Name: Four Spirits with Abel Selaocoe
Start: 2025-02-16T14:00:00
Location: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Join us in Saint Paul, MN, for a breathtaking series of orchestral performances celebrating the genius of Igor Stravinsky. From Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts to Roman Rabinovich's rendition of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, experience the magic of Stravinsky’s compositions like Apollon Musagète, Concerto in D, Concerto in E-flat major, and Danses Concertantes. This is a musical journey you won't want to miss!

Celebrate Igor Stravinsky in Saint Paul: A Series of Orchestral Masterpieces

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is set to enchant audiences with a series of captivating performances this season, including Copland's Appalachian Spring, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, and Handel's Messiah. With renowned artists like Clara Osowski, Richard Egarr, and Lauren Snouffer gracing the stage, the lineup promises a blend of traditional masterpieces and innovative compositions. From the orchestral grandeur of Haydn's Fire Symphony to the groundbreaking opera 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones,' this season is a celebration of musical diversity and excellence, offering unforgettable experiences for classical music enthusiasts.

A Harmonious Symphony: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Season of Musical Marvels

Join the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as they present a breathtaking lineup of events, showcasing iconic compositions and featuring talented artists from across the globe. From January to April 2025, experience the enchantment of orchestral music and cultural diversity in venues across Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Whether it's the timeless symphonies of Mozart and Haydn or the contemporary works of Terence Blanchard and others, these events promise to captivate audiences with their artistic brilliance and emotional depth.

A Symphony of Seasons: Celebrating Music with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is set to captivate audiences with a spectacular lineup of orchestral performances starting in January 2025. From the spirited notes of Mozart to the fiery melodies of Haydn, this season promises to be an unforgettable celebration of classical music. Featuring renowned performers like Roman Rabinovich and Abel Selaocoe, and creative works from composers like Stravinsky and Blanchard, the agenda reflects a rich tapestry of musical genius. Get ready to be transported through time and sound, experiencing masterpieces that speak to the soul.

A Symphony of Seasons: An Insight into the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Upcoming Concerts

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's upcoming 2025 season promises an eclectic mix of orchestral performances that explore a wide array of cultural and musical themes. From the innovative compositions of Abel Selaocoe in 'Four Spirits', to the emotive retelling of Charles M. Blow's memoir in 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones', this season offers something for everyone. With performances featuring renowned artists such as Jasmine Choi and Dmitry Sinkovsky, audiences can expect an engaging journey through classical and contemporary music landscapes.

A Symphony of Diversity: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's 2025 Season

Abel Selaocoe

Bernhard Schimpelsberger

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

Hang on tight for a fast-paced program full of intricate, syncopated rhythms and melodies that overlap and intertwine. Though you'll hear various groupings of musicians — bassoon and strings, violin and winds, string orchestra — every piece is connected, in some way, to the idea of musical puzzles. It's easy to lose yourself in the winding journey — through spiraling harmonies and a circling bassoon as Demetra Alikakos stars in her first solo performance since joining the orchestra in 2024.

Bach’s Fifth Partita

Eden Prairie Campus

Saint Andrew's Lutheran Church

Capri Theater

Step into the SPCO Sandbox for the world premiere of an imaginative fairytale in the form of a concerto for double bass! Developed over the course of two seasons for his Sandbox Composer Residency, Jon Deak's newest work, Under a Spell, invites listeners on a whimsical journey performed by Principal Bass Zachary Cohen and guided by narrator Bill Gordh. As the former Associate Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic and "a composer-performer who has learned to make stringed instruments ‘talk’" (The Washington Post), Deak brings a lifelong familiarity of the instrument to his music and teachings.

Zachary Cohen Premieres Deak’s Bass Concerto

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Grammy Award-winning conductor-composer Teddy Abrams leads this star-studded exploration of two American masterworks in a nod to our country's 250th anniversary. With roots in American folk and jazz traditions, there's an undeniable groove in the rhythms and orchestration of Mary Lou Williams' Zodiac Suite, edited here for chamber orchestra by Aaron Diehl. His jazz trio is joined by multi-disciplinary vocalist Mikaela Bennett for the song cycle Honey and Rue, set to the poetry of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. Trust us when we say: you will not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with the SPCO.

Williams’ Zodiac Suite with the Aaron Diehl Trio

Exquisite, timeless, virtuosic. Every December, we have a special tradition of performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s most cherished set of orchestral works, the Brandenburg Concertos. Written for varying groups of strings, winds and harpsichord, these masterworks have stood the test of time since the composer first compiled them in 1721. Now three centuries later, the Brandenburgs have earned a well-deserved reputation as hallmarks of the Baroque era, rich with intricate harmonies and spirit. Experience five of the six concertos this holiday season, when SPCO musicians sparkle as bright as the charming holiday lights of downtown Saint Paul.

Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos

Celebrate the holidays with one of classical music’s most beloved traditions. Bring the whole family to our extremely popular annual performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah — an iconic masterpiece for orchestra and choir that has captured the hearts of listeners worldwide. As the director of Dunedin Consort, Scotland’s Baroque Ensemble, John Butt brings a lifetime of expertise leading Messiah. It's an event like no other, complete with full orchestra, a roster of renowned vocal soloists, and the local choir The Singers. Experience the magic of Messiah this holiday season!

Holiday Concerts: Handel’s Messiah

Ring in the new year with a charming concert marked by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's characteristic humor and wit, curated by Principal Oboe Cassie Pilgrim. There's a surprise around every turn of phrase, and just when you think you know what's coming, your expectations get flipped! Themes from Mozart's popular and lighthearted Eine Kleine Nachtmusik are mirrored and remixed in P.D.Q. Bach’s Eine Kleine Nichtmusik, and you'll hear similarities echoed in the program's titular Bassoon Concerto.

Andrew Brady Plays Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto

The Capri turns 100! In addition to this momentous centennial, our 2026.27 season also marks 17 years of partnership with our longtime friends on the Northside. It's with this celebratory spirit that we share a program of music from America and Minneapolis in a genre-bending concert featuring local jazz and funk artists.

Celebrating 100 Years of the Capri

In an SPCO first, we welcome the "dazzling" (New York Classical Review) Radu Ratoi for a program that melds orchestra with accordion. Praised worldwide for his originality, versatility and virtuosity, Radu describes the accordion — an instrument with a storied foundation in European folk and popular music — as capable of "almost unlimited possibilities." On the second half of this program, he explores music inspired by Baroque and folk traditions.

Radu Ratoi Plays Enescu and Bach

Shepherd of The Valley Lutheran Church

Experience the culmination of a multi-year collaboration with Sandbox Composer-in-Residence Gabriela Lena Frank, the SPCO and The Great Northern. As a composer, Frank’s body of work centers climate change, community, and the role of the artist in stewarding change in the face of a heating planet.

Her Sandbox premiere is similarly ecologically fixated, ruminating on the legacy of John James Audubon, the French American writer and ornithologist who inspired the modern conservation movement. In collaboration with poet and librettist J. Drew Lanham, whose essay “What Do We Do About John James Audubon?” inspired this project, Frank grapples with the idea of complicated legacies, the “consequences of entangled histories,” and how they shape the present. In this new song cycle for baritone and chamber orchestra, Ballad of John James Audubon and the Runaway: An American Tragedy Ignored and Retold, Frank and Lanham tell the lesser-known story of Audubon and his legacy of racism.

Frank’s Sandbox Premiere with Mei-Ann Chen

University of Minnesota

When Tabea Zimmermann comes to town, you're in for something truly special. She's a musical giant — a legend amongst violists and often cited alongside the great William Primrose, both for her musical prowess and for her commitment to teaching. Despite her near-transcendent status, Tabea is incredibly grounded and a generous collaborator — qualities that shine in her performances. Through wordless communication, she becomes one with the orchestra, leading expressively whether she's seated in the viola section or standing center stage for a concerto. Experience the full depth of the viola in all its warmth and richness of sound, played by one of the all-time greats.

Mozart’s Linz Symphony with Tabea Zimmermann

In her first performances as an SPCO Artistic Partner, violinist Alina Ibragimova returns to the Ordway to helm a program featuring two composers known for leaning into drama: Felix Mendelssohn and Ludwig van Beethoven. With nimble fingers, Alina practically dances through intricate runs that span the entire fingerboard, expertly coaxing a wide range of sound from her instrument with impressive ease. From soaring, sweet melodies in the violin's highest registers to fiery passages capable of snapping some bow hairs, Alina is able to “collapse any sense of distance between performer and listener” (The Guardian), bringing you along for a ride you won't want to miss.

Alina Ibragimova Plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

Continuing our celebration of The Capri's centennial, we share a program built around Jean Sibelius' ruminating string quartet Voces intimae, Latin for Intimate Voices or Inner Voices. At times soft and contemplative, at others lively — even with folk-inspired fiddling — the five movements act like a window into a conversation between the two violins, viola and cello. "It turned out as something wonderful," he wrote to his wife. "The kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death. I will say no more."

Four Spirits with Abel Selaocoe

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