Posted on Facebook 2/26

Are you a little bit wary of the Honegger symphony on this weekend’s MN Orchestra program? Rob Hubbard (critic for the Pioneer Press) says “…the Honegger symphony will stay with me longest, for this was a marvelously well-shaped interpretation of a work that should be heard more often. It’s full of captivating contrasts between daunting martial aggression in the low strings and soloists emerging to assert their world-weary resilience in tones sometimes reminiscent of Honegger’s contemporary, Dmitri Shostakovich.” Hubbard thoroughly enjoyed the Bach, Mozart and Martin – and Jon Kimura Parker’s harpsichord and piano playing – and the playing of MN Orchestra soloists.  But, he says, “…something about the Honegger struck a chord with me – and with many others, judging from the standing ovation it received.”  Read his full review here:   http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/25/review-dark-honegger-symphony-most-powerful-part-of-minnesota-orchestra-program/

Then check it out for yourself!  Click here to get your tickets for tonight or Saturday evening:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/508/-/jon-kimura-parker-plays-mozart#.VsnoYPkrLIV

These performances are eligible for the $12 advance student rush program.  Details here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/student-rush-tickets

These performances are also eligible for the $20under40 program.  Details here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/20-under-40

We see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!

(painting by Nazar Haidri)

Posted on Facebook 2/22

The fabulously versatile and engaging Jon Kimura Parker performs on the harpsichord & piano with the MN Orchestra this weekend in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, two brilliant and justifiably popular mainstays of the repertoire!  

Read all about Mr. Parker here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/who-we-are/musicians-soloists-conductors/guest-artists-new/1311-jon-kimura-parker

Principal Flute Adam Kuenzel (who has been with the Orchestra for 25+ years) and First Associate Concertmaster Susie Park (who joined the Orchestra just last September) join Mr. Parker as soloists on the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.  Read their bios here:
  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/who-we-are/musicians-soloists-conductors/orchestra-musicians/321-flute/713-adam-kuenzel
  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/who-we-are/musicians-soloists-conductors/orchestra-musicians/317-first-violin/1231-susie-park

This week’s program also includes of Frank Martin’s brilliant 1949 “Concerto for Seven Winds, Timpani, Percussion and Strings” and Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 2, all under the direction of guest conductor Gilbert Varga. 

Click here to get your tickets for Thursday morning or Friday or Saturday evening:  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/508/-/jon-kimura-parker-plays-mozart#.VsnoYPkrLIV

Friday & Saturday performances are eligible for the $12 advance student rush program.  Details here:  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/student-rush-tickets

Friday & Saturday performances are also eligible for the $20under40 program.  Details here:  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/20-under-40

We see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!

(painting by Nazar Haidri)

Posted on Facebook 2/21

Seven of our mighty wind-sters are front-and-center next weekend! Don’t miss the chance to hear Greg M, Julie, Greg W, Mark, Mike, Manny and Doug step up to the virtuosic demands of Frank Martin’s brilliant 1949 “Concerto for Seven Winds, Timpani, Percussion and Strings” under the direction of guest conductor Gilbert Varga. 

Read on for info about $12 student tickets and $20 "under 40" tickets.

Take a listen to this YouTube recording of the first movement:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90yHmCqquk

Click here to read Mr. Varga’s biographical information (and about his worldwide conducting engagements!):  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/who-we-are/musicians-soloists-conductors/guest-artists-new/1310-gilbert-varga

Then click here to get your tickets for Thursday morning or Friday or Saturday evening!  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/508/-/jon-kimura-parker-plays-mozart#.VsnoYPkrLIV

Friday & Saturday performances are eligible for the $12 advance student rush program.  Details here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/student-rush-tickets

Friday & Saturday performances are also eligible for the $20under40 program.  Details here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/special-offers/20-under-40

This week’s program also includes Jon Kimura Parker on piano & harpsichord for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 & Bach’s Brandenburg #5, and Honegger’s Symphony No. 2.  

We hope to cheer our brilliant Orchestra and soloists with you this weekend!

(painting by Nazar Haidri)

Posted on Facebook 2/14

Fewer than 10 main floor seats (plus some balcony seats) are available Thurs, Fri, Sat - if you’ve been thinking about buying tickets for one of this weekend’s performances of Sibelius’ symphonies 1 & 3 and his violin concerto, act quickly! Very few tickets remain for this “Carnegie warmup” with the brilliant Hilary Hahn and the mighty MN Orchestra under the baton of Osmo Vänskä.

