Staff Directory 600335717

Rob Hubbard

 | Newsroom
Recent content from Rob Hubbard
Jasmine Habersham as Juliet and Evan LeRoy Johnson as Roméo in MN Opera's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul

Review: Minnesota Opera stages eye-catching and well-sung 'Romeo and Juliet'

Jasmine Habersham as Juliet and Evan LeRoy Johnson as Roméo made beautiful music together in Charles Gounod's operatic adaptation of the tale.
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra delivered a magnificent concert Friday at the Ordway Concert Hall.

Review: SPCO performs Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Osmo Vänskä, who was the music director of Minnesota Orchestra for 19 years, reminded the audience Thursday of why he is enjoyable to watch.

Review: Osmo Vänskä returns to play with Minnesota Orchestra. So does his theatrical oomph.

The former music director teams up with cellist Anthony Ross for an intriguing Walton Cello Concerto.
South African cellist Abel Selaocoe performs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra this weekend.

Review: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and cellist Abel Selaocoe transform the classical concert experience

Abel Selaocoe performed unconventional and traditional works on the exciting and joyful program.
From left, Joseph Jones, Donald Livingston and Cléa Galhano of  l'Arte di Suonare are slated to perform next week at the Twin Cities Early Music Fest

Twin Cities Early Music Festival will present 10 concerts over eight days in St. Paul

The group is celebrating its 10th anniversary with this musical marathon.
Patrick Warfield, director of the University of Minnesota School of Music, inside Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis

U School of Music director Patrick Warfield wants more collaborations for students

Earlier this year, U music students collaborated with the Cedar Cultural Center on its Nordic Roots Festival and later this school year will work with professional musicians and composers visiting the Twin Cities.
Movie music composer Hans Zimmer rocking out during an earlier stop on his "Hans Zimmer Live" tour, which played Target Center in Minneapolis on Satur

Review: Film composer Hans Zimmer rocked out to some of his famed scores at Target Center

"Hans Zimmer Live" included music from the films "Dune," "The Lion King" and "Gladiator" to name a few.
South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim performs with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Minnesota Orchestra opens its season with South Korean piano prodigy Yunchan Lim

The program includes works by Hector Berlioz, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Andrea Tarrodi and Ottorino Respighi.
Moor Mother, a composer, instrumentalist and singer, performed her evening-length work, "The Great Bailout," at the Walker Art Center's McGuire Theate

Review: Moor Mother offers a powerful artistic experience at Walker Art Center

The poet-musician performed with seven other musicians in her debut work "The Great Bailout" that included free jazz, original poetry and tap dancing.
The Minnesota Orchestra will perform the musical score to four screenings of the original "Star Wars: A New Hope" in October.

Twin Cities classical concerts feature scores to your favorite movies

A few of the movie scores to receive orchestral treatment include "Star Wars," "Hocus Pocus" and "Back to the Future."
Tabea Zimmermann Viola

Review: SPCO opens its season with German violist Tabea Zimmermann leading the orchestra

The program included works by Mozart, Grażyna Bacewicz and Sergei Prokofiev.
American mezzo-soprano and six-time Grammy nominee Frederica von Stade will perform and hold masterclasses at multiple venues as fundraiser for Minnea

Raison d'Etre Opera is a new opera company in Minneapolis. And it's for singers 55 and older.

Semiretired mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade will perform recitals and hold master classes as part of the opera company's fundraiser.
Justin Spenner, center, in Pickup Truck Opera's "Faust" Thursday in Loring Park. Mephistopheles (Justin Anthony Spenner) sings the praises of a versat

Review: Mixed Precipitation's 'Faust' offers fine performances in challenging outdoor settings

This Pickup Truck Opera adaptation of Charles Gounod's "Faust" will be performed around Minnesota through Sept. 15.
Composer deVon Russell Gray is creating music to accompany silent films in Walker Art Center's "Sound for Silents" event on Thursday.

Musician deVon Russell Gray has composed music for Walker Art Center's 'Sound for Silents'

Composition will provide the soundtrack to a few films from the Walker's moving image collection.
Sarah Hicks conducts the Minnesota Orchestra in its performance of "An American in Paris" to a screening of the film.

Review: Minnesota Orchestra's 'An American in Paris' showcases the ensemble's versatility

The orchestra performed the Gershwin masterpiece to a screening of the 1951 film.
mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, the founder of the festival, who is singing on about half of the pieces at Monday night's concert. Source Song Festival 2

Review: Mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski shined in Source Song Festival's opening night concert

The high point was Reinaldo Moya's "2 Canciones de Alfonsina Storni," which showcased Osowski's interpretive skills.
Christian Reif conducts the Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra, four vocal soloists and the combined forces of three choirs in Beethoven's Ninth Symp

Brainerd's Lakes Area Music Festival opens with a bang

The German music director amplifies the symphony's joy with his intensity and interpretive imagination.
Jon Kimura Parker performs with the Minnesota Orchestra as part of the "Summer at Orchestra Hall" series.

