The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra prepares to launch its Music for Mandela project at Orchestra Hall in the northern U.S. city of Minneapolis this week.
The American orchestra, led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, will perform a multi-week music festival dedicated to Madiba on his centenary in its home city this July. In August the ensemble embarks on the 14,000 kilometer journey to South Africa for a 5-city tour, marking the first-ever visit to South Africa by a professional U.S. orchestra. Performing in Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Soweto and Johannesburg, the 90-member ensemble will perform music by Bernstein, Beethoven and South African composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen, among others. “Music plays a central role in South African culture,” says Vänskä, “both choral music and a growing orchestral tradition, and we are excited to experience and be part of this movement.”
More information and tickets: www.computicket.com/music or minnesotaorchestra.org/satour