PREVIEW: The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s 2024-2025 Season

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in concert. Photo by Chelsea Tischler.

Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. A composer residency with Valerie Coleman. An oboe d’amore concerto. These are a few of the highlights of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s new season.

For its 66th season, the SPCO – one of Minnesota’s pre-eminent music ensembles – will feature 82 concerts. “This coming season is a gem that reflects the many perspectives and voices of our orchestra,” said SPCO Managing Director and President Jon Limbacher. “And — as we have done for almost 20 years — we will offer our concerts for some of the most affordable ticket prices in the orchestra world, consistent with our vision of providing a great orchestra for everyone in the community.”

Affordability, in this case, includes some radical outreach pricing, as the SPCO continues two pricing schemes that redefine access in age where season ticket sales are declining and audiences increasingly choose between streaming and live content. The 2024-2025 season will mark the eighth year of the SPCO’s New Generation Initiative, offering free tickets for children and students, and $10 “best available” tickets for anyone ages 18–39. The ensemble will also continue to offer its all-you-can-eat Concert Membership program, which gets members access to unlimited concerts for as low as $5 per month. It will also add a Gold Concert Membership tier that gives members access to the highest price seats at SPCO performances.

With all these options, there are a few occasions where you’ll probably want to splurge. You’ll want to reserve tickets for the ever-popular Messiah concerts, and consider reserving seats in the front of the balcony for the best views of the SPCO’s co-presentation (with The Arts Partnership) of Terence Blanchard’s celebrated opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones (2019), performed in concert with The Turtle Island Quartet.

SPCO Season Calendar

Sep 13–15 | Opening Weekend: Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Tabea Zimmermann
Tabea Zimmermann, director and viola; Steven Copes, violin
Sep 20–21 | Mozart’s Haffner Symphony
Eunae Koh, violin and creative lead
Sep 27–29 | EXPRESS CONCERT: Kyu-Young Kim Plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Kyu-Young Kim, violin
Oct 10–12 | Julie Albers Plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto
Julie Albers, cello
Oct 18–20 | When We Were Trees with Abel Selaocoe
Abel Selaocoe, director and cello; Richard Belcher, cello
Nov 14–17 | Haydn’s Il Distratto Symphony
Andrew Brady, creative lead; Cassie Pilgrim, English horn
Nov 29–Dec 1 | Copland’s Appalachian Spring
Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano
Dec 13–15 | Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos with Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr, conductor and harpsichord
Dec 19–22 | Holiday Concerts: Handel’s Messiah
Patrick Dupré Quigley, conductor; Lauren Snouffer, soprano; Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano; John Matthew Myers, tenor; John Moore, baritone; The Singers — Minnesota Choral Artists; Matthew Culloton, artistic director
Jan 17–19 | Roman Rabinovich Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20
Roman Rabinovich, piano; John Moore, baritone; Matthew Wilson, horn
Jan 30–Feb 1 | Haydn’s Fire Symphony
Nina Tso-Ning Fan, violin
Feb 14–16 | Four Spirits with Abel Selaocoe
Abel Selaocoe, director and cello; Bernhard Schimpelsberger, percussion
Feb 23 | Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones
with the Turtle Island Quartet and visual artist, Andrew F. Scott
Mar 7–8 | Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Eunice Kim, violin
Mar 14–16 | Haydn’s Drum Roll Symphony with Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr, conductor
Mar 27–30 | Bruch and Korngold with Tabea Zimmermann
Tabea Zimmermann, director and viola; Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet
Apr 10–12 | Mozart’s 40th Symphony with Dmitry Sinkovsky
Dmitry Sinkovsky, conductor and violin
Apr 24–27 | Jasmine Choi Plays Mozart’s Second Flute Concerto
Jasmine Choi, flute
May 2–3 | Steven Copes Plays Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata
Steven Copes, violin
May 16–18 | Coleman’s Sandbox Premiere with William Eddins
William Eddins, conductor
May 23–25 | EXPRESS CONCERT: Janáček’s The Kreutzer Sonata
Richard Belcher, creative lead
Jun 5–8 | EXPRESS CONCERT: Cassie Pilgrim Plays Bach’s Oboe d’Amore Concerto
Cassie Pilgrim, oboe d’amore and creative lead; Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet; James Ferree, horn; Julie Albers, cello
Jun 13–15 | Season Finale: Mozart’s Prague Symphony with Gábor Takács-Nagy
Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor; Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet

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John Anderson

John Anderson is a lifelong theatre fan turned theatre reviewer. He is the 3rd Editor-in-Chief of the Twin Cities Arts Reader.