Mindy Ratner is a host and producer on the Classical Music Service of MPR, where she is heard on weekends. Ratner regularly produces and hosts specials that draw on her expertise, whether it’s her Jewish heritage or experience with Chinese culture.
Ratner 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 1999, Ratner took a leave of absence to work as a music host and producer for China Radio International in Beijing.
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April 25, 1986 - MPR staff Loren Omoto, Dale Connelly, and Mindy Ratner talk with MPR’s Kate Moos about how they are celebrating the gubernatorial declaration highlighting how radio workers’ services improve life in the state of Minnesota.
December 31, 1986 - MPR’s Beth Friend visits the Minneapolis home of Charlotte Kula as she prepares latkes in celebration of Hanukkah. Kula shares her thoughts on the recipe and much more.
July 19, 1991 - MPR’s Mindy Ratner interviews local composer Steve Heitzeg on Georgia O'Keeffe.
July 14, 1994 - MPR’s Minday Ratner interviews Alice Kaplan on her culture, growing up in Minnesota in a Jewish family and her book French Lessons: A Memoir.
May 10, 1995 - MPR’s Mindy Ratner visits Minnesota Orchestra Hall, where young flute players attend auditions for the Pied Piper Fantasy.
April 29, 1998 - Mindy Ratner talks with Bob Potter about her yearlong broadcasting job in China that she leaves for on the same day as this interview.
September 28, 1999 - MPR's Mindy Ratner checks in from China and discusses how the government is beautifyingthe city in prepartion for the 50th anniversary of the advent of communism.
June 22, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with Mindy Ratner, host of Evening Classics on MPR, about traveling to China with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony. The group consists of seventy young musicians traveling for a formal 2001 summer concert tour, and features performances in China's most prestigious concert halls in Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai.
January 16, 2002 - Minnesota Public Radio music host, Mindy Ratner talks with conductor Yakov Kreizberg about the renowned conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein. Kreizberg leads the Minnesota Orchestra in the second part of the Bernstein Festival, a two-week event exploring Leonard Bernstein's legacy as a conductor, composer, pianist and educator.
December 5, 2002 - Classical MPR’s Mindy Ratner talks with 11-year-old Nathaniel Irvin of Maple Grove, who has the the title role in Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” performed by the Minnesota Orchestra with the James Sewell Ballet.