More to Hear: The Listening Project
Fri Nov 3, 2023
Orchestra Hall
The Listening Project, now in its third year, has grown out of an initiative to spotlight the music of historically underrepresented composers and to collaborate with a broader group of composers living today. This concert, conducted by Kensho Watanabe and hosted by renowned performer, scholar and professor Dr. Louise Toppin, will be recorded to aid and encourage future programming of this music by other orchestras. Following the concert, ticketholders will receive a complimentary digital download of each piece from the performance.
Artists
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Kensho Watanabe is fast becoming one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors to come out of the United States. Recently recognized as a recipient of a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S., he held the position of assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2016 to 2019, where he made a critically acclaimed subscription debut, taking over from his mentor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He has since returned there for more subscription programs, including concerts in the 2021-22 season. Other recent highlights include his debuts at the Bravo! Vail Festival and numerous concerts at the Mann and Saratoga performing arts centers, as well as debuts with the London Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic, Charlotte Symphony and Sarasota Orchestra. He has led numerous operas with the Curtis Opera Theatre, most recently Puccini’s La Rondine and La Bohéme.
Dr. Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, oratorio and recital performances worldwide. Her 19 CDs include Ah love, but a day, featuring music by women composers; La Saison des fleurs; and Songs of Love and Justice, Vol. I, a collection of songs by Adolphus Hailstork. She has edited nine anthologies and a choral work published by Classical Vocal Reprints and Hildegard Press, including Rediscovering Margaret Bonds and An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs.
Dr. Toppin is co-founder and director of the George Shirley Vocal Competition and Videmus (promoting African American music), and founder/editor of the African Diaspora Music Project research tool. She is also a professor of music (voice) at the University of Michigan.
Accessibility Services
- Armless & Bariatric Chairs
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Large-Print Programs
- Noise-Cancelling Headphones
- Service Animals
- Wheelchair & Accessible Seating
Additional services are available upon request.