Dan Olson's "Minnesota Sounds and Voices" series profiles individual unique stories, and shares tales from our state. Created in 2011, Olson provides an intimate and personal glimpse into fascinating Minnesota lives and experiences.
October 17, 2011 - On this premiere episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson interviews members of Messiah's Men, a choir group of men brought together by the shared experience of escaping their civil war-ravaged homeland of Liberia.
February 10, 2012 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson talks with members of Mu Daiko, a St. Paul-based Japanese drumming ensemble. Iris Shiraishi and Rick Shiomi discuss the background and rudiments of music style.
March 21, 2012 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson presents report on Jane Belau, who has volunteered for ten years playing piano in the Mayo Clinic's Gonda Building lobby. Many at the hospital find the music therapeutic.
March 30, 2012 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson explores the sounds of bagpiping with Mike Breidenbach, leader of the Macalester College Pipe Band. Olson also interviews members of pipe band.
June 11, 2012 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson talks with Minneapolis resident Salah Fattah on how he stays connected to his Arabic culture. Fattah is founder of the 10-year-old Arabic classical music ensemble Amwaaj, which in English means "wave," as in waves of the sea.
February 12, 2013 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Kim Sueka and David Burk, two members of St. Paul Rose Ensemble. The two that have created the Lau Hawaiian Collective, a group that brings the islands' music to Minnesota audiences.
March 15, 2013 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles dulcimer player Karen Mueller. Mueller is one of the country's top dulcimer and autoharp players, classically trained, steeped in Appalachian, Celtic and folk music. The Minneapolis musician is trying something new: performing a rarely heard classical work with a chamber group.
June 28, 2013 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles several women's Hmong American flag football teams as they prepare to compete at this year's Hmong Freedom Celebration. Playing the game was a formidable cultural hurdle the young Hmong American women had to overcome, as families place a high value on women as wives rather than competitors.
March 27, 2014 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Orkestar Bez Ime, an Eastern European music group, which has become known as a Balkan party band. Olson interviews members of the band about the complicated music form.
July 31, 2014 - On this episode of Minnesota Sounds and Voices, MPR’s Dan Olson talks with Chue Vang about his family’s experience fleeing Laos and coming to the U.S. as refugees. Today, he aims to honor the opportunities found in his adopted home and a late brother with a new scholarship for Hmong students.