
Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Jamie Barton, mezzo *
SAMUEL BARBER Adagio for Strings
PETER LIEBERSON Neruda Songs *
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 7
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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