At his core, Quincy Jones was a composer and arranger whose voice was shaped by the world of classical music. His ability to weave Black musical traditions into classical frameworks opened doors for new generations of Black and Brown composers. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ cellist Tamar Sagiv explores the different facets of grief on her debut solo recording. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

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!

Béla Bartók was being treated for leukemia in a New York hospital and was all but bankrupt when contemporary music champion Serge Koussevitzky persuaded him to write his Concerto for Orchestra. The reluctant Bartók composed an orchestral showpiece that many would say was the highlight of his career, and last week it was at the center of the Minnesota Orchestra’s program. Also on the program, Principal Cellist Anthony Ross performs the world premiere of Steve Heitzeg’s EcoSaga, a Concerto in Three Landscapes. Listen to the concert now!

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello *

JOAN TOWER Made in America
LEONARD BERNSTEIN Three Meditations from Mass for Cello and Orchestra*
STEVE HEITZEG EcoSaga (Concerto in Three Landscapes) [World Premiere]*
BÉLA BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

Upcoming Broadcasts

Friday, Oct. 10 — Kavakos, Mozart and Shostakovich

Leonidas Kavakos is quick to point out that most of the violin concertos you hear today were composed long after violin maker Antonio Stradivari died. For him, it proves that Stradivari had a remarkable ability to understand the potential of a well-crafted instrument. That stands front and center in this Minnesota Orchestra program when Kavakos plays Mozart on his prized “Willemotte” Stradivarius of 1734. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Leonidas Kavakos, conductor and violin

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Violin Concerto No. 3
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 15

Friday, Oct. 17 — Beethoven Fifth Symphony

The last time the affable Andrew Manze led the Minnesota Orchestra, he turned to the audience and said, “There are three kinds of conductors. Those who can count, and those who can’t.” (Yes, three—that’s his joke!) It’s clear that he belongs in the first category, so we’ve asked him back to conduct Beethoven’s seminal Symphony No. 5 and a multi-faceted piano concerto by Anna Clyne. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Andrew Manze, conductor
Elisabeth Brauss, piano *

BENJAMIN BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem
ANNA CLYNE Atlas (Piano Concerto) *
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5

Friday, Oct. 31 — David Afkham Returns

On this upcoming Minnesota Orchestra program, Venture beyond Kurt Weill’s irresistible ballad Mack the Knife and you’ll find there’s lots to explore. That includes his Symphony No. 2, commissioned by Winnaretta Singer, an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune and generous patron of the arts. Bookending that are contrasting voices of three extraordinary French composers. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Janice Carissa, piano *

LILI BOULANGER Made in America
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 *
KURT WEILL Symphony No. 2
MAURICE RAVEL La Valse

Friday, Nov. 14 — Søndergård Conducts Symphonie fantastique

Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique was rooted in his passion for an actress who, for years, paid him no attention. His unanswered obsession led him to compose an autobiographical symphony that tracks the highs and lows of his emotional state, and one that redefined the parameters of what an orchestra could do. Listen to that and more on this exciting Minnesota Orchestra concert, which also features music by Takemitsu and Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 performed by guest violinist Benjamin Beilman.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin *

TŌRU TAKEMITSU Night Signal
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 1 *
HECTOR BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

Friday, Nov. 21 — Søndergård Conducts Brahms Requiem

Music is a powerful tool for getting in touch with our deepest emotions. This Minnesota Orchestra program presents three perspectives on processing grief. From the present time, Henry Dorn and Anna Clyne pay tribute to their mothers, while Johannes Brahms’ Requiem is not so much a Mass for the dead, but music meant to comfort those left behind. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Siobhan Stagg, soprano
Blake Denson, baritone
Minnesota Chorale

HENRY DORN Transitions
ANNA CLYNE Within Her Arms
JOHANNES BRAHMS A German Requiem

Friday, Dec. 5 — Dvořák New World Symphony

Ever wonder what makes the Minnesota Orchestra sound so great? This concert provides four reasons with Joseph Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante, which allows a quartet of players to shine. To set the scene, Caroline Shaw riffs on one of Haydn’s quartets, and we close with Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, partially inspired by his time in the Upper Midwest. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Delyana Lazarova, conductor
Yi Zhao, violin
Erik Wheeler, cello
Kate Wegener, oboe
J. Christopher Marshall, bassoon

CAROLINE SHAW Entr'acte 
JOSEPH HAYDN Sinfonia concertante 
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)

Thursday, Jan. 1 — A New Year’s Celebration with the Minnesota Orchestra

Minnesota Orchestra rings in 2026 with a pianist who’s well-admired in both jazz and classical circles. For this all-American program, Aaron Diehl plays a concerto that was written just for him, and Brooklyn-born Aaron Copland quotes cowboy songs to paint a picture of outlaw Billy the Kid. And to end the program, enjoy Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Teddy Abrams, conductor
Aaron Diehl, cello *

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS Agnegram 
TIMO ANDRES Made of Tunes (Piano Concerto) *
LEONARD BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On the Town 
AARON COPLAND Suite from Billy the Kid

Friday, Jan. 9 — Søndergård and Ehnes

James Ehnes was a teenager when he made his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at Symphony Ball in 1993. He’s been back many times since, and the orchestra is thrilled to have him play Sibelius during this year’s Nordic Soundscapes festival. And the ensemble’s favorite Dane, Thomas Søndergård, invites you to embrace the Symphony No. 5 by Carl Nielsen, one of Denmark’s heroes.  

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
James Ehnes, violin *

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Nyx
JEAN SIBELIUS Violin Concerto *
CARL NIELSEN Symphony No. 1

Friday, Jan. 16 — Søndergård Conducts Sibelius

Week two of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Nordic Soundscapes festival takes audiences back to Jean Sibelius, this time with his maiden voyage as a composer of symphonies. Turns out, he was more than ready to take the plunge. The orchestra also returns to Denmark, with a deeply moving song cycle by Hans Abrahamsen that tells the story of Hamlet’s Ophelia from her perspective.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Lauren Snouffer, soprano *

WILHELM STENHAMMAR Excelsior!
HANS ABRAHAMSEN let me tell you *
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1

Friday, Jan. 30 — Gabel, Debussy and Dukas

If you could create a morning soundtrack for when you enter the world of consciousness, it might be Claude Debussy’s groundbreaking Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun—where the lines between what’s real and what’s imagined are exquisitely blurred. To ease you into that state of mind, the Minnesota Orchestra performs a Sorcerer’s Apprentice that may summon memories of Disney’s Fantasia. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Fabien Gabel, conductor
Rebecca Albers, viola *

PAUL DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
DONGHOON SHIN Threadsuns 
CLAUDE DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
PAUL DUKAS Prelude to Act III from Ariadne and Bluebeard 
ALBERT ROUSSEL Suite No. 2 from Bacchus and Ariadne

Friday, Feb. 13 — Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff

Bernard Herrmann wrote the music for seven Hitchcock films, with a focus on the psychological state of the characters. In Vertigo, the word “obsession” comes to mind. On this Minnesota Orchestra program, listen to music by Herrmann and then hear how Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky captures the essence of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic love story without using a single word. Finally, Rachmaninoff’s cinematic Symphony No. 3 closes the program. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha, conductor

BERNARD HERRMANN Prelude, Nightmare and Love Scene from Vertigo
PYOTR ILYCH TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3

Friday, Feb. 20 — Vänskä, Keefe and Stravinsky

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 upcoming Minnesota Orchestra concert. Then it’s your turn to imagine Carnival time in St. Petersburg as the puppet Petrushka comes to life.

