The Minnesota Orchestra has big plans for its newly announced 2023-24 season, which will be the first led by new music director Thomas Søndergård.
It includes a full slate of holiday concerts as well as programs that commemorate Lunar New Year, Juneteenth and Pride; a commitment to spotlight works by underrepresented composers; earlier start times and choose your own ticket price options for most Saturday concerts; and local hip-hop star Nur-D making his debut with the orchestra.
Ticket packages of three or more concerts are on sale now at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling 612-371-5642. Single tickets will go on sale Aug. 4. Digital subscriptions are also available for $60.
“It is an enormous luxury for me to take over an ensemble that is in such great shape and in such great spirit,” Søndergård said in a news release. “It actually feels to me as if it is just about finding the right way to place my arm around the shoulders of this orchestra, and we will continue the journey that is already so well on its way.”
Season highlights include:
Søndergård’s inaugural season
The Danish conductor officially begins his tenure during season-opening concerts, taking place across two weeks in September, with a special community open house planned for Sept. 30.
During the season, Søndergård will lead works by Strauss and Mozart (Sept. 21-23); Auerbach, Debussy, Barber and Ravel (Sept. 28-30); Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky (Dec. 31-Jan. 1); Walton, Britten, Coleridge-Taylor and Elgar (Jan. 5-6); Alberga, Bruch, Brahms and Schumann (April 11-13); and Chen, Rachmaninoff and Strauss (May 2-3).
Søndergård will also conduct a one-hour family concert on Jan. 7 and the orchestra’s season finale Pride concerts (June 20-22, 2024), featuring music by composers from the LGBTQ+ community.
Choose your price
Tickets for most Saturday concerts will be available for audiences to “choose a ticket price that reflects what the orchestra means to them.” All Saturday concerts will have an earlier start time at 7 p.m. and select performances will add a 2 p.m. matinee, with a post-concert conversation with Søndergård.
Underrepresented composers
Now in its third year, the Listening Project (Nov. 3) will see Kensho Watanabe lead the ensemble through a new selection of music in concerts hosted by Dr. Louise Toppin, a vocalist, scholar and the founder of the African Diaspora Music Project. The Sphinx Virtuosi (Feb. 1-3) ensemble will join the orchestra in a program conducted by Tito Muñoz that includes works by a number of Black and Latin composers.
A global mix of 21st century compositional voices will be featured throughout the season, including Betsy Jolas’s A Little Summer Suite (Oct. 13-14), Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari (Oct. 20-21), Lotta Wennäkoski’s Flounce (Feb. 22-24) and Texu Kim’s Dub-Sanjo (March 8-9).
Live at Orchestra Hall
This series features collaborations with non-classical musicians as well as screenings of films accompanied by the orchestra. Musicians and performers joining the orchestra include singer/songwriter Ben Folds (Oct. 6-7), Tony winner Audra McDonald (Nov. 4), the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy Glee Club (Nov. 11-12), the circus group Troupe Vertigo (March 2-3) and local hip-hop star Nur-D (April 5-6).
Films include “Get Out” (Oct. 27-28), “Home Alone” (Nov. 25-26), “Frozen” (Dec. 15-17), “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (Jan. 25-27) and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (May 16-18).
Holidays
The Minnesota Orchestra’s holiday offerings feature the Minnesota Chorale’s presentation of Messiah (Dec. 8-9), the annual Merry and Bright program with trumpeter Charles Lazarus (Dec. 10), Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (Dec.18) and pianist George Winston (Dec. 19).
The orchestra will also celebrate Lunar New Year with a program conducted by Junping Qian (Feb. 17) and Juneteenth with a focus on African American composers (June 14).
