Making of Sound the Bells

Minneapolis, MN

Enter to win a pair of tickets: email soundthebells@doomtree.net

In March 2019, Dessa and the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra joined forces to record a live album, Sound the Bells. They sold out two nights at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, wired it with microphones, and put on an epic show.

But how do hip-hop tracks get transformed into compositions that can be played by more than 75 classical musicians? (Spoiler: It involves arranger extraordinaire Andy Thompson and more than a thousand pages of scores.) Is it true that conductor Sarah Hicks uses a baton molded specially for her hand? (It is.) Does Dessa’s floor-length red cape write its own Instagram posts? (You’ll have to ask it yourself.)

This invite-only program will pull back the curtain to explore the workings of this ambitious project through stories, images and live performances from a string quartet composed of Minnesota Orchestra players.

Performance: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019
Location: Orchestra Hall Target Atrium (1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis)
Host: Andrea Swensson of The Current