If you have tickets that you can’t use, please exchange or bank them.  It’s easy to do here:   https://boxoffice.minnesotaorchestra.org/cart/forms/change.aspx

If you want to try to grab one of the remaining seats, call the box office at 612.371.5656 or click here:  http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/505/-/hilary-hahn-plays-sibelius#.VsCZn_krLIU

Hahn started violin lessons at age 3.  She was admitted to Curtis at 10.  She made her major orchestral debut at 12.  She began recording at 16.  She has won 3 Grammys.  She writes for her website and produces a YouTube channel.  She inspires new compositions for violin.  She performs classical music on late-night TV talk shows. She collaborates with alt-rock and folk-rock bands.  What a phenom!  Read a biographical sketch here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/who-we-are/musicians-soloists-conductors/guest-artists-new/787-hilary-hahn

We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!

Posted on Facebook 2/9

Be on the lookout for Hipsters and Nerds at Orchestra Hall on Friday night!  It’s “Gopher Night” and the Student Ambassadors from the University of MN are encouraging fellow students to come dressed in their favorite hipster or nerd outfit to compete for “Best Hipster” and “Best Nerd” prizes.  Judging will occur at 7:30 in the Atrium.  Poke your head in the door to watch the fun!  And welcome students you sit near to this “Inside the Classics” concert of symphonies by Mozart the Hipster and Haydn the Nerd! 

The concert is virtually sold out, but call the box office at 612.371.5656 or click here to grab any last-minute turn-backs:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/594/-/inside-the-classics-hipster-vs-nerd#.Vrnz8fkrLIU

If you have tickets that you can’t use, please exchange or bank them.  It’s easy to do here:   https://boxoffice.minnesotaorchestra.org/cart/forms/change.aspx

We hope to see you Friday night!

(Graphic by MN Orchestra)

Posted on Facebook 2/5

Today Pamela Espeland wrote a very informative and inspiring review of this weekend’s concert for MinnPost.  She says, “ ’Kullervo’ is horrifying, devastating and magnificent. The music lifts you up and slams you down and stabs you through the heart. It overflows with imagination, with long and short passages you want to hear again immediately. It’s so much to listen to and absorb that it’s exhausting. Imagine how the musicians must feel after playing it.”  Read her whole report here:   https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/02/six-reasons-hear-minnesota-orchestra-play-kullervo

VERY FEW tickets remain for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s performances of “Kullervo,” “Finlandia,” and Kortekangas’ “Migrations.”  If you can’t get to Orchestra Hall, be sure to listen in tonight @ 8:00 on MN Public Radio (broadcast and streamed).  More info here:   http://www.classicalmpr.org/program/minnesota-orchestra

If you have tickets that you can’t use, please exchange or bank them.  It’s easy to do here:   https://boxoffice.minnesotaorchestra.org/cart/forms/change.aspx

If you want to try to grab one of the remaining seats, call the box office at 612.371.5656   or click here:  https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/503/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrUN-_krLIU

We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall wearing the Finnish blue and white this weekend!

Posted on Facebook 2/3

SOSMN has donated special COUGH DROPS for patrons attending LIVE RECORDINGS of this weekend’s concerts!
 
You have probably heard that all three of this weekend’s performances will be recorded live by BIS for a future CD.  Food and beverages will be prohibited from the Hall just for this weekend, and of course cellphones must be turned off. 

We at SOSMN wanted to help minimize any coughing in the audience, so we purchased a large supply of cough drops with non-crinkly wrappers for the ushers to give you as you enter.  So PLEASE ask for one if you feel any throat scratchiness at all!  Thank you, and enjoy this unique concert experience!

If you don’t have your tickets yet, just click here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/502/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrFA7bIrLIV

Posted on Facebook 2/2

Are you a bit mystified by Finnish mythology and “Kullervo” in particular?  Wondering about Sibelius’ interpretation of this legend in an orchestral-choral work?  Well, our friend Scott Chamberlain comes to the rescue!
 
Read Scott’s fascinating article on the legend, Sibelius’ composition, its reception, and why attending one of this weekend’s performances by The Minnesota Orchestra, mezzo Lilli Paasikivi, baritone Tommi Hakala, and the Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat (Finland’s YL Male Voice Choir) under the direction of Osmo Vänskä is mandatory!   Here’s the link:   https://maskoftheflowerprince.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/sibeliuss-kullervo/
 
Some tidbits:
“It is the work that created Sibelius’s reputation.”
“The tale is a grim one, but it had great resonance in Finland during the 19th and 20th centuries, while the country was still under the heel of Imperial Russia.  Finns saw Kullervo as a metaphor for their own fate—born under an unlucky star, and constantly thrown into hard situations by outside powers.”
 “YL Chorus’s singing…male singing at its finest, with rich tone, vocal power, and flawless delivery… at the key moments, their combined sound was like a force of nature…a performance for the ages.“
 
This weekend’s program also includes Kortekangas’ “Migrations” and Sibelius’ “Finlandia.” 
 
If you don’t have your tickets yet for the Thursday morning or Friday or Saturday evening performance, there’s still a little time!  More info and ticketing here:   http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/502/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrFA7bIrLIV
 
Thanks, Scott!
​
(Image: “Kullervo Speaks to His Sword,” 1868, by sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand)