Day #192: Minnesota Orchestra

I am grateful to the Minnesota Orchestra (then the Minneapolis Symphony), my elementary school, and my mother for teaming up to introduce me to classical music. Young People’s Concerts began in 1911 (but I wasn’t there)! “Hearing a live performance by the Minnesota Orchestra can awaken a young person’s musical curiosity and lay the foundation for a lifetime of enjoyment. Through these concerts, students learn how composers use music to convey ideas, just as authors use text; there are many ways in which composers express their creativity and spark inspiration in young listeners.” Classical music is vitally important to me. Those school trips to hear the Orchestra were thrilling. We observed real people, who made their living as musicians, playing real instruments, led by conductors who brought their personalities to the performances. It made a difference in my understanding of music. So did the crush I had on Robert Tweedy, the timpanist. What an instrument! What a musician! (The photo below is that of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, the Orchestra’s conductor from 1960 to 1979.)

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski

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