2025 Festival Schedule

With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. The acclaimed violinist returns to Winona to kick off the Festival’s 2025 concerts. Don’t miss this exhilarating season opener!

“Few artists have burst onto the classical music scene in recent years with the incandescence of the pianist Daniil Trifonov” (The New York Times), and the Grammy Award-winning Trifonov continues to create performances that are a perpetual source of wonder to audiences and critics alike. His Festival debut will showcase this combination of consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth.

Mark your calendars for the biggest event of the summer! The Minnesota Orchestra is back with the annual free pops concert at Lake Park. Pack a picnic, bring your lawn chairs, and enjoy world-class music at this Festival tradition!

Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound, and rich character” (The New York Times), clarinetist Anthony McGill enjoys a dynamic international solo and chamber music career and is principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards, and was named Musical America’s 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year.

Praised by The Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command, and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority, and brilliant virtuosity far beyond his years. Rapidly establishing a major international reputation, Li has been awarded the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Gilmore Young Artist Award.

The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century, has long ranked among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in Minnesota and around the world. This summer, the Orchestra will present Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 as well as Beethoven’s Romance for Orchestra and Violin.

Praised by The New York Times as “invariably energetic and finely burnished,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The ensemble is redefining and reimagining the classical music experience through their projects, and they bring a program of Saint-Georges, Tailleferre, and Beethoven to Winona the summer.

Violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman join bassist Edgar Meyer to perform Bach and three string trios composed by Meyer. This special ensemble will present fresh interpretations of existing and new music – plus some fancy fiddling on violin, cello, and bass!

Our 18th season draws to a close with the “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald), Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe. Known for their adrenalized performances and original compositions, Anderson & Roe are revolutionizing the piano duo experience for the 21st century. Don’t miss “the most dynamic duo of this generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice)!