Listen: Cellist Sterling Elliott performs Tchaikovsky with the Minnesota Orchestra

On Friday, April 19, Estonian conductor Kristiina Poska made a long-awaited debut with the Minnesota Orchestra with a program featuring American cellist Sterling Elliott, a fast-rising star who has been winning concerto competitions since he was 7 and a 2022 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence. Together, Poska, Elliott and the orchestra shared bright, sunny music — including crowd favorites by Aaron Copland, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Ludwig van Beethoven — in a program that invited the energy of spring into Orchestra Hall with open arms! Listen to the concert now.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Kristiina Poska, conductor
Sterling Elliott, cello *

AARON COPLAND Appalachian Spring
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme *
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8

‘Thomas Søndergård: Taken by the Sound’

Earlier this year, Melissa Ousley joined Minnesota Orchestra music director Thomas Søndergård in his native Denmark to explore some of the most important places in his life. Join them as they walk through his memories, musical and otherwise, in this new documentary short.

Previous concerts

Erin Keefe stars with Minnesota Orchestra in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1

On Friday, April 12, Thomas Søndergård led the Minnesota Orchestra in Robert Schumann’s bright and joyful Symphony No. 1 and collaborated with concertmaster Erin Keefe for a performance of Max Bruch’s elegant Violin Concerto No. 1. The singers of the Minnesota Chorale lent their voices to two works on the program, Johannes Brahms’ Schicksalslied and the U.S. premiere of Eleanor Alberga’s Rise Up, O Sun! Listen to a recording of the live broadcast and watch as host Steve Staruch speaks with Keefe regarding her preparation for the performance.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Erin Keefe, violin *
Minnesota Chorale **

ELEANOR ALBERG Rise Up, O Sun! **
MAX BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1 *
JOHANNES BRAHMS Schicksalslied **
ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1 (Spring)

Anthony Ross plays Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra

Not long before he wrote his famous Cello Concerto, Antonín Dvořák spent time exploring places Minnesotans might recognize — staying for a summer in the tiny town of Spillville in northern Iowa and visiting Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis — as he sought out new sparks of inspiration. On Friday, Jan. 12, principal cello Anthony Ross performed the piece alongside the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Jun Märkl in a program featuring music by Dvořák and Brahms. Listen below to Ross’ talk with host Steve Staruch about his preparation for the performance.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Jun Märkl, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello *

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto *
JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 3

Upcoming concerts

8 p.m. Friday, May 3, 2024 - Søndergård, Gerstein and Rachmaninoff

Metal, wood, water, fire and earth comprise the five universal materials that serve as the inspiration for Qigang Chen’s The Five Elements. And in Also sprach Zarathustra, Richard Strauss immerses us into an exploration of nature, evolution and humanity, setting up a powerful concert full of discovery (plus, of course, that iconic theme used in 2001: A Space Odyssey!). At the program’s center, pianist Kirill Gerstein returns to the keys for another spectacular Rachmaninoff piano concerto experience.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano *

QIGANG CHEN The Five Elements
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 1 *
RICHARD STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra

8 p.m. Friday, May 10, 2024 - Tchaikovsky, Korngold and Chin

During Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s lifetime, many restrictions were in place that banned Ukrainian language and terminology within parts of the Russian empire. Tchaikovsky still chose to compose a symphony built from traditional songs of his neighboring country, a place dear to his heart. We welcome Elim Chan for her Orchestra Hall debut as the Minnesota Orchestra shares this imaginative symphony alongside Unsuk Chin’s swirling subito con forza and the return of soloist Benjamin Beilman in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s cinematic Violin Concerto.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Elim Chan, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin *

UNSUK CHIN subito con forza
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD Violin Concerto
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 2

8 p.m. Friday, May 31, 2024 - Tetzlaff Plays Brahms Violin Concerto 

A trio of German musical stars arrives at Orchestra Hall when violinist Christian Tetzlaff returns to play the music of Johannes Brahms under the baton of conductor David Afkham. Brahms’ fiendishly difficult Violin Concerto sways between moments of peaceful serenity and dark, stormy scenes, standing boldly as the opening to this kaleidoscopic concert, which also features colorful works by Dutilleux and Bartók.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
David Afkham, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin *

JOHANNES BRAHMS Violin Concerto *
HENRI DUTILLEUX Cinq Métaboles
BÉLA BARTÓK Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

8 p.m. Friday, June 7, 2024 - Bronfman Plays Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

“He can roar, but he also can whisper,” said the Chicago Sun-Times about Yefim Bronfman’s performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. On either side of Bronfman’s astonishing performance, David Robertson leads symphonic works by Adolphus Hailstork and John Adams, two contemporary American composers who are currently shaping the orchestral world as we watch (and listen!).

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
David Robertson, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano *

ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Symphony No. 1
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 *
JOHN ADAMS Doctor Atomic Symphony

8 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2024 - Juneteenth Celebration

In celebration and remembrance in honor of Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, the Minnesota Orchestra, alongside guests and members of the Twin Cities community, will perform a program featuring music by African American composers.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra

Program TBD

8 p.m. Friday, June 21, 2024 - Season Finale - Celebrating Pride with Thomas Søndergård

As the 2023–24 season comes to a close, we’ll have plenty of reasons to celebrate: an extraordinary first season with Thomas Søndergård as our music director and the month-long Pride festivities in Minneapolis and around the country. In a program close to Thomas’ heart, we invite you to join us for music by composers from the LGBTQ+ community featuring the Minnesota Orchestra return of soloist Francesco Piemontesi and culminating with the fireworks of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Francesco Piemontesi, piano *

ETHEL SMYTH On the Cliffs of Cornwall
BENJAMIN BRITTEN Young Apollo
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI Symphonie Concertante for Piano and Orchestra
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

‘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.