Sphinx Virtuosi Joins Minnesota Orchestra for Local Concert Series at The Great Northern Festival, Feb 1-3

The Sphinx Virtuosi, the leading ensemble of the Sphinx Organization, will perform with the Minnesota Orchestra from February 1-3. These concerts are part of The Great Northern Festival, a Minnesota winter event. The ensemble, made up of eighteen top Black and Latinx classical soloists, will be directed by guest conductor Tito Muñoz. The program will include six pieces by Black and Latinx composers, reflecting contemporary issues, specific locations, and cultural traditions.

A key part of the program is Michael Abels’ Global Warming, a piece never performed at Orchestra Hall. Composed in 1990, the piece has gained new relevance due to the current climate crisis. Before each performance, Abels, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner, will be interviewed by performer Loki Karuna. These discussions will occur in the Target Atrium at Orchestra Hall.

The concerts will take place at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on February 1, 2, and 3. Ticket prices vary from $31 to $89, with free tickets for young listeners aged 6 to 18 through the Orchestra’s Hall Pass program. The February 2 concert will be broadcast live on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio stations.

The program will also include Marejada by Angélica Negrón, performed solo by the Sphinx Virtuosi. The piece, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet in 2020, was inspired by social isolation and includes ambient sounds from Negrón’s Puerto Rico. After Marejada, violinist Njioma Chinyere Grevious, the 2023 Sphinx Competition winner, will perform parts of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

The second half of the concert will start with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Symphonic Variations on an African Air, showcasing the composer’s use of African melodies in Western classical music. The program will end with Sensemayá by Silvestre Revueltas, a piece inspired by a poem by Nicolás Guillén and an Afro-Caribbean chant. The Sphinx Virtuosi's performance aims to celebrate diverse cultures and contemporary issues through classical music.

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