ERIN KEEFE AND MATTHEW LIPMAN
PERFORM MOZART’S SINFONIA CONCERTANTE;
OSMO VÄNSKÄ CONDUCTS

Music Director Osmo Vänskä conducts the Orchestra in the music of Lutosławski, Mozart and Hindemith

Minnesota Orchestra concerts, May 11 to 13, feature Concertmaster Erin Keefe and violist Matthew Lipman

In Minnesota Orchestra concerts May 11 to 13, Concertmaster Erin Keefe and guest violist Matthew Lipman perform Mozart’s extraordinary Sinfonia concertante, with Music Director Osmo Vänskä conducting. Keefe last performed as soloist with the Orchestra in Brahms’ Violin Concerto in May 2016. Lipman was the Grand Prize winner of the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2012 and received a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2015. The program also includes Lutosławski’s Little Suite and Hindemith’s brilliant Mathis der Maler Symphony.

The concerts are performed at the Orchestra’s home venue in downtown Minneapolis, Orchestra Hall, on Thursday, May 11, at 11 a.m.; Friday, May 12, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $25 to $96. Tickets are available online at minnesotaorchestra.org and by phone at 612-371-5656. For further purchasing details, refer to the section at the conclusion of this press release.

Erin Keefe, violin

Erin Keefe, the Minnesota Orchestra’s concertmaster since 2011, is a highly-regarded soloist, chamber musician and festival artist. She has been featured here in performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, and the Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms Violin Concertos. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras and ensembles such as the New York City Ballet, New Mexico Symphony, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic and the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, among other ensembles. An active chamber musician, she is an Artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performs with the Accordo ensemble in Minneapolis. Keefe has been awarded many major distinctions, including the Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has also been the recipient of the Pro Musicis International Award, and the Grand Prizes in the Valsesia Musica International Violin Competition, Torun International Violin Competition, Schadt Competition and Corpus Christi International String Competition. More: minnesotaorchestra.org.

Matthew Lipman, viola

Matthew Lipman, recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2015, has played concertos with the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Wisconsin Chamber, Juilliard, Ars Viva Symphony and Montgomery Symphony orchestras, and has performed with the Chamber Music Society at Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall, and at the Kissinger Sommer Festival in Germany as a member of CMS Two. His debut recording of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Sir Neville Marriner was released last year on the Avie label and reached No. 2 on the Billboard classical charts. More: matthew-lipman.com.

Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra’s tenth music director, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. In addition to the Orchestra’s May 2015 tour to Cuba, he has led the Orchestra on five major European tours, the most recent of which took place in August 2016, as well as regular tours to communities across Minnesota. His recording projects with the Minnesota Orchestra have also met with great success, including the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for their recording of Sibelius’ First and Fourth Symphonies on the BIS Records label. The final disc in the series was released in the U.S. in September 2016. Earlier this year, BIS released the newest Vänskä-Orchestra album, which features in-concert recordings of Sibelius’ Kullervo and Finlandia, and Kortekangas’ Migrations. As a guest conductor Vänskä has led all the major American and European orchestras. More: minnesotaorchestra.org.

Lutosławski, Mozart and Hindemith

Four energetic movements fly by in the span of ten minutes in Lutosławski’s Little Suite based on Polish folk tunes, ranging from an unusual polka in triple meter to a vivacious concluding dance.

A symphony that behaves like a concerto, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante contrasts bright solo violin with dark solo viola to build the finest of the composer’s string concertos. The soloists’ magical entrance is followed by a majestic Allegro, an operatic Andante of deep pathos and a high-spirited Presto.

Mathis der Maler, a symphony based on themes from Hindemith’s opera of the same name, begins with a musical nod to the work’s Renaissance setting. A powerful lament follows, and a fierce conflict climaxes in a joyous brass exclamation.

Minnesota Orchestra Classical Concerts
MOZART SINFONIA CONCERTANTE
with Erin Keefe and Matthew Lipman

Thursday, May 11, 2017, 11 a.m. / Orchestra Hall
Friday, May 12, 2017, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Saturday, May 13, 2017, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Erin Keefe, violin
Matthew Lipman, viola

LUTOSŁAWSKI Little Suite
MOZART Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
HINDEMITH Mathis der Maler Symphony

Tickets: $25 to $96

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Subscription packages and individual tickets can be purchased online at minnesotaorchestra.org, or by calling 612-371-5656 (612-371-5642 for subscriptions) or 800-292-4141. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Orchestra Hall Box Office, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and beginning two hours before all ticketed performances); and at the Minnesota Orchestra Administrative Office, International Center, 5th floor, 920 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). For more information, call 612-371-5656, or visit minnesotaorchestra.org. For subscriptions, call 612-371-5642 or visit minnesotaorchestra.org/subscribe. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

The Star Tribune is the Minnesota Orchestra’s media partner for the 2016-17 season.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.