The musical celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation comes to Orchestra Hall this week as conductor Osmo Vänskä leads the Minnesota Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation"). In a modern twist to the centuries-old occasion when Martin Luther sparked a religious and cultural revolution, the Minneapolis forces also will present a new work commissioned specifically for this concert event.
Mendelssohn's symphony quotes Luther's most famous hymn, Ein feste Burg ("A Mighty Fortress"), heavily as it builds to a fantastic finale.
Minnesota Orchestra principal flutist Adam Kuenzel features prominently in Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2.
The concert concludes with the world premiere of American composer Sebastian Currier's "Re-formation." The 30-minute work uses bits of Mendelssohn's symphony, according to the program notes, "while also looking forward, ending with a choral hymn that encourages us to protect our natural environment for future generations."
Join host Brian Newhouse on Friday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m., to listen to the broadcast of the Minnesota Orchestra in concert, live from Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
Concert program
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Minnesota Chorale (Kathy Saltzman Romey, artistic director)
Students from Concordia University (David Mennicke and Shari Speer, conductors)
Adam Kuenzel, flute
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 2
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation")
Sebastian Currier
Re-formation
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