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Erin Keefe, cello *

MISSY MAZZOLI Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) 
SERGEI PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2 
IGOR STRAVINSKY Petrushka

Thursday, Feb. 26 — Lunar New Year

The Minnesota Orchestra and a stunning array of guest artists celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Horse. The concert explores themes of family, tradition and unity through vibrant orchestral music and some extra special guests. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Chia-Hsuan Lin, conductor
Yazhi Guo, suona
Rui Du, violin
Fei Xie, artistic consultant
Roz Tsai, host

TBD

Friday, March 6 — Søndergård Conducts Bruckner

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. 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor

ANTON BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8

Friday, March 13 — Søndergård, Gerstein and Bernstein

Kirill Gerstein has become such a favorite of Minnesota Orchestra audiences that we’ve asked him to play two concertos rather than one. The Adès was composed for Gerstein in 2018. Ravel’s is for left hand alone, and you must see it to believe it! 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård, conductor
Kirill Gerstein, piano *

OLLY WILSON Shango Memory
THOMAS ADÈS Piano Concerto
MAURICE RAVEL Piano Concerto for Left Hand 
LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Friday, March 20 — Beethoven Symphony No. 9

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.” 

Program

Minnesota Orchestra
Eun Sun Kim, 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)

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.

Valor and Victory looks at the anniversary of the end of World War II through the lens of classical music. The war and its aftermath inspired composers to reflect on the feelings and events of the time. This special features music that honors the sacrifices of WWII and celebrates victory and the spirit of the era.

The end of World War II is an incredibly important and resonant time in history, and classical music was a significant and sometimes surprising part of life during the war years and beyond. Looking back after 80 years, this special underscores the peril and power of the times, and it brings to life the role music played in a hard-won victory.

Host Andrea Blain brings us the voice of England's former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and shares how Ludwig van Beethoven and Morse code are forever linked with the hopes and dreams of many nations. We’ll hear music by Aaron Copland aimed at inspiring patriotism in America and Benjamin Britten's response to survivors of a concentration camp. We’ll also explore how music was used to signal resistance and to encourage survival during dark days, and how it helped celebrate victory when the war was over. Listen now using the audio player above.

Playlist

• Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

• Frédéric Chopin: Military Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1 in A Major

• Francis Poulenc: Le Lion Amoureux from Les Animaux Modéles

• Olivier Messiaen: I. Liturgie de cristal from Quartet for the End of Time

• Benjamin Britten: Death Be Not Proud from “The Holy Sonnets of John Donne”

• Giuseppe Verdi: Lachrymosa from Requiem

• William Walton: Spitfire Prelude

• Marc Blitzstein: I. Theory of Flight from Airborne Symphony

• Sergei Prokofiev: II. Allegro Marcato from Symphony No. 5

• Zoltan Kodaly: Introitus from Missa Brevis

• Ralph Vaughan-Williams: Thanksgiving for Victory

• Winston Churchill: Speech

• Humiwo Hayasaka: I. Lento from Piano Concerto

• Ludwig van Beethoven: I. Allegro con brio from Symphony No. 5

Further resources

Eight interesting facts about V-E Day from Vehicles for Veterans.

On the latest episode of Saturday Cinema, host Lynne Warfel shares music from films that feature sweeping stories and great costumes, including Chicago, Fellowship of the Ring, Titanic and How the West Was Won. Listen now!

Playlist

Gone with the Wind: Tara Theme
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 411037

Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Suite I: Elizabeth and Essex
Composer: Erich Korngold
Conductor: Carl Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble: Munich Symphony Orchestra
Bay Cities 3026

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings: The Fellowship
Composer: Howard Shore
Conductor: Nic Raine
Orchestra/Ensemble: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Warner 54928

Hamlet: Prelude
Composer: William Walton
Conductor: Neville Marriner
Orchestra/Ensemble: Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Chandos 8842

Lady in the Dark: My Ship
Composer: Kurt Weill
Conductor: Eric Stern
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Soloists: Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Nonesuch 79345

Cleopatra Symphony
Composer: Alex North
Conductor: John Mauceri
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO 86

Titanic: Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch
Composer: James Horner
Conductor: James Horner
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Sony 63213

My Fair Lady: Main Title
Composer: Frederick Loewe
Conductor: Keith Lockhart
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops 4

The Last Emperor: Theme
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Sony 62788

Legends of the Fall: The Ludlows
Composer: James Horner
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80440

The Ten Commandments: Prelude
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80319

Black Panther: United Nations/End Credits
Composer: Ludwig Goransson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra

Chicago: All That Jazz
Composer: John Kander
Conductor: Keith Lockhart
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops 4

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo): Dances
Composer: Nino Rota
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Orchestra/Ensemble: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Sony 66279

For 21 years, the Youth in Music Marching Band Championships has brought together high school marching bands from across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. This year’s gathering on Oct. 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis showcases 34 high school ensembles in competition, three high school groups in exhibition, and one college exhibition unit.

All competing bands will be looking to topple the Rosemount High School Marching Band, which has dominated the AAAA class for years, including the past eight as overall champion of Youth in Music.

“All classes are extremely competitive,” says Youth in Music founder Brent Turner. “There are about three bands in every class that could win in their class.”

Rosemount’s main competition the past few years, Lincoln High School of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is back after missing last year’s event to play in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Out-of-state bands hailing from South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska make up nearly half of the competition. New to the competition this year are groups from Rock Island, Illinois; Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa.

The 34 high school marching bands will compete in four classes starting at 7 a.m. and going to about 4:30 p.m. The top 10 bands will return to compete in the finals at 7:15 p.m. Exhibition performances will be presented by bands from St. Croix Central High School of Hammond, Wisconsin, and Eastern Carver County of Chaska (middle school rock group called Questionable Legalities) during the day and by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Blugold Marching Band at night.

Besides the musical performances, Youth in Music bestows several awards and scholarships. Awards given out annually include a Hall of Fame inductee, volunteer of the year, and awards honoring school administrators who support the arts. Ken Martinson from marching.com is this year’s Hall of Fame recipient. Volunteers of the year are Suanne and Rhonda Turner.

While you're at the event, make sure to stop by the YourClassical booth where you can score free swag, learn about our service, and more!

Youth in Music lineup

Here is the schedule of who’s competing and when for those interested in attending the Youth in Music Marching Band Championships in person at U.S. Bank Stadium on Oct. 11. YourClassical MPR will present a photo gallery of the day’s performances on Monday, Oct. 13, so be sure to come back here after the show.

Youth in Music Marching Band Championships at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Oct. 11

Note: All are Minnesota high schools unless noted otherwise.

• Osseo: 7 a.m.

• Hutchinson: 7:15 a.m.

• Harrisburg (S.D.): 7:30 a.m.

• Andover: 7:45 a.m.

• Blaine: 8 a.m.

• Minnetonka: 8:15 a.m.

• Lourdes: 8:30 a.m.

• Coon Rapids: 8:45 a.m.

• Anoka: 9 a.m.

• St Croix Central (Wis., exhibition): 9:15 a.m.

• Theodore Roosevelt (Iowa): 9:30 a.m.

• Sioux Falls O'Gorman (S.D.): 9:45 a.m.

• Baldwin - Woodville (Wis.): 10 a.m.

• Brookings (S.D.): 10:15 a.m.

• Waseca: 10:30 a.m.

• Sioux Falls Roosevelt (S.D.): 10:45 a.m.

• Champlin Park: 11 a.m.

• Hastings: 11:15 a.m.

• Mankato Area 77 Lancers: 11:30 a.m.

• Eastern Carver County, exhibition: 11:45 a.m.

• Class A and AA Awards: 12 p.m.

• Sioux Falls Washington (S.D.): 12:30 p.m.

• Rock Island (Ill.): 12:45 p.m.

• River Falls (Wis.): 1 p.m.

• Chippewa Falls (Wis.): 1:15 p.m.

• Farmington: 1:30 p.m.

• Lakeville South: 1:45 p.m.

• Marshall: 2 p.m.

• Eden Prairie: 2:15 p.m.

• Irondale: 2:30 p.m.

• Millard North (Neb.) 2:45 p.m.

• Millard West (Neb.): 3 p.m.

• Greendale (Wis.): 3:15 p.m.

• Brandon Valley (S.D.): 3:30 p.m.

• Sioux Falls Lincoln (S.D.): 3:45 p.m.

• Eastview: 4 p.m.

• Rosemount: 4:15 p.m.

• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, exhibition: 4:30 p.m.

• Class AAA and AAAA Awards: 4:45 p.m.

Atlanta - More than 700 singers convened in Atlanta this month to celebrate the latest edition of the songbook at the heart of one of the country's oldest Christian music traditions.

The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844, contains hymns and anthems written with "shape notes," designed to aid sight reading. Unlike in standard music notation, each note is a triangle, a circle, a square or a diamond. Each shape stands for a syllable, fa, sol, la or mi, and each syllable corresponds with different pitches.

The convention was the largest Sacred Harp singing in living memory and culminated seven years of work to revise the book. Hundreds traveled long distances to sing the 113 new songs.

"It's the only time in most of our lifetimes that we're going to see a gathering like this," said composer Angharad Davis of Sydney, Australia.

Sacred Harp is centered in the American South, but singers came from 35 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces, Australia, the UK, Ireland and Germany. They sang in tenor, treble, alto and bass sections, without instruments. The so-called "Sacred Harp" is the human voice itself, said alto Lucy O'Leary.

All the songs express Christian faith, with mortality as a prominent theme. "Hallelujah" uses words from 1759: "And let this feeble body fail, / And let it faint or die; / My soul shall quit this mournful vale, / And soar to worlds on high."

No denomination controls Sacred Harp. Baptists, Quakers, Catholics, Episcopalians, Mennonites, atheists and others sing together, and all are welcome.

For almost two centuries, each new generation has updated the book, which now includes songs by 49 living composers. (Before the latest revision, that number had dwindled to five.)

But the tradition's vitality did not feel as secure when the last revision was made, in 1991.

Judy Hauff, who composed four songs in the book, discovered Sacred Harp in the mid-1980s. Back then, almost every singer had gray hair, she told the convention.

"I would stand there listening to the roar coming off of these senior citizens and thinking, 'What would this have sounded like when they were in their 20s and 30s and 40s?'" Hauff said.

At the time, she'd thought she'd never find out.

"We never dreamed we would see the likes of this," Hauff said through tears, gesturing to the crowd. It included hundreds of singers under 50 — with black, brown, blonde and even purple hair — alongside the old-timers.

Lauren Bock of Atlanta, who composed three songs in the new book and served on the nine-person revision committee, said the increase in young singers is partly attributable to the 2003 film Cold Mountain, which featured Sacred Harp, and to YouTube.

As the pool of singers shifts younger, it also contains more people of color, LGBTQ+ people and non-religious people.

The book's new composers reflect that. José Camacho-Cerna of Valdosta, Georgia, the book's first Latino composer, is 27.

"I was in a punk band, I know it's kinda crazy. That's something that attracted me to [Sacred Harp], I just thought it was very metal. The 1800s metal," he said.

Camacho-Cerna is also engaged to marry a man, and he's among the first openly LGBTQ+ composers.

He grew up in a Pentecostal church that did not accept LGBTQ+ people, and he was surprised to meet so many at his first singings at age 19. Eventually, he said, he started to feel that Sacred Harp people only cared about the music, not other singers' sexual orientations. It gave him the courage to come out.

"Sacred Harp was a big push for me to say 'Ok, let's rip the band-aid off. I can be who I want to be — who I am, and stop hiding myself," he said.

Composers led their own songs at the convention, standing in the middle of the square of singers and beating their arms up and down to keep time. Camacho-Cerna composed his song, "Lowndes," after the death of his grandfather in Honduras. Hearing it "in all its glory" for the first time was "life-changing," he said.

"Without trying to be weird, I could die happy," he said. "Knowing that I have a legacy, you know?"

Deidra Montgomery of Providence, Rhode Island, the first Black composer added to the book, started work on their song, "Mechanicville," in 2010.

"Leading my song in a giant class of singers, turning to bring in the different sections in the fugue and seeing all these people I'd encountered in various phases of my time as a singer was euphoric," Montgomery said.

During recesses, singers approached composers for autographs.

Diversifying the list of composers was not an explicit goal for the new book, said Bock. In fact, she and her fellow revision committee members analyzed songs without knowing their authorship. The new composers simply reflect the current community, she said.

"The people who submitted songs are the people who sing out in the world," Bock said. "They're pretty markedly different even from who sang in 1991."

On the second day of singing, Bock's daughter Lucey Karlsberg, 8, led "Hallelujah" with other children.

Later, Karlsberg sang with others at the grave of Benjamin Franklin White, who compiled the original songbook. When the next revision comes out, Karlsberg will likely be in her 40s. Asked if she wants to contribute a song, she had no doubt. "I will do it!" she shouted.

Copyright 2025, NPR

Raised in a family surrounded by music, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason has worked hard to become a successful concert and recording artist. She had help along the way, primarily from her parents, who made sacrifices to ensure that she and her six younger siblings have all had wonderful music educations. Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

It’s modern classical sounds from down under on the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, as Steve Seel brings us a bevy of Australian composers (and one from New Zealand — since we’re right there). The mythology of Australia’s native Aboriginal culture known as the “Dreamtime” plays a prominent role in the music of Peter Sculthorpe, Margaret Sutherland, Ross Edwards and Elena Kats-Chernin, and the diverse sonic terrain covered in their works culminates with Anna Boyd’s mesmerizing choral work As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams. Listen now!

Playlist

The Harp and the Moon: 1st movement
Ross Edwards
Emily Granger, harp
Avie 2495

Haunted Hills
Margaret Sutherland
Jaime Martin, conductor
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
2025 BBC Proms Prom 54

Maranoa Lullaby
Peter Sculthorpe
Brodsky Quartet
Anne Sofie von Otter, alto
Challenge 72007

Cello Dreaming
Peter Sculthorpe
Richard Tognetti, conductor
Australian Chamber Orchestra
Emma-Jane Murphy, cello
Chandos 10063

Canon
Kate Moore
Saskia Lankhoorn, piano
ECM 2344

Butterflying
Elena Kats-Chernin
Nicola Sweeney, violin
Signum 58

Eyes on the Sun
Sophie Hutchings
Sophie Hutchings, piano
Mercury KX 90583

Arafura Dances
Ross Edwards
Paul Daniel, conductor
English Chamber Orchestra
John Williams, guitar
JCW 3

Torua
Gillian Whitehead
Hilary Hahn, violin
DG 19103

Calliope Dreaming
Elena Kats-Chernin
Trio Arbos
Non Profit 1112

As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams
Anne Boyd
Paul Hillier, conductor
Ars Nova Copenhagen
Dacapo 220597

Day’s End
John Williams
John Williams, guitar
JCW 1

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ composer Dawn Avery and cellist Wilhelmina Smith present their first collaborative recording, ‘Sweetgrass.’ Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

At this time of year, Jews around the world gather together to celebrate new beginnings. Host Mindy Ratner guides us in a musical observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, known in Hebrew as Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe. Listen now to Music for the Days of Awe: An Observance of the Jewish High Holidays.

Playlist

• Solomon Braslavsky (arr. Bruce Ruben): M’chalkeil Chayim – Kathryn Andersen, violin; Steven Lyon, clarinet; Judith Clurman, conductor

• Paul Schoenfield: Achat Sha’alti – Carol Wincenc, flute; Paul Schoenfield, piano

• Salamone Rossi: Lamnatseach ‘al hagitit mizmor l’David (Psalm 8) – New York Baroque; Eric Milnes, conductor

• Max Janowski (arr. Raymond Goldstein): Avinu Malkeinu – Cantors Azi Schwartz, Shira Lissek and Rachel Brook; Alexander Scheirele, cello; Colin Fowler, piano

• Alessandro Scarlatti: Excerpt from Agar et Ismaele Esiliati – Karina Gauvin (Sara); Nathaniel Watson (Abramo); Seattle Baroque; Byron Schenkman and Ingrid Matthews, conductors

• Igor Stravinsky: Abraham and Isaac (Part 3: “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked”) – David Wilson-Johnson, bass-baritone; London Sinfonietta; Oliver Knussen, conductor

• Traditional: Four Shofar Sounds – Cantor Hans Bloemendal; BW de Jong, shofar

• Joseph Kurland (arr. Max Janowski): Hineni – Trevor Mitchell, cantor; Chicago a cappella

• Traditional: Excerpt from Avinu Malkeynu – Rachel Van Voorhees, harp

• Sarah Gurowitsch: Kol Nidrej – Dieter Klöcker, clarinet; Vlach Quartet Prague

• Judith Clurman (arr. Ryan Nowlin): Ki Hineih Kachomer – James Cunningham, piano; Daniel Miller, cello; Essential Voices USA; Judith Clurman, conductor

• Louis Lewandowski: Ki K’shimcha – Hazzan Steven C. Berke; Madrigalchor der Hochschule fur Musik, Munchen

• Traditional: El Nora Alilah – Galeet Dardashti and Divahn

• Traditional: T’kiah g’dolah – Collegium Musicum Judaicum Amsterdam; Chaim Storosum, conductor

Food during the High Holidays

“It wouldn't be a Jewish holiday without food! Jewish communities around the world share some food traditions and still offer their own unique recipes and food preparation methods. As in any household, there are cherished family recipes that make the holidays special. In my family, it was a moist and spicy honey cake that my paternal grandmother made." — Mindy Ratner

High Holy Days Recipes

The Most Important Jewish Holidays and their Foods

Rosh Hashanah Recipes From Around the World

Surprising suggestions for dishes to break the Yom Kippur fast

The Righteousness of Pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah

Special thanks

Rabbi Shelley Kovar Becker

Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm

Rabbi Sharon Stiefel

Cantorial Soloist David Jordan Harris

Beth Jacob Congregation, Mendota Heights, MN

Heritage Judaica

Sonya Rapport

Dan Nass

Jacob Aloi

Ines Guanchez

On the latest episode of Saturday Cinema, in a tribute to Robert Redford, host Lynne Warfel interviews Manhattan-based independent filmmaker Robert Roessel: founder of the Tahoe Film Festival and longtime assistant to George Roy Hill, who directed Redford in three films. In the second hour of the show, we celebrate September birthdays in the world of film. Listen now!

Playlist

The Entertainer
Composer: Scott Joplin
Soloists: William Bolcom, piano
Omega 3001

Out of Africa: Theme
Composer: John Barry
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Sony 62788

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
Composer: Burt Bacharach
Conductor: Burt Bacharach
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Soloists: B.J. Thomas, vocals
A&M 3159

Solace (A Mexican Serenade)
Composer: Scott Joplin
Soloists: Butch Thompson, piano
Daring 3033

The Great Waldo Pepper: March
Composer: Henry Mancini
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80183

The Milagro Beanfield War: Theme
Composer: Dave Grusin
Conductor: John Scott
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 66460

A River Runs Through It: Main Theme
Composer: Mark Isham
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80440

King Kong: Overture
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: John Mauceri
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Philips 442425

There’s No Business Like Show Business
Composer: Irving Berlin
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 412132

The Three Musketeers
Composer: Michel Legrand
Conductor: Michel Legrand
Orchestra/Ensemble: Flemish Radio Orchestra
Reader’s Digest 4168

On the Waterfront: Love Theme
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Orchestra/Ensemble: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
DG 459552

The Inspector Clouseau Theme
Composer: Henry Mancini
Conductor: Henry Mancini
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic Pops
Denon 2320

Star Trek: Main Theme
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 411185

The Sound of Music: Prelude and The Sound of Music
Composer: Richard Rodgers
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Soloists: Julie Andrews, vocals
RCA 2005

Gigi: I Remember It Well
Composer: Frederick Loewe
Conductor: Andre Previn
Orchestra/Ensemble: MGM Studio Orchestra
Soloists: Maurice Chevalier, vocals
Rhino 71962

Superman: March
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Grumpier Old Men: End Credits
Composer: Alan Silvestri
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80440

The Big Sleep: Suite
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 136

Michelle Cann is a trailblazing African American concert pianist and teacher who is inspiring the next generation of musicians at the Manhattan School of Music and the Curtis Institute. Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

The 2025 BBC Proms Festival may have come to its conclusion, but we still have lots of recorded highlights to bring your way, and Steve Seel shares two on the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, from a Royal Albert Hall concert on August 31. Anna Clyne’s The Years — a work written during the uneasy time of the global pandemic — and Bent Sorensen's Evening Landare featured in the first hour, and in the second hour, we begin our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month with modern works from Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Peru, including Gabriela Ortiz’ Canto Abierto, Osvaldo Golijov’s Lua Descoloria, and Jimmy Lopez Bellido’s Peru Negro.

Playlist

Autumn Prelude
Robert Jurjendal
Volkmar Zimmermann, guitar
Albany 1738

Evening Land
Bent Sorensen
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
2025 BBC Proms Prom 44

The Years
Anna Clyne
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
2025 BBC Proms Prom 44

saman
Olafur Arnalds
Jess Gillam Ensemble
Jess Gillam, soprano saxophone
London/Decca 4870832

The Unquestioned Answer
Laurie Spiegel
James McVinnie, organ

The Wind (El Viento)
Mario Armengol
Isabelle Perrin, harp
Quindecim 194

Altar de cuerda: Canto abierto
Gabriela Ortiz
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Los Angeles Phiharmonic Orchestra
Maria Duenas, violin

In the Depths of My Distance Your House Emerges
Rafael Diaz
Georgina Isabel Rossi, viola

Lua Descolorida (Colorless Moon)
Osvaldo Golijov
Julian Azkoul, conductor
United Strings of Europe
Ruby Hughes, soprano
Bis 2549

Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout: Chasqui
Gabriela Lena Frank
Del Sol String Quartet
Dorian 92164

Peru Negro
Jimmy Lopez
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Norwegian Radio Orchestra

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ guitarist Sharon Isbin fulfills her dream of performing a Latin American-inspired guitar concert on her latest album, ‘Romántico,’ featuring music by Karen LeFrak. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

The prolific Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal has died. Nicknamed "the Sorcerer," Pascoal resembled a wizard from a storybook — both in his personal style, and his ability to create magical sounds from unusual places. According to social media posts from his family, Pascoal died on Saturday. He was 89.

The bearded, frizzy-haired musician rose to prominence in the 1960s and '70s and was known for playful, avant-garde arrangements that blended regional Brazilian folk music, jazz, psychedelia and pure whimsy. His list of collaborators ranged from Airto Moreira to Miles Davis, who referred to him as one of the most important musicians in the world.

"As he always taught us, let us not be ruled by sadness: listen to the wind, the birds, a glass of water, a waterfall — universal music keeps breathing," reads the caption of an Instagram post from his family.

Born with albinism in 1936, Pascoal grew up in a small rural town in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. His parents worked in the fields, but the young Pascoal spent much of his time indoors due to his condition. While vision deficiencies led him to drop out of school in the fourth grade, Pascoal's ears guided him towards music. He learned to play accordion, flute and piano.

By the 1960s, Pascoal moved to Rio de Janeiro and began playing with several trios before officially joining Quarteto Novo. The group's self-titled album, released in 1967, received critical acclaim in Brazil and helped further push the Northeastern genre of baião into the international spotlight. In the coming years, Pascoal recorded and released several solo albums that included traditional instruments as well as everyday objects like pipes, kettles and even squealing pigs.

"I'm 100 percent intuitive," he told NPR in 2017. "I don't premeditate anything. I feel it. When something happens, I don't say, 'Now I'm going to do that.' No. If I want to write the music, I start creating. Every piece of my music, even the one I write on a piece of paper, I consider an improvisation."

In 1971, Pascoal collaborated with Miles Davis on the album Live-Evil, writing and performing in several compositions. Davis affectionately nicknamed Pascoal "that crazy albino." The composer and multi-instrumentalist told NPR he got a kick out of the moniker; pianist and collaborator Jovino Santos Neto, who worked with him for over 40 years, wasn't surprised.

"He never aged and he's at the same time ... a very complex personality," Santos Neto told NPR in 2017. "He's both the wise old man, because of the white hair, but he's also the prankster, the 16-year-old who's really crazy to play a prank on somebody and to laugh and to make jokes."

That youthful energy was not just part of Pascoal's personality; it was also the foundation of his art. In 1985, he appeared alongside a group of musicians in the ecological documentary Sinfonia do Alto Ribeira, performing the song "Música da Lagoa" while bathing in a river. As the water rushed around them, the men used glass bottles, flutes and the sounds of the stream to compose a gentle melody that emanated the spirit of their natural surroundings.

Pascoal wrote thousands of compositions throughout his career, and continued to perform until the end of his life. A public memorial service was held on Sept. 15 at a cultural center named after him in Rio de Janeiro.

"If you wish to honor him, let a single note ring — from an instrument, your voice, or a kettle — and offer it to the universe," reads the post from Pascoal's account.

Copyright 2025, NPR

On the latest episode of Saturday Cinema, host Lynne Warfel shares music from films that won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress and Actor including winners Peter Ustinov, Water Huston, Jack Lemmon, Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, Miyoshi Umeki and more. Listen now!

Playlist

Anthony Adverse
Composer: Erich Korngold
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 7890

Jezebel: Waltz
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: John Mauceri
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Philips 438685

The Best Years of Our Lives: Theme
Composer: Hugo Friedhofer
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Sony 62788

Gone with the Wind: Tara Theme
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Soloists: Itzhak Perlman, violin
Sony 60773

Miracle on 34th Street: Suite
Composer: Cyril Mockridge
Conductor: David Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Telarc 88801

Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Suite
Composer: Max Steiner
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 422

The Bad and the Beautiful: Suite
Composer: David Raksin
Conductor: David Raksin
Orchestra/Ensemble: New Philharmonia Orchestra
RCA 1490

Cabaret: Willkommen
Composer: John Kander/Fred Ebb
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Soloists: Joel Grey, vocals
MCA 40027

All About Eve: Main Title
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 183

Mr. Roberts: Suite
Composer: Franz Waxman
Conductor: Franz Waxman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 5257

Viva Zapata!: Gathering of Misfits
Composer: Alex North
Conductor: Eric Stern
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Nonesuch 79446

A Streetcar Named Desire: Suite
Composer: Alex North
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80708

Sayonara: Suite
Composer: Franz Waxman
Conductor: Franz Waxman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
RCA 2283

West Side Story: Mambo
Composer: Leonard Bernstein
Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra

Spartacus: Main Title
Composer: Alex North
Conductor: Eric Stern
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Nonesuch 79446

Glory: A Call to Arms
Composer: James Horner
Conductor: James Horner
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Virgin 86150

Murder on the Orient Express: Waltz
Composer: Richard Rodney Bennett
Conductor: John Mauceri
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Philips 438685

Jessica Mallow Gulley hasn’t moved to the Twin Cities yet, but she is looking forward to making it her new home. “This has long felt like it could be a second home for me, and now it'll just be my full-time home,” the Iowa-born Mallow Gulley says.

Mallow Gulley will begin her new role as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s President and Managing Director on Oct. 13, 2025. Before then, however, Mallow Gulley visited YourClassical MPR to be Tom Crann’s guest DJ. In addition to selecting three of her favorite pieces of music, Mallow Gulley spoke highly about the SPCO and what makes it a special and unique organization. Use the audio player above to listen to the interview and music, and find a full transcript below.

Selections Played

Gabriela Lena Frank — Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
New Worlds
The Knightss
Eric Jacobsen, conductor

Richard Strauss — Duet-Concertino: 3rd movement
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen
New Stockholm Chamber Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Paul Meyer, clarinet
Knut Sönestevold, bassoon

Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending
Pinchas Zukerman: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Philips
English Chamber Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Pinchas Zukerman, violin

Interview Transcript

Tom Crann: I'm Tom Crann, and my guest DJ this afternoon has just been appointed the next president and Managing Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Jessica Mallow Gulley. Jessica, thanks for coming in to the studio. You haven't even officially taken over, and here you are being put to work.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Well, hi Tom, I'm so honored to be here and truly excited to begin learning about this amazing organization. And while I don't start until October 13, really just so happy to start spending time in the Twin Cities and making this my new home.

Tom Crann: So let's talk about this new job of yours and this new orchestra for you. But it's not brand new, you say, because of family connections. You've been in the Twin Cities a fair bit, and have heard the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in concert. What were your impressions?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. Well, I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Twin Cities was, I would say, our nearest, best big city to drive to for many a fun weekend, as a young family, or even growing up as an adult, visited so many times, and now with family here in the city, I think I look forward to seeing this orchestra every time I've seen it in my life, and every time I am floored by the artistic brilliance, the incredible uniqueness of this amazing group of musicians and how they lift up one another in these, incredible artistic projects, presentations, artistic world class nature. So every time I see it, it gets better. And this new music hall that I'm so excited to see in person again this weekend.

Tom Crann: Yeah, the Ordway. It was built back, well, it's open 10 years now, and I can't believe it. I was there for the first concert. I can't believe that was 10 years ago, but that's the way life goes, and you can't believe it's a wonderful concert hall. So as a professional in this you come from the Kalamazoo symphony in Michigan. What attracted you to this position with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra? Tell us more about its either reputation or what drew you to it.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. Well, it truly is some of those things I mentioned, the artistic brilliance of this group and the world-renowned reputation working in the field of orchestras for nearly 15 years at this point and growing up coming to this wonderful institution. People know about this orchestra and how amazing it is, and it is a bit of a unicorn in the field of orchestras in the United States. And it is special for all the reasons that it is, but especially the innovation with which the season is programmed and the way that the collaboration is lifted up between the musicians and the organization and the community at the center of a lot of this. And in Kalamazoo, we really focus on a lot of those same areas of accessibility and welcome and the world-class nature of what we can do, and to be drawn here, to the Twin Cities, to many of those elements in a world-class light, it is just the ultimate dream for me to be joining this wonderful institution.

Tom Crann: Tell us about the nature of the SPCO as a unicorn. I like the way you said that. But in that what it does, I mean a chamber orchestra has a different role, a different function. And so how does that unicorn fit into the arts world here in the Twin Cities, as you see it?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. You know, so many of the things that make it special are very unique to this institution. For example, the way that the season is programmed, is led by the musicians themselves, and they are able to wear, through their experience, those hats of being programmers, as well as colleagues to one another and programming repertoire that features the individual talents of all of the members of the orchestra, and you hear repertoire being played at this wonderful organization that you're not hearing in other places. It's uniquely classical. There are some brand-new commissions. There are kinds of innovations happening here within the classical repertoire that you just don't see anywhere else in the country or sometimes even in the world. And it's happening here in the Twin Cities and uniquely here.

