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
May 23, 1995 - Midmorning’s Paula Schroeder interviews Gilbert Levine, conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the historic "Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah (Holocaust)." The performance marked the first official Vatican commemoration of the Nazi genocide of World War II.
October 27, 1995 - MPR’s Joaqlin Estus profiles Native American composer Brent Michael Davids. Estus interviews Davids about his instrumentations and composition “Native American Suite.” Jerry Rubino, assistant-conductor of the Dale Warland Singers, is also interviewed.
December 22, 1995 - MPR’s Euan Kerr reports on news of a record deal for Aaron Jay Kernis, a composer in residence at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Kernis has signed an exclusive 5-year recording contract with the British label, Argo Records. He sees the contract as a commitment by the label to contemporary classical music.
May 29, 1996 - MPR’s Eric Friesen speaks with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Conductor Hugh Wolff from the city of Sendai shortly after the second concert of a tour in Japan. The trip is being seen as an important opportunity to develop a Japanese following for the SPCO. Wolff says Japanese audiences have given the SPCO a warm welcome.
June 12, 1996 - MPR’s John Rabe talks with composer Philip Blackburn about Harry Partch, an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments.
November 15, 1996 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles Fredrik Melius Christiansen, a Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition. Christiansen founded the choir at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Olson interviews St. Olaf choral conductor Anton Armstrong about Christiansen.
December 4, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts interviews Jane Anfinson, electric violinist and vocalist of Own, a Minneapolis art rock band that combines classical and jazz influences with traditional pop song structures. Anfinson discusses redefining instrumentation and abstract lyrics.
December 24, 1996 - MPR’s Eric Friesen interviews local composer Stephen Paulus and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland about carols. They have collaborated on the creating the piece “Pilgrim Jesus” for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge.
January 15, 1997 - MPR’s John Rabe interviews local composer Paul Siskind about his composition “Fantasy-Variations.” The piece started off as a music school assignment, and sat on the shelf for a few years. Now the Minnesota Orchestra, under Eiji Oue, will give the world premiere performance of Siskind's “Fantasy-variations : on a fragment by Schoenberg.”
February 7, 1997 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on a University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra performance of the music of Roy Harris, Rimsky-Korsakov… and “Beijing Drum,” a piece of new music by a Chinese composer Zhou Long written for the pipa, an instrument similar to a lute.