Since MPR was founded in 1967, our studios have been a regular stop for the world's master musicians, composers, and conductors. Additionally, in partnership with Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, MPR has recorded interviews and performances with many incredible visiting musicians and leaders in the classical music world, such as Bobby McFerrin, Osmo Vänskä, and Neville Marriner, to name a few. The Archive at MPR has preserved these interviews to make them accessible to you. Enjoy this collection which includes unique conversations occasionally combined with performance highlights and excerpts, as well as reports on the local classical scene.
Please note: Most content related to this topic that is contemporary or created after 2005 can be found on our main content pages of YourClassical MPR and MPR News
February 26, 2001 - All Things Considered’s Lorna Benson talks with Bruce Coppock, managing director of the SPCO, about conductor Bobby McFerrin leaving The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. McFerrin took the SPCO job in 1994, signing on for a two year contract after visiting the orchestra to conduct. Those two years turned into seven, and now McFerrin's ready to pursue other projects.
May 24, 2001 - A profile on Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, who has been named new music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. Report contains various commentaries and interviews about the conductor and his leadership style.
May 25, 2001 - Word of Mouth Host Chris Roberts talks with Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra's new music director. Osmo Vanska, of Finland, says he's honored to have been chosen to lead what he called one of the great orchestras in the world. He says one of his primary goals is to build a team spirit and intimacy among musicians to engender a feeling and sound closer to a chamber ensemble, than a huge symphony orchestra.
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.
August 6, 2001 - Robert Spaethling isn't the first person to translate Mozart's letters, but he went to great lengths to be the most precise. The German professor chose 275 letters and postscripts written by Mozart over a span of 22 years. Spaethling tells MPR's Tom Crann it was especially difficult to translate the poems Mozart wrote, like one he sent to his mother in January of 1778.
September 7, 2001 - Cathy Wurzer visits St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, which is installing a 1927 Casavant pipe organ, one of the largest of its kind in the upper Midwest. The instrument was restored by Schantz Organ Company in Ohio. It has more than 7,000 original and restored pipes, the smallest the size of a pencil...the largest 32-feet high weighing over 1,000 pounds.
September 25, 2001 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles choral director Dale Warland, a recipient of the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award. The Minnesota-based conductor, arranger, and composer is founder of the Dale Warland Singers. He traces his musical roots to his Iowa childhood and a charismatic church choir director.
October 5, 2001 - Mainstreet Radio’s Jeff Horwich reports on a new grant awarded in central Minnesota that will be a small first step to put more violins, violas, and cellos in the hands of children in smaller school districts.
October 8, 2001 - SPCO Music Director Andreas Delfs says music has taken on more meaning since the September 11th attacks. Nine major Minnesota arts organizations are joining together for a special performance, called "Elegy," to honor the victims of September 11th, 2001.
November 9, 2001 - MPR’s Chris Julin profiles Tasha Turk, a 15-year-old girl that also happens to be the best classical soprano in the town of Two Harbors. Turk got her start singing to livestock. She's come a long way…she'll be in Boston recording for a national radio show.