Minnesota Orchestra A New Year's Day Celebration 2023

On Jan. 1, 2023, conductor Mei-Ann Chen and the Minnesota Orchestra rang in the new year with a program featuring music by Leonard Bernstein, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and a piece by Jessie Montgomery performed by special guest Awadagin Pratt. Listen to the concert now as we prepare for 2024!


Listen: Minnesota Orchestra's 2023 New Year’s Day Celebration

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Cynthia Dickison

How much do you know about Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic, beyond its signature melodies? Let’s crack it open for Christmas!


Nick Fewings/Unsplash

How well do you know Tchaikovsky's Christmas classic, 'The Nutcracker'?

Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.

Rhapsody in Black - Hazel Scott

Vernon Neal is the host of the podcast ‘Rhapsody in Black,’ where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music.


Host/Producer

Vernon Neal

Pianist Hazel Scott was billed as ‘The Darling of Café Society’ due to her ability to sell out shows with her masterful improvisations. But her music was heavily intertwined with politics as she spoke up continually against segregation. Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.


photographer: James Kriegsmann, New York [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Hazel Scott 'jazzed up the classics' and stood up against segregation

New Classical Tracks (Extended Interview) - Barnaby Smith

New Classical Tracks - Barnaby Smith

Julie Amacher's desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, Wis. She went from rock 'n' roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Minnesota Public Radio in 1997 as an on-air host and also produces New Classical Tracks, a weekly podcast critiquing a new release each week. It airs locally at 7:15 a.m. Wednesdays and 5:15 p.m. Fridays.


Julie Amacher

On this week’s episode of New Classical Tracks, Voces8 joins with the Voces8 Foundation Choir and Orchestra, led by co-founder and artistic director Barnaby Smith, in their new holiday album, ‘A Choral Christmas.’ Find out more!


Provided

Voces8 presents 'A Choral Christmas'

In this season of holiday traditions, few are as magnificent and memorable as Handel's ‘Messiah.’ British conductor Christopher Warren-Green returns to lead the Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Chorale and soloists in this glorious work. Listen live at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, on YourClassical MPR.


Minnesota Orchestra and Chorale present Handel's 'Messiah'

Rhapsody in Black - Jon Batiste

Right after Jon Batiste won the Grammy for album of the year in 2022, he spent three weeks sleeping on a hospital couch as his wife, Suleika Jaouad, received a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Now, the couple recounts the ups and downs of their recent years through the Netflix documentary ‘American Symphony.’ Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.


Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

Grammy winner Jon Batiste recounts his life in 'American Symphony'

New Classical Tracks (Extended Interview) - John William Trotter

New Classical Tracks - John Trotter

On this week’s episode of New Classical Tracks, the vocal ensemble Chicago a Cappella, under the direction of John William Trotter, presents a wide range of music for the Hanukkah season on its latest album, ‘Miracle of Miracles.’ Find out more!


Kate Scott Photography

Chicago a Cappella celebrates Hanukkah on 'Miracle of Miracles'

Candles Burning Brightly

Mindy Ratner is a host and producer on the Classical Music Service of Minnesota Public Radio, where she is heard on weekends. She began her career in public broadcasting following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working first for the local public television station and then for Wisconsin Public Radio. She moved on to stations in Cincinnati and Philadelphia before joining Minnesota Public Radio in 1983. In 1998 and '99, Ratner took a leave of absence to work as a music host and producer for China Radio International in Beijing. Her spare time is devoted to international travel; folk, ballroom and contradancing; singing in the Minnesota Chorale; her two cats, and trying to stay ahead of the weeds in her garden.


Mindy Ratner

Hosted by Mindy Ratner, ‘Candles Burning Brightly’ is a delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! There is lots of music from Jewish communities worldwide, a hilarious lesson on preparing a classic Hanukkah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.


'Candles Burning Brightly'

Christmas at Luther

Melissa Ousley stumbled into a career in broadcasting many years ago when she moved to Wichita, Kansas to be near her soon-to-be husband. The attraction (to radio work, that is) was immediate and the chance to be around great music without having to practice piano was irresistible. After establishing herself as a host and producer in Kansas, Melissa moved to Minnesota and continued her work at WCAL in Northfield and Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul. Her morning classical show at WCAL was twice named "Best Classical Radio Program" by the Twin Cities paper City Pages. Melissa grew up near New York City. As a teenager, she attended the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. Her bachelor's degree in music education is from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. When she's away from the airwaves, Melissa loves to run, read, and spend time with her family.


Melissa Ousley

Each December, the Center for Faith and Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, rings out with the sacred and the exuberant: the sounds of the Christmas season. Enjoy the 2022 program, ‘The Gifts They Gave Emmanuel.’


Christmas at Luther: 'The Gifts They Gave Emmanuel'

Classical Feature - Holiday - Welcome Christmas

Welcome Christmas

John Birge has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.


John Birge

‘Welcome Christmas’ is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host John Birge for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including compositions and arrangements by Mack Wilberg, Glenn Rudolph and John Rutter.


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