LUMINISCENCE at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis: 'Look Up'

Look Up is a YourClassical MPR feature about LUMINISCENCE, the immersive light-and-music show from France, and its North American debut at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis — America’s first basilica. From October 2025 to February 2026, more than 100,000 people came inside to watch 360-degree projection mapping move across the Basilica’s arches and dome, with live music led by the Basilica’s own musicians.

The Basilica is hard to miss, though often overlooked; thousands of people pass it every day, most hardly giving it a second glance. When a show promised to reveal what was already there, we wanted to know what it would find. Patrick Schneider, the Basilica’s director of music, who conducted much of the run; organist Sam Holmberg; assistant director of music Mackenzie Kloempken; and Clayton Ferguson, executive producer of LUMINISCENCE North America, all shed light on the show.

We get into why Minneapolis came first, the click track that kept the music together, what the light revealed that even Patrick had never noticed, and what a ticketed show means inside a working Catholic church.

CREDITS

Minnesota Public Radio
Host / Producer: John Kuntz
Lead Videographer: Evan Clark
Contracted Videographer: Will Keeler
Camera Operations: Sean Belcher
Digital Producers: Ines Guanchez, Jenny Cvek-Walmsley

Featuring
Executive Producer, LUMINISCENCE North America: Clayton Ferguson
Conductor/Director of Music: Patrick Schneider
Assistant Director of Music: Mackenzie Kloempken
Basilica Organist and Director of Cathedral Concerts: Sam Holmberg

LUMINISCENCE
Light Design and Founder: Romain Sarfati
Composers/Arrangers: Guillaume Coignard and Samuel Sené
Audio: Brian Smith
Operations: Ben Woodward, Nyah Adams
Production: Phil Holden
Marketing: Penny Hunter

LUMINISCENCE

The Basilica of St. Mary

Special Thanks: Ben Woodward, Jesse Dvorak, Nyah Adams, Kate Monaghan Connolly (Honor & Gold), Mae Desaire, STRINGenius and all musicians who were part of the performance, and the Basilica of St. Mary.

© 2026 Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved. LUMINISCENCE show content, including its music and projections, appears courtesy of LUMINISCENCE and Banijay Americas. Filmed with permission at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis.