Orchestra Hall
The Minnesota Orchestra has announced that starting this June, it’ll be holding in-person performances at Orchestra Hall. The announcement comes after nine months of exclusively at-home viewing and listening for audiences across the state. The summer series will kick off with two concerts led by music director Osmo Vänskä in June; the July and August calendar will feature Jon Kimura Parker, Orchestra Hall’s orchestra and creative partner this summer. Further programming details will be released in May.
“We have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it means a lot that we will be able to conclude the Classical season by welcoming audiences back to Orchestra Hall,” said music director Osmo Vänskä in a press release. “Our aim this year has been to give people choices around how they can connect with the Orchestra, and soon they will be able to decide if they’d like to experience a concert by watching on television or online, listening on the radio or attending in person. Those June performances will be very emotional.”
April through June, the Minnesota Orchestra’s concerts will continue to be televised on Twin Cities PBS (TPT), broadcast live on Classical Minnesota Public Radio, and streamed online at minnesotaorchestra.org for free. When audiences return to Orchestra Hall in June, COVID safety measures will remain in place: audience numbers will be limited, entries and departures staggered, and of course, masking and physical distancing will be enforced. During the summer, the orchestra plans to add extra concerts to their schedule and gradually expand audience size.
Earlier this year, the Minnesota Orchestra partnered with researchers at the University of Minnesota to study how far their brass and wind instruments expel aerosol particles, potentially increasing the risk of COVID transmission. The results? Not far at all. Tubas, for example, expelled fewer particles than the average person speaking. This—plus ventilation standards that “meet or exceed CDC guidelines” throughout the venue—is good news for classical music lovers itching to get back to Orchestra Hall, where the real magic happens.
“As musicians, performing is a vital way that we connect with other people,” Susie Park, first associate concertmaster, said in a press release. “We are grateful for all of the connections we’ve been able to make through our livestream concerts this year, but it will be incredibly powerful to reconnect inside Orchestra Hall with all of our friends and family. We also have some exciting new music to share!”
