In 2020 the classical music world celebrates the 180th Anniversary of birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the most popular Russian composer of all time. Set in the beautiful Maple Grove Bandshell in Town Green Park, we invite you to join us for a unique Live Open Air event featuring some of the greatest hits from Tchaikovsky's best-known operas, ballets, piano music (both concerto and solo) and chamber music. Performers include internationally-acclaimed artists: Silver Ainomäe, Associate Principal Cello of the Minnesota Orchestra; Mlada Khudoley, soprano; Anne Ainomäe, viola; Natalia Moiseeva, violin, as well as pianists Denis Evstuhin and Anton Melnichenko. The concert also presents a dance performance by the Minnesota Ballet Theatre & School.

THE PROGRAM INCLUDES:

Excerpts from ballets Swan Lake and Nutcracker

Excerpts from operas Eugene Onegin, Mazepa, and Iolanta

Excerpts from piano cycles: The Seasons and Children's Album

Excerpts from the First Piano Concerto and Piano Trio

Pieces for violin, viola, cello and piano

Romances (Art songs)

In a case of severe weather all ticket holders will be notified by email about rescheduling not less than 24 hours before the event. An alternative date is Sunday, August 23 at 7:00 pm.

Praised by the New York Times for her “lush, sizable and luminous voice”, Russian soprano Mlada Khudoley has lead roles at: Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Los Angeles Opera, Washington DC Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Bolshoi Theatre, Oper Stuttgart, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Bregenz Festspeile, Teatro Massimo, Oper Leipzig, Royal Danish Opera, Tokyo Opera Nomori, Teatr Wielki, among others.

Ms. Khudoley counts as her stage partners, Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Yevgeny Niktin, Mikhail Petrenko, and many other renowned artists.

Ms. Khudoley regularly collaborates with Maestro Valery Gergiev and has worked with Kent Nagano, Seigi Ozawa, Symon Bychkov, Michael Güttler, and many others.

Minnesota Orchestra's Associate Principal Cello Silver Ainomäe was born in Tallinn, Estonia. He received degrees from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as Razumovsky Academy under the guidance of Oleg Kogan. Silver won multiple prizes and awards at competitions worldwide including the Isang Yun, Lutoslawski and Paulo competitions.Ainomäe has performed in more than 30 countries as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. His solo debut was with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in 2000. He has since performed concertos with Finnish Radio Orchestra, Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Polish Radio Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Colorado Symphony under conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Marin Alsop and Claus-Peter Flor. Principal cellist of the Colorado Symphony since 2009, Ainomäe has also appeared as guest principal with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. An active chamber musician and educator, he has performed and taught at the most prominent festivals in Finland, Estonia, Switzerland, Greece, Germany and United Kingdom.

Russian-born pianist Denis Evstuhin has appeared on stages of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Great Philharmonic Hall and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, as well as the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Denis appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Minnesota Orchestra, Theater Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, and the Fairbanks Symphony. He worked with conductors Tugan Sokhiev, Mark Russell Smith, Henry Charles Smith, Philip Mann, among others. Evstuhin has also appeared on radio and TV stations in Russia, Europe and the US, In 2010 he appeared as a guest artist on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Denis holds degrees from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, as well the University of Minnesota, where he studied with professor Alexander Braginsky. This fall he will join the Faculty of the University of Minnesota School of Music.

Since 2010 Denis serves as a Music Curator and a founder of the classical music series at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis. Within ten years he organized and participated in more than 60 programs featuring internationally acclaimed musicians, such as Minnesota Orchestra's Music Director Osmo Vänskä, concertmaster Erin Keefe, principal cello Anthony Ross, among others.

Russia’s native violinist Natalia Moiseeva holds BM and MM degrees in Violin Performance from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, and a DMA degree in Violin Performance from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with professor Sally O’Reilly. A winner of number of National Youth Competitions in Russia, Natalia in 2009 has won the University of Minnesota School of Music Concerto Competition and performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the University Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mark Russell Smith. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine), Minnesota Sinfonia and the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra.

Moiseeva regularly performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera. Currently, she is a Violin instructor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Violist Anne Ainomäe was born and raised in Estonia. She is an avid chamber musician. Before moving to USA, Anne was a member of Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and founding member of Prezioso String Quartet, which has won numerous prizes in Europe, and recorded works of Schulhoff, Vasks, Webern and Rääts. Anne has worked with Estonian National Symphony, Nordic Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra; and is a regular performer with Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Englewood Arts Chamber music series in Colorado.

Ms. Ainomäe has studied at Sibelius Academy, Tallinn Academy of Music and Theatre and University of Denver Lamont School of Music. Currently Anne teaches at the Augsburg University in Minneapolis.

Russian-born pianist Anton Melnichenko has been performing on several continents since his first solo recital at the age of twelve. A graduate of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Anton has also received an Artist Diploma at Hamline University, as well as his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Professor Alexander Braginsky.

Melnichenko has earned top prizes in a number of international and national competitions. He has also appeared on many television and radio stations in Russia, US and Europe, such as Minnesota Public Radio, Russia K Channel (Culture), Russian National Television and others, performing works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich.

Besides his solo career Anton Melnichenko is an established collaborative pianist and has been working with many instrumentalists and vocalists around the world. He is also a staff collaborative pianist at Hamline University.

The Minnesota Ballet School (formerly Academy of Russian Ballet) was established in 2001 by co-directors Kirill Bak-Stepanoff and Svetlana Bak-Gavrilova, who are both graduates of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia – the most prestigious ballet school in the world. Through Kirill and Svetlana, the Minnesota Ballet School has inherited centuries of ballet experience and the best ballet teaching methodologies.

The Minnesota Ballet School comprehensive curriculum, based on the Vaganova Syllabus, is proven to instill in dancers incomparable technique while striving for a greater sense of artistry, clarity, grace, athleticism, speed and musicality.

Their students perform regularly with classical repertoire, such as “Nutcracker”, “Paquita”, “La Bayadere”, “Swan Lake” and many others, as well as original ballets “Peter and the Wolf”, “Carnival of the Animals” and “Great Halloween Adventure”.

COVID-19 SAFETY RULES

Our priority is the health and safety of our guests, performers and staff team.

PHYSICAL DISTANCING AND REDUCED SEATING

Based on state guidelines, maximum capacity is 250 people (including performers and staff). The amphitheater area is only available to pre-registered guests. Seating will be mostly arranged in pairs, with some exceptions for bigger families and single guests. Each group of seats will be 6 feet apart from any surrounding seat. After the concert, our volunteers will help attendees to exit the space in small groups using separate departure paths.

FACE COVERINGS REQUIRED

Everyone is required to wear face coverings during the ticketing, registration, entering (seating) and exiting process. If you don’t have a face covering upon arrival, disposable masks will be provided. We strongly recommend you to keep your mask on throughout the concert. However, once you are seated, you may remove your mask if needed.

FREQUENT HAND WASHING AND SANITIZING

Hand sanitizers and wipes will be available throughout the venue. Restrooms will also be available for hand washing.

CLEANING

Common areas, restrooms and high touch points will be cleaned and sanitized frequently throughout the event for your safety. Face coverings are required inside the restrooms at all times.

PRE-CONCERT SCREENING

Please stay at home if you have any symptoms listed below:

• Fever

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Chills

• Repeated shaking with chills

• Muscle pain

• Headache

• Sore throat

• New loss of taste or smell