Festival Season is Upon Us!

Here's what's coming up:

	The 19th Annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival takes place June 22-24 with three days of free music in and around Mears Park in Lowertown, Saint Paul. Headliners this year include include John Coltrane Quartet pianist McCoy Tyner performing with Joshua Redman; Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard; Anat Cohen with Choro Aventuroso; and keyboardist, organist, and Minnesota-native Bobby Lyle. Ride to the festival for free with a downloadable MetroTransit bus and lightrail pass. Gear up for the weekend with pre-festival events at the Saint Paul Libraries and Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
	Also the weekend of June 22 - 25, One Voice Mixed Chorus is bringing the Pride celebration to Saint Paul with a special production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Piarates of Penzance on Raspberry Island. In collaboration with Nautilus Theater, this topsy-turvy, gender-bending musical adventure for the whole family is sure to be unlike anything the Twin Cities has ever seen. The show is free, though reservations are recommended.
	This weekend, Nero Wolfe returns to Park Square Theatre with a new, world premiere commission of Might As Well Be Dead: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, playing through July 30. Whether your style is NCIS or Miss Marple, this is a delicious chance to discover or share one of the great detectives with your family and friends. Then, later this month, Girl Friday Productions, one of Park Square's Theatres in Residence, presents Idiot's Delight on the Andy Boss Thrsut Stage, June 29 - July 23. Single tickets and season packages are now on sale for Park Square's 2017-2018 Season.
	Then, next month, the Lowertown Blues and Funk Festival returns to Mears Park with a night of soul and funk on Friday, July 21, followed by a day of blues on Saturday, July 21. The lineup for the Twin Cities' largest, free blues and funk festival includes a salute to the music of Prince by Chase & Ovation, as well as performances by Average White Band, Shannon Curfman, Tomy Castro & the Painkillers, and more.

'Tis the Season

The holiday season is in full swing! If you're looking for an escape from some of the season's chaos--or if you're in the mood for some great, toe-tapping music, don't miss The Soul of Gershwin: The Musical Journey of an American Klezmer, playing through Dec. 31 at Park Square Theatre.

And, the holiday season means the new year is right around the corrner! We're already busy gearing up for 2017 which is promising to be a great year for the Twin Cities theatre, music, and arts scenes. Here's's what's happening in January:

At Park Square Theatre, the Andy Boss Thrust Stage will feature Big Money, a new play presented and created by Sandbox Theatre, a Theatre in Residence, from Jan. 12 - 28. Then, from Jan. 20 - Feb. 19 on the Proscenium Stage, Park Square Theatre and Mu Performing Arts present a co-production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song.

Then, over MLK weekend at the Ordway Concert Hall in downtown Saint Paul, One Voice Mixed Chorus kicks off the new year with the Out of the Shadows, featuring the world premiere of their largest commission ever, "The Man Behind the Dream," honoring the life and work of openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.

2016-2017 Season Announcements

As summer winds down, we're gearing up for the start of the 2016-2017 performance season.

Tickets for Park Square Theatre's 42nd season are on sale now. The season opens with David Ive's The Liar, adapted from Le Menteur by Pierre Corneille, on the Proscenium Stage, September 9 - October 2. On the Andy Boss Thrust Stage, we open with William Eno's The Realistic Joneses, a surreal comedy that's part Seinfeld, part Samuel Beckett, playaing September 23 - October 16.

JazzMN Orchestra's 2016-2017 season begins on October 1st off with a performance at the Ordway Concert Hall featuring Grammy award-winning artist