Lakes Area Music Festival cancels season due to COVID

Classical host Mindy Ratner is a constant companion for listeners. Join us as we celebrate 40 years of her friendly, authoritative presence on the airwaves of YourClassical MPR and across the nation on YourClassical Radio with this compilation of some of her “greatest hits,” along with a look back in photos.

Here are 10 sculptures at the Walker Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis paired with a piece of classical music that highlights colors, themes and shapes. Take a stroll through the garden to find each piece, listen to the chosen song and unwind.

NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has a trick to get her kids to fall asleep at bedtime: lullabies. Science backs it up: Singing to your child helps them fall asleep faster, even than listening to Mozart!

Watch as the Minnesota-based ensemble 29:11 International Exchange, many of whose singers and instrumentalists hail from South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tap into their African roots to, as co-founder Brendon Adams says, “spread love and reconciliation through our music.” Enjoy the results of their recent recording session with YourClassical MPR.

Did you know that you can listen to all of YourClassical's music streams on your mobile device? Here's how to download and use the recently released YourClassical app.

The youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition makes our trusty upright piano sound like a 9-foot grand in music by Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

Lynne Warfel, host of Saturday Cinema, takes you on a one-hour musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished Christmas-themed movies. Including scores from ‘Scrooge, the Musical,’ ‘A Muppet Christmas Carol,’ ‘The Polar Express,’ ‘It's A Wonderful Life’ and many more. Listen now to an encore of ‘Hollywood Holiday’ from 2021!

The sounds of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square floated into many homes during the holidays in the 1960s and '70s on Goodyear and Firestone albums, bringing lush renditions of favorite Christmas carols. Those warm memories and feelings come right back in this holiday special from 2021.

In ‘Dreams of the Fallen,’ Minneapolis-based composer Jake Runestad worked with a poet and war veteran to create a piece of music about post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s one of two songs he composed on the Grammy-nominated album ‘A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad.’

Prokoviev's tale about a young man who captures a wolf is a children's holiday classic. But how to handle stories like this one at a time when capturing a wolf by its tail, parading it in triumph through the city, and then locking it up in the local zoo isn't likely to be seen as an act of clemency by audiences?