Tom Crann: Well, you brought some music with us as we talked this afternoon, and tell us first here about An Andean Walkabout. This is music by Gabriela Lena Frank.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. So one of my very favorite modern composers, you know, living now, writing with the voice of today. And I was inspired to choose this particular piece, actually by another work that's on the SPCO season this year, coming to us in late January, on the 30th through February 1, a new world premiere of a brand-new commission that she's done really inspired, actually, by the Audubon Society and experience and lifting up some issues of now, including climate change and certain collaborations and influences she's brought into this brand-new world premiere. But this Andean Walkabout, I believe the SPCO played in the COVID time, and it just so happens that this is one of my all-time favorite pieces that she has written, and it brings in so many elements of movement and rhythm and versatility that I think, I hope, in the recording you play, everyone will hear the unique way that the musicians at the SPCO highlight the language of this rhythmic premiere.

Tom Crann: We're going to hear, because the SPCO hasn't recorded it commercially, The Knights. And this is the Andean Walkabout by Gabriela Lena Frank, my guest this hour is Jessica Mallow Gulley here on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio, she's the incoming president and Managing Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

[MUSIC]
Gabriela Lena Frank — Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
New Worlds
The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, conductor

Tom Crann: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout by Gabriela Lena Frank. We heard The Knights and Eric Jacobson, but Gabriela Lena Frank's music is also familiar to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and attendees of concerts over the years. She has been programmed pretty consistently over the last couple of decades, I understand, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra will do a world premiere of hers coming up in January as a Sandbox Concert.

I'm Tom Crann, it's your classical Minnesota Public Radio, and with me this afternoon, our guest DJ who's picked the music, Jessica Mallow Gulley, the incoming president of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. And tell me about the Sandbox Concert and Series where the next new work by Gabriela Lena Frank will be played.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. I mean, we spoke a little bit earlier about the nature of innovation at the SPCO. And I think the Sandbox Series is one of the most unique ways that I'm seeing that we can have a long-term partnership with someone who can return and know the institution and know the inspirations of the world that they would like to bring to the Twin Cities, to our organization, and be able to create something new from their own inspiration. And so, you know, the piece that we'll be playing in January is amazing, you know, looking for, you know, the inspiration of the Audubon, you know, John James Audubon, in context of the ongoing ecological crisis, in this case, all painted through the musical imagery of birds and the story that will be told, much as that amazing piece that we just heard blended different cultures and rhythms and legendary figures that she drew inspiration from. I think we can expect in this world premiere and in this particular concert, all of the colors of the rainbow and all the tools for writing new music to come to life in the Sandbox premiere, but it's one of my favorite things that I see the SPCO doing that you don't see like this in a lot of other places.

Tom Crann: I have some questions for you that I'm sure came up in in your job interview to get this job as a head of the SPCO. But we have to talk about them, and that is this era we are in is not the best time for the arts when it comes to finances and prominence. There are challenges out there. There are headwinds financially and otherwise. So how is that affecting the SPCO? What do you see as the big challenges as you take over?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. This is a very fair question, because I feel like in the arts, we are talking about this a lot, because we have to. But what differentiates the SPCO is this brilliant team and alignment across the organization in taking a long-range view of stability and planning for, quite frankly, the expected and the unexpected. And I've been so impressed to see that there are active conversations about how to keep this institution in strong financial health for the long-range future as well as the short term one. And I know that there's a really important history of stability within this organization financially, but it doesn't negate the climate that we're in in terms of support is changing.

This is a difficult environment to be fundraising in, and it can be a difficult environment for donors to choose what is the most important thing to them when they're making those decisions about what to support right now as the world around us is shifting so quickly, you know, what will help someone choose the arts? And I think that's a question we're all asking as institutions: Why us? And it's not always the case that someone will wake up every day and just decide to give a gift to the orchestra. We have to fight for relevancy in the time of now, and that means being a welcoming institution where people feel that we can be a regular part of their lives in a way that matters. We're talking about that human experience. There are a few things now outside of the arts that can bring communities together, that can change the way people feel about where they work, where they live, and how they choose to spend their waking hours, than gathering together to hear live music, and the SPCO takes our own spin on that with things like Sandbox, with the unique nature of the way our musicians work together to bring world-class art here. And you just, when you feel that live, you feel a connection to something much bigger than any one moment, right?

And so as we look at the financial future, we're leaning into accessibility. We'll be leaning into some of the models that have differentiated this organization across the country, in terms of broad audiences being welcome here, going to other communities to make homes in those places as well, and just trying to ingratiate the organization into daily life in as many ways as possible. You can be a world class organization without standing apart in an elitist way. And I'm so impressed that this organization has been able to be welcoming to all, really.

Tom Crann: So in this age of streaming and a million things on demand right on our couch, and then also on our laptops, right, and on our phones, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, a very great collection of performances that are available for streaming. Make the case for getting in the car or on the bus and coming to Downtown St. Paul or out to St. Andrews in Mahtomedi and actually sitting there and hearing it live.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. Well, if you haven't done it before, it's worth the trip to feel the live human experience, because we know, even through science now, the way that music can resonate in your body, in your soul, in your connection to the energy of people in the lobby of the place that you are and the musicians on the stage, what you get from that experience is more than just what your ears take in. You're being part of a community that says that music belongs in humanity, and you're voting with your time and your dollars that it's worth having in the place that you live and that for your own wellbeing. There's something more there, tangible or intangible, that while I love the digital options, and we all need these as well, even however many times in a year or a season, you can make that trek, whether it's five minutes or 25 minutes to come and see it. It's worth it, and music can lift up a community or even your own being in a way that we're just starting to discover scientifically, is true, right?

Tom Crann: The incoming president, Managing Director, Jessica Mallow Gulley, is here with us this afternoon, and we are putting her to work before her even official start date, but she's here for, we should say, the first weekend of concerts, opening weekend by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Zehetmair and Mozart's Jupiter on the program and the Brahms Double Concerto with principals from the SPCO. Steven Copes, right?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Yes, absolutely. Oh, I'm so excited that I could be here for this weekend, of all the weekends, to join the community in welcoming a brand-new season. My first season here with SPCO, we have Steven Copes, of course, on violin, and Julie Albers on cello in that Brahms double. So we're in for a treat. I heard a little bit of it this morning, and I can say, if you don't already have your tickets, there may not be many left, but you get three chances to come by and check it out.

Tom Crann: Right. It's tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon, right?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Yes, all at the Ordway here in downtown.

Tom Crann: All right, what's next musically? What did you bring and why? Because this one I personally love, but it's a curiosity.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Sure! Well, the Richard Strauss, the Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon with String Orchestra. So I chose this piece for a couple of reasons. One, I personally love it. I love the music of Strauss. It's so musically complex. It's it's dense in all the right directions. You know you hear the dance between the instruments of the orchestra, and I love that you hear it not just in this piece between the clarinet and the bassoon, but in a duet-type fashion, with the strings that are not merely just an accompaniment behind this incredible duo. You do not hear this piece live very often — a sign of the brilliance of those who come together to do the unique programming of the organization at Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, but also featuring two of the principals. You know, here we have Sang Yoon Kim on clarinet and Andrew Brady on bassoon. And for me, coming into this organization now, I mentioned how special it is that so often we feature the talents of the musicians of the SPCO from every seat in the orchestra, and this, for me, really highlights how unique and special that can be — two words I've said a lot in this interview, but I hope you can feel my energy for just how incredible it is that we can play a piece like this here live for our audiences.

Tom Crann: We're going to hear a recording made in Stockholm, the chamber orchestra there with Paul Meyer clarinet And Knut Sönstevold playing bassoon. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts.

[MUSIC]
Richard Strauss — Duet-Concertino: 3rd movement
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen
New Stockholm Chamber Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Paul Meyer, clarinet
Knut Sönestevold, bassoon

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Well, one of my favorite pieces, and again, you don't get to hear it live very often. So when you asked me to pick some inspiration today, the beauty and the uniqueness and the dancing lightness of that, combined with the two wonderful principals from Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, who will bring that to stage this April, 10 and 11, I believe. I hope others will come and join us.

Tom Crann: Well, let's talk about this model that the SPCO has had. It is not like other orchestras. It does not have the maestro, the music director, the one person who is the public face of the orchestra and chooses the music in the season. But it's done in conjunction with the musicians and artistic partners. The newest one, I'm looking forward to hearing Richard Goode this season. But that model, do you see that working in the future? And how do you see — how does it work?

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Absolutely. Well, just welcoming myself into this model for the first time, I think it's beautiful and brilliant that the organization has this unique model where the musicians can pull from their experience and their artistic inspirations and lift up one another through programming that highlights their talents in these unique ways with pieces that you're not otherwise going to hear. You know, in a traditional model, of course, as you mentioned, a music director will often make most or all of the classical programming and a lot of the personnel decisions around guest artists and collaborators in that way. But at SPCO, musicians are making these decisions in collaboration with the organization and the staff. And of course, the board is involved in the conversation to some degree as well, and it really brings alignment to a lot of what gets lifted up in live performance in that really, that unique way. So, you know, you don't see it a lot of places, but I think the size and the flexibility and the innovative culture of this organization allows it to work and thrive. And I look forward to getting acquainted with all the ways it's working now, and as we talked about the future for the organization, being really a partner for the organization in those conversations as it continues and evolves into the future. So really excited to get to know people and these inspirations and this model a little bit better.

Tom Crann: Well, Jessica, I can tell from talking to you, you're excited to take over as the head of this orchestra, and also in joining the community here in the Twin Cities and moving here. So I wish you the best of luck with that.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Oh, thank you so much. This has long felt like it could be a second home for me, and now it'll just be my full-time home, coming back to the Midwest after being afield on the East Coast for nearly 15 years with different orchestras. But I think there is so much excitement and ease of living in this amazing place that it feels like it could be today. I know I'm working on it a couple of weeks from now.

Tom Crann: Well, welcome to it. Good luck with all of that, and good luck with this season. And tell us about the last piece of music you picked, because I have a wonderful memory from many years ago of hearing the past concertmaster. This is now — we looked it up — 28 years ago. His name was Romuald Tecco, and he played this as his last concert with the SPCO. And it was moving and wonderful. And I've heard it many times since. It's Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Yes, well, Vaughan Williams, just a personal favorite composer of mine. There are so many directions I could choose, but for me, as a musician, as also a vocalist, the treatment of melody with Vaughan Williams and the inspirations from folk culture in his writing really draw me to his work. And this piece is a special favorite, and I love that you have that memory. Hopefully, we can make a new one with you on March 13, I think it is, coming up this early this year. But to have Nina Fan playing, violinist with the SPCO, this work, I think all of the beauty of the treatment of the way the pastoral nature and the bird and the ascension of the lark quite literally portrayed through melody in his writing, an all-time favorite for me, and I hope you'll make a new memory when you hear it again.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: And this is Pinchas Zuckerman once upon a time with the English Chamber Orchestra. Jessica, thanks so much.

Jessica Mallow Gulley: Thanks Tom.

[MUSIC]
Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending
Pinchas Zukerman: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Philips
English Chamber Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Pinchas Zukerman, violin

Community leader and musician Melanie DeMore uses the power of her voice to bring people together and create meaningful connections in her community and beyond. Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

For a country whose entire population is just over 400,000, Iceland is a major producer of adventurous, dramatic music — and that’s especially the case in the contemporary classical realm. Steve Seel devotes the first hour of this episode of Extra Eclectic to living Icelandic composers, including two works by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose Cello Concerto Before We Fall was recorded on August 13 at this year’s BBC Proms Festival. In the second hour, we hear two works by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose 90th birthday is on September 11 — his Variations for Arinushka for solo piano and the stirring “Prayer” from a cappella choral work Kanon Pokajanen.

Playlist

Polar: The Waves
Gabriel Olafs
Viktor Orri Arnason, conductor
Reykjavik Orchestra

Cello Concerto “Before we fall”
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Eva Ollikainen, conductor
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Johannes Moser, cello
2025 BBC Proms Prom 35

Hear us in Heaven
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Hordur Askelsson, conductor
Schola Cantorum Reykjavik

Still/Sound
Olafur Arnalds
String Quartet
Olafur Arnalds, electronics
Mercury KX 2021

Blow Bright
Daniel Bjarnason
Daniel Bjarnason, conductor
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Dorian 70030

Variations for Arinushka
Arvo Part
Elena Riu, piano
Linn 111

Kanon Pokajanen (Canon of Repentance): Prayer
Arvo Part
Jaan-Eik Tulve, conductor
Vox Clamantis
Jaanika Kuusik, soprano
ECM 2466

Violin Concerto “Distant Light”
Peteris Vasks
Hugo Ticciati, conductor
O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra
Hugo Ticciati, violin
Signum 532

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ Canadian-American flutist and composer Sarah Bassingthwaighte premieres her latest project, an album with the London Symphony Orchestra centered around music connected to nature. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

Christoph von Dohnányi, a conductor known for his illuminating and intellectual approach to music, died Saturday. His death was announced in a statement by the Cleveland Orchestra, which did not specify a cause. He was 95.

Dohnányi was best known in the United States for his time as the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, which he led from 1984 to 2002. He also made numerous recordings with the symphony, programming a broad swath of music that ranged from J.S. Bach to Harrison Birtwistle, while remaining grounded in the Austro-Germanic repertoire.

"They were the most-recorded American orchestra for about a decade during his tenure," says Don Rosenberg, former music critic of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and author of the book The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None.

Rosenberg reviewed many of Dohnányi's performances with the Cleveland Orchestra. He says that the conductor's devotion to the score, and willingness to rethink pieces he had conducted many times, were central to Dohnányi's interpretations.

"You could hear everything in the texture," Rosenberg recalls. "He was not one for big flourishes in terms of sonority; he always wanted the details to be heard. He took a very analytical approach, which nevertheless made for performances that were not only very clear but very vibrant." For Dohnányi, the arc of a piece was crucial — he believed that the listener should be able to hear inside the music, but also see the big picture.

Andrew Porter, praising a Cleveland Orchestra performance of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony in The New Yorker in 1988, wrote: "Mr. Dohnányi and his orchestra cast a spell of attention such as is rarely encountered in New York's concert halls. Beauty of sound, eloquence of individual phrasing, balance of long periods and a sense of high purpose were united."

The secret of Dohnányi's success, he once told a BBC broadcaster, was deceptively simple. "The main goal of a conductor," he claimed, "should be that he is not important any more — that the orchestra listens to each other, that the orchestra has a certain spirit which you try to convey to them while you're rehearsing."

Dohnányi was born Sept. 8, 1929, in Berlin, into a family of musicians, politicians and an esteemed theologian. His grandfather, Ernst (Ernő) von Dohnányi, was a celebrated Hungarian composer and pianist. His father, Hans, a lawyer and member of the Hamburg senate, and his uncle, the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were both executed on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1945 for their involvement in a plot to assassinate the German leader. Klaus von Dohnányi, Christoph's older brother, served as mayor of Hamburg from 1981 to 1988.

Dohnányi's musical life began at the piano, which he studied until World War II intervened. Afterward, in Munich, he studied law before entering the state music school, where he graduated in 1951 and won the city's Richard Strauss Conducting Prize. He followed his grandfather to the U.S., studying with him in Florida and later with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood in Massachusetts.

Early on, Dohnányi built a solid foundation in conducting by working his way through provincial German opera houses, eventually graduating to director's posts in Frankfurt and Hamburg. "I think he had an advantage that a lot of young conductors today don't have," Rosenberg says. "He started in an opera house, as a coach, and learned the ropes from the ground up. That kind of training doesn't happen a lot anymore, and that's too bad because those conductors who had all those experiences brought a very rich culture to their music-making."

Along with his work in opera houses such as London's Covent Garden and New York's Metropolitan, Dohnányi held posts at symphony orchestras in Cologne, London and, beginning in 1984, Cleveland.

Dohnányi was something of a dark horse pick for Cleveland, considering the visibility of his predecessors Lorin Maazel and the legendary George Szell, who led the orchestra from 1946 to 1970. But Rosenberg notes that during Dohnányi's tenure, he upheld the orchestra's top-tier reputation while crafting a sound of his own.

"He made splendid use of the orchestra's chamber-music-like qualities," Rosenberg says. "I think he softened some of the edges that Szell preferred and that continued under Maazel. There was attention to detail and transparency — all the qualities that we associate with the Cleveland Orchestra for half a century."

Although Dohnányi's podium demeanor was reserved and his tone was generally soft-spoken, the conductor was known to freely speak his mind. An article in London's Times in 1994 finds Dohnányi openly criticizing other conductors, calling Simon Rattle's performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro a "total misunderstanding" and Mahler symphonies under Bernstein "totally wrong."

In recent years, Dohnányi kept busy guest conducting the world's great orchestras and keeping up his website, on which he was politically outspoken. In a post from February 2017 called "Resist the Beginnings," he starts by recalling the deaths of four men in his family at the hands of Nazis, before going on to lament "intolerance" in the United States. "What kind of world are we living in?" he wrote. "A world of 'Texas first!' 'California first!' Asia, Africa, America, Europe or Australia 'first!'? Or do we live in a world that puts human dignity, humanity, fearlessness and compassion above everything else? In its great days our much-loved USA was such a country."

Copyright 2025, NPR

On the latest episode of Saturday Cinema, join host Lynne Warfel for a program dedicated to music by and about the Newman family: Alfred, Lionel, Randy, Thomas and David. Selections include Wuthering Heights, Mosters, Inc. and Bridge of Spies. Listen now!

Playlist

20th Century Fox Fanfare
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80168

Anastasia
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 184

The Robe
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 184

Monsters, Inc.: The Ride of the Doors
Composer: Randy Newman
Conductor: Randy Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Walt Disney 607127

Monsters, Inc.: If I Didn’t Have You/Monsters, Inc.
Composer: Randy Newman
Conductor: Randy Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Soloists: Billy Crystal, vocals
Walt Disney 607127

Bridge of Spies: End Title
Composer: Thomas Newman
Conductor: Thomas Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Hollywood 2280802

Wuthering Heights: Cathy’s Theme
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 184

How the West Was Won
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc 80141

Galaxy Quest: Main Theme
Composer: David Newman
Conductor: John Morris Russell
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Fanfare Cincinnati 15

The Greatest Story Ever Told: Theme
Composer: Ken Darby/Alfred Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
Primary Wave 500609

Seabiscuit: Suite
Composer: Randy Newman
Conductor: Thomas Newman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra

Little Women: Under the Umbrella
Composer: Thomas Newman
Conductor: Kenneth Alwyn
Orchestra/Ensemble: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Silva 6018

All About Eve: Main Title
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 183

How to Marry a Millionaire: Street Scene
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: John Wilson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Sinfonia of London
Chandos 5294

Song of Bernadette
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 184

Airport
Composer: Alfred Newman
Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
Orchestra/Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA 184

Family Album: Homage to Alfred, Emil and Lionel Newman
Composer: Randy Newman
Soloists: Gloria Cheng, piano
Harmonia Mundi 907635

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was a skilled pianist and conductor who composed and performed in the classical, television, theater, jazz and film industries, while also advocating for the Black community in the performing arts. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, we’re considering astronomy, astrophysics, and the atomic age. The first hour explores outer space with works including Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory, Meredith Monk’s “Earth Seen from Above” from her opera Atlas, and Mary Lattimore’s For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth. In the second hour, our focus is inner space and the sub-atomic, with selections including John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony and Jennifer Higdon’s The Sound of Light. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Playlist

Three Nocturnes: Moonrise
John Luther Adams
Robert Black, double bass
Cold Blue 67

The Observatory
Caroline Shaw
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
2025 BBC Proms Prom 29

The Theory of Everything: Suite
Johann Johannsson
Anthony Weeden/Ben Foster, conductors
Studio Orchestra
Backlot 280

For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth
Mary Lattimore
Mary Lattimore, harp
Ghostly 390

Apollo: Luna Nova
Marc Mellits
WindSync
Bright Shiny Things 167

Atlas: Earth Seen from Above
Meredith Monk
Wayne Hankin, conductor
Studio Orchestra
ECM 1491

Fluorescein
Gemma Peacocke
Talla Rouge
Bright Shiny Things 202

Hydrogen Jukebox: Song No. 3
Philip Glass
Martin Goldray, conductor
Ensemble
Nonesuch 79286

Doctor Atomic Symphony
John Adams
David Robertson, conductor
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Nonesuch 468220

The Sound of Light
Jennifer Higdon
Merian Ensemble
Navona 6644

Trajectories
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Tinna Thorsteinsdottir, piano
DG 22217

On Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, Minnesota Public Radio’s annual MPR Day took place at Dan Patch Park at the Minnesota State Fair. The day included music by a brass quintet featuring members of the Minnesota Orchestra.

During YourClassical MPR’s Performance Today segment, it was also a chance for exiting host Fred Child to pass the torch to new host Val Kahler.

Performance Today

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On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ young saxophonist Jess Gillam talks about her new project, a series of EPs titled ‘Prism’ that explore the different permutations of the saxophone’s sound. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

The view of one’s life’s work has taken on different meanings in societies and eras across the world. From servant and slavery systems of old, to the industrial revolution, to labor unions and the gig economy, our idea of work is ever-changing.

As in all aspects of our culture, music has been a part of work every step of the way. Today, both the advent of remote-work and the emerging question of universal basic income are creating new paradigms and discussions about the meaning of work. This Labor Day, join Cantus for I Hear America Singing, a joyful examination of the role work has played in our lives in years past and how work might evolve into the future.

Playlist

Traditional: “Simple Gifts”

Marge Piercy: “To Be of Use”

Melissa Dunphy: “Work”

Jennifer Lucy Cook: “Time”

Kenji Miyazawa: “Be Not Defeated by the Rain”

Traditional (arr. Yudelkis LaFuente): “Song to Yemaya”

Traditiona (arr. Osamu Shimizu): “Mogami River Boat Song”

Stacey Gibbs: “Ain't Got Time to Die”

Traditional (arr. Robert de Cormier): “Rainbow Round My Shoulder”

Traditional (arr. Chris Foss): “We Shall Not Be Moved”

Traditional (arr. Jeffrey L. Ames): “Tshotsholoza” (“Go Forward”)

Ralph Carmichael: “A Quiet Place”

Chris Foss: “I Hear America Singing”

Natasha Bedingfield: “Unwritten”

Dolly Parton: “9 to 5”