Minnesota Orchestra Will Host Nordic Soundscapes Festival

The Minnesota Orchestra will present its third annual Nordic Soundscapes Festival at Orchestra Hall from November 5–14, with two weekends of concerts and events celebrating the music, culture and traditions of Northern Europe. Presented for the first time in November, this year’s festival brings together Music Director Thomas Søndergård and Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, with both conductors leading programs during the festival. 

Their joint participation offers a rare opportunity to hear the Orchestra led by both its current music director and Vänskä, whose 19-year tenure as music director helped shape the Orchestra’s artistic identity. Søndergård will also lead the festival’s first-ever Family Concert, The Musical Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.

The festival’s programs range from works by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and Danish composer Carl Nielsen, to music by contemporary Nordic composers Anders Hillborg, Jaakko Kuusisto and Outi Tarkiainen. Featured soloists are pianist Jon Kimura Parker and violinist Stella Chen. Beyond the performances, Nordic Soundscapes will extend throughout Orchestra Hall with activities inspired by Scandinavian culture, including food, cocktails and crafts. The festival draws on the Nordic tradition of hygge, emphasizing warmth, togetherness and shared cultural experiences as Minnesota heads into the winter months. 

SONDERGÅRD, PARKER AND SIBELIUS

(November 5-7, 2026)

Music Director Thomas Søndergård opens the festival on Thursday, November 5 at 11 a.m. with selections from Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg’s Norwegian Dances. Originally written for piano four hands in 1880, the work was inspired by a collection of Norwegian folk tunes published by musician and researcher Ludvig Mathias Lindeman. 

The selections are followed by an audience favorite, pianist Jon Kimura Parker, celebrated for his “absolutely top-notch music-making, as fine as one could ever expect to hear” (Washington Post), performing Anders Hillborg’s MAX Concerto. Written for pianist Emanuel “Manny” Ax, the concerto was given its world premiere by Ax with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2023. A musical conversation between soloist and orchestra, the work frequently sees the piano merge into the orchestral textures. Comprising nine titled sections performed as a continuous 21-minute movement, the concerto also includes nods to Beethoven and Bach.

The program closes with Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, a work the Finnish composer began writing while staying in Rapallo, Italy, in 1901. One of Sibelius’ most popular and frequently performed symphonies, the work became hugely popular in Finland and was interpreted as a musical expression of the country’s struggle against Russian rule. While Sibelius himself rejected the idea that it had a specific patriotic program, the finale’s triumphant character helped earn it a reputation as a kind of “symphony of liberation.”

Performances of this program will also take place on Friday, November 6 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 7 at 7 p.m.

THE MUSICAL TALES OF Hans Christian Andersen

(November 8, 2026)

On Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m., Søndergård leads the Minnesota Orchestra in The Musical Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, an hour-long, relaxed concert experience that brings the beloved Danish storyteller’s timeless tales to life through vivid orchestral soundscapes. As a fellow Dane, Søndergård brings a personal connection to Andersen’s world, guiding audiences of all ages, including individuals with autism or sensory sensitivities, through stories that have captivated generations.

For this performance, audiences are encouraged to arrive early for activities in the lobby. Activities include opportunities to try instruments (provided by FRIENDS of the Minnesota Orchestra), make art and dance.

VÄNSKÄ, CHEN AND NIELSEN

(November 13-14, 2026)

Closing the third annual Nordic Soundscapes festival, Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä returns to the podium to lead works with Finnish and Danish roots on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m and Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m.

The program opens with Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s Songs of the Ice, a work she composed while pregnant with her second child and dedicated to Okjökull, an Icelandic glacier that became a symbol of climate change in Finland. From Finnish Lapland, an Arctic landscape that is a major source of inspiration for her music, Tarkianinen embraces in this piece the sounds of the glacier as it breathes, swells, shrinks, rumbles, squeaks and cracks through the changing seasons.

The work is followed by the Violin Concerto of Vänskä’s beloved late friend, Finnish composer-violinist Jaakko Kuusisto, featuring soloist and Gramophone’s 2023 Young Artist of the Year Stella Chen. The only violin concerto Kuusisto ever wrote, the work came to fruition after a commission from his colleague Finnish violinist Elina Vähälä, liberating the prospect of composing a work for another performer than himself. Part virtuoso showpiece, part cinematic adventure, Kuusisto's concerto moves between sweeping orchestral landscapes, intimate lyricism and high-voltage violin writing.