Review: Minnesota Orchestra displays versatile virtuosity in 'Summer at Orchestra Hall' concert

Pianist and principal soloist Jon Kimura Parker showed great aplomb on Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.
Delayana Lazarova  Conductor
Photo: Marco Borggreve

Review: 'Summer at Orchestra Hall' opens with a high-energy concert of Mozart and Beethoven

Bulgarian conductor Delyana Lazarova also led the Minnesota Orchestra in music by Joseph Bologne aka Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
Gábor Takács-Nagy is the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's newest artistic partner.

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra names Gábor Takács-Nagy its newest artistic partner

He joins a team of other world-class musicians serving in that role with the SPCO.
Cantus, will perform "The Queen's Songbook," a collection of songs from Hawaii composed by its first monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani, and other music fro

Review: Cantus' 'Queen's Songbook' concert delivers refreshing songs from Hawaii

The vocal octet performs works composed by Hawaii's Queen Lili'uokalani.
Jane Ramseyer Miller conducting One Voice Mixed Chorus at the GALA Choruses Festival 2016 in Denver.

LGBTQ choirs gather in Minneapolis for the GALA Choruses Festival

Some 7,000 singers and 122 choirs from across the globe will converge on the city for five days of song.
Cellist Steven Isserlis performed at the Minnesota Beethoven Festival in Winona on Sunday.

Review: Cellist Steven Isserlis offers impressive recital at Winona's Minnesota Beethoven Festival

Pianist Connie Shih accompanied Isserlis on works by Beethoven, Gabriel Fauré and Thomas Adès.
During a rehearsal of Out of the Box Opera's "Suor Angelica" at Minneapolis' Basilica of St. Mary, the title character (Alexandra Loutsion, in yellow

Out of the Box Opera stages Puccini's 'Suor Angelica' at the Basilica of St. Mary

The audience, cast and musicians will move throughout the Minneapolis basilica as part of the immersive production.
Thomas Søndergård makes his debut as the new director of the Minnesota Orchestra, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.  The first piec

Minnesota Orchestra's Thomas Søndergård won't conduct this weekend's Pride concerts

Søndergård is ill and a replacement conductor will step in.
Pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton perform with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony is the standout in Minnesota Orchestra's Pride concert

Works by Dame Ethel Smyth and Francis Poulenc also are part of the program.
Jon Kimura Parker will perform Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G on July 26 and George Gershwin's Concerto in F on Aug. 2, both at Orchestral Hall

6 classical music festivals across Minnesota to check out this summer

This season has it all, from Bach and Beethoven to Joshua Bell and Christian Reif to Julia Bullock and Ana Maria Martinez.
Internationally renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman performs with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Minnesota Orchestra performs Beethoven with guest pianist Yefim Bronfman

The Orchestra Hall program includes works by John Adams and Adolphus Hailstork.
Gábor Takács-Nagy, who began studying the violin at the age of 8, is an authority on Hungarian music, and in particular, that of Béla Bartok.

Review: Guest conductor Gabor Takacs-Nagy concludes the SPCO season with passion and soul

He powerfully delivers Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony and demonstrates the wonderful chemistry he shares with the St. Paul orchestra.
Violinist Christian Tetzlaff performs with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Christian Tetzlaff performed a deep, absorbing violin concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra

The program also included works by Henri Dutilleux and Béla Bartók.
Rebecca Blackwell performs in the 2019 production of the baby opera "NOOMA."

'Nooma,' an opera for babies, returns to Ordway Center in St. Paul

The show is designed for babies and toddlers up to 24 months, and parents are welcome, too.
Pianist Richard Goode performs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Pianist Richard Goode performs with impeccable touch and intimacy in SPCO concert

The program includes two Mozart concertos and "Lila" by Texu Kim.
Marco Real-d'Arbelle performs a piece by Italian violinist Nicola Matteis at a pop-up concert at Rosebrook Park on Friday in Roseville.

Mobile mini-concerts are part of Minnesota Bach Festival events

The festival, run by the Bach Society of Minnesota, runs through June 1.
Richard Egarr

Review: Conductor Richard Egarr leads the SPCO in a concert filled with gravitas and joy

The program included works by Mozart, Charles Ives and Franz Schubert.
Joo Won Kang, left, and Keely Futterer in Minnesota Opera's "La Bohème."

Review: Minnesota Opera stages a most entertaining and energetic 'La Bohème'

Won Whi Choi as Rodolfo and Melinda Whittington as Mimi are in powerful voice in one of the most well-sung productions of the Giacomo Puccini opera.
Violinist Daniel Hope and English pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips perform as part of the Schubert Club's International Artist Series in St. Paul.

Review: Violinist Daniel Hope offered romanticism and emotion in Schubert Club concert

Hope performed works by César Franck and Maurice Ravel, among others, with English pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips.
Tabea Zimmermann Viola

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra enlists a host of intriguing musicmakers for its 2024-25 season

Pianist Roman Rabinovich, cellist Abel Selaocoe, violist Tabea Zimmermann and flutist Jasmine Choi are just some of the soloists slated to perform with the SPCO.
Concertmaster Erin Keefe solos with the Minnesota Orchestra Friday and Saturday under the direction of Thomas Søndergård.

Review: Concertmaster Erin Keefe delivers beautiful violin solo with the Minnesota Orchestra

The concert also featured works by Eleanor Alberga, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann.
Soprano Golda Schultz performed with pianist Jonathan Ware Wednesday as part of the Schubert Club International Artist Series.

Review: Soprano Golda Schultz proved a captivating storyteller with a magnificent voice

Her Schubert Club International Artist Series recital featured songs by Clara Schumann, Rebecca Clarke and Kathleen Tagg.
Soprano Christine Goerke is slated to perform a concert presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot” with the Minnesota Orchestra in May 2025.

Minnesota Orchestra's 2024-25 season includes mandolinist Avi Avital, jazz master Wynton Marsalis

Soprano Julia Bullock, violinist Isabelle Faust and soprano Christine Goerke are also among the world-class musicians slated to perform with the orchestra next season.
Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Review: Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performs mesmerizing, haunting program with the SPCO

The concert included the premiere of a new piano concerto by American composer Chris Rogerson and works by French composers Francis Poulenc and Ernest Chausson.
Yuja Wang / Konzerthaus Wien © Julia Wesely

Review: Pianist Yuja Wang performs a spirited, satisfying program with the Minnesota Orchestra

The Chinese virtuoso performed works by Sergei Prokofiev, Arturo Márquez and Franz Schubert.
Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov performed a Chopin Society recital on Sunday.

Review: Pianist Daniil Trifonov delivers exciting, emotionally powerful Chopin Society recital

The Russian virtuoso's interpretations of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and Peter Tchaikovsky's "In Church" were the concert's most outstanding performances.
Zoie Reams and Charles H. Eaton in Minnesota Opera's production of "Trouble in Tahiti."

Review: MN Opera's 'Trouble in Tahiti' and 'Service Provider' explore marital bliss gone wrong

Mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams offers standout performances in both one-acts.
Saxophonist Jess Gillam performs in April 2025 as part of the Schubert Club's International Artist Series.

Schubert Club announces 2024-25 International Artist Series and Music in the Park Series concerts

Jeremy Denk, Leonidas Kavakos and Emmanuel Pahud are among those slated to perform as part of the International Artist Series.
This is a scene from the Minnesota Opera's 2009 production of "The Barber of Seville," which will be revived during the 2024-25 season.

Minnesota Opera's 2024-25 season features 'The Barber of Seville,' 'The Snowy Day,' a recital series

The season opens Nov. 2 with "Romeo and Juliet."
The Canadian Brass quintet performed with the Cantus vocal ensemble on Sunday.

Review: Cantus, Canadian Brass prove an 'unsuccessful pairing' in St. Paul concert

The sound dynamics were problematic when the two groups blended, with the brass quintet overpowering some voices.
Guest bassist Nina Bernat performs with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Osmo Vänskä returns for an ear-opening Minnesota Orchestra concert of new music

Guest bassist Nina Bernat proved exhilarating and lyrical on Giovanni Bottesini's second bass concerto.
Jennaya Robison, artistic director of the National Lutheran Choir, selects music for the group that will make audiences think about the plight of huma

National Lutheran Choir's artistic director wants the group's music to make audiences think

Jennaya Robison will lead the choir in a performance Sunday at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church in Plymouth.
The King's Singers performed Sunday afternoon as part of the Bethlehem Music Series.

Review: King's Singers delight with tightly woven harmonies in Bethlehem Music Series concert

The all-male group was in fine form especially on songs such as Amanda McBroom's "The Rose" and U2′s "MLK."
Shruthi Rajasekar will perform her work "Parivaar – A Celebration of Community as Family" on Sunday at Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul

Shruthi Rajasekar performs her new work 'Parivaar' as part of the Schubert Club Mix

Rajasekar curated the concert series and has made it a celebration of Minnesota's vibrant South Asian artistic community and the many musicians who have guided her along the way.

Review: Thomas Søndergård makes epic debut as Minnesota Orchestra's new conductor

Retired music professor builds concert hall in his Eagan home

Richard Egarr

Review: Richard Egarr leads SPCO in spirited, dramatic Baroque music concerts

The smile-inducing program featured works by J.S. Bach, Heinrich Biber and Georg Philipp Telemann.
Paul McCreesh

Review: The SPCO performs a majestic Handel's 'Messiah'

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's version has long been the Twin Cities area's gold standard.
Cantus

Review: Shorthanded Cantus offers Christmas concert of solemn reverence

The harmonies were a bit thinner and the spirit more solemn at Friday's midday concert, with three of the group's four tenors sidelined.
The Three Kings in Skylark Opera’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” 

8 great holiday concerts by Twin Cities area classical groups

From a couple of different renditions of "Messiah" to choirs to "Amahl and the Night Visitors," there's something for everyone.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra livestreamed concerts from an empty Ordway Concert Hall.

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has a budget surplus for fiscal year 2022

Community donations have been key to the SPCO braving the pandemic.
Bridget Kibbey

Review: Harpist Bridget Kibbey showed what the instrument can do at St. Paul recital

At St. Paul's Ordway, she teamed with violinist Alexi Kenney for a rich performance.
Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves performs with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in holiday concert at Orchestra Hall

Christmas music always reminds the Grammy-winning jazz vocalist of family and fellowship.
Symone Harcum as Almirena and Patrick Terry as Rinaldo in Minnesota Opera's "Rinaldo." Photo credit: Dan Norman

Review: Minnesota Opera's finely sung 'Rinaldo' opens the new Luminary Arts Center

The fun production features imaginative costumes and staging.
Bruce Coppock

Bruce Coppock, former SPCO president, cellist and teacher, dies at 71

Bruce Coppock, a classical music visionary, retired in 2016.
Joshua Bell's 2021 performances with the SPCO at Bravo! Vail. Please credit Tomas Cohen 

Review: Joshua Bell leads SPCO in energetic, emotional concert of Mozart, Bruch and Bizet

The violinist was an artistic partner with the SPCO earlier in his career from 2004-2007.
Osmo Vänskä led a rehearsal Dec. 29, 2021, as he prepared for the Minnesota Orchestra’s three-week Sibelius Festival.

Review: Osmo Vänskä leads Minnesota Orchestra in bright, bold and bracing Mahler's Third Symphony

This work will be the last that the conductor laureate records with the orchestra.
Joshua Bell last performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at Bravo! Vail in 2021.

Violinist Joshua Bell reunites with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for a series of concerts

Earlier in his career, Bell worked as an artistic partner with the SPCO for three years.
Anne Sofie von Otter

Review: Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter offers an intimate, emotional concert at the Ordway

Renowned fortepiano master Kristian Bezuidenhout accompanied the theatrically engaging von Otter.
Thomas Søndergård makes his debut as the new director of the Minnesota Orchestra, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. The first piece

Review: Thomas Søndergård leads Minnesota Orchestra in beautiful program of contrasting themes

Maurice Ravel's "Mother Goose" proved lush and delicate, while Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" was intense and aggressive.
Donald Runnicles

Review: Sir Donald Runnicles conducts the Minnesota Orchestra in a powerful, emotional concert

The program included works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Alban Berg, Carlos Simon and Edward Elgar.
From left, Jack Swanson, Jasmine Habersham and Brian Vu in Minnesota Opera’s “Edward Tulane” at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Pau

Review: Minnesota Opera's 'Edward Tulane' delights with evocative music, dazzling visuals and heart

The opera is based on Minneapolis author Kate DiCamillo's novel "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane."

Minnesota Opera's COVID-delayed 'Edward Tulane' to make its world premiere

Jack Swanson as the titular character in "Edward Tulane" in a scene with Brian Vu as Bryce and Jasmine Habersham as Sarah Ruth in the first act during

Minnesota Opera's COVID-delayed 'Edward Tulane' to make its world premiere

The opera, based on Kate DiCamillo's book "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane," has lessons for young and old about perseverance and empathy.
Pianist Conrad Tao performs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra this weekend.

Review: Pianist Conrad Tao performs with imagination, energy and sensitivity in his SPCO debut

The program featured C.P.E. Bach and Mozart concertos, among other selections.
Wynton Marsalis with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra photo credit, Frank Stewart.

Review: Minnesota Orchestra opens season with Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Marsalis' 12-year-old "Swing Symphony," a journey through the history of jazz, didn't seem all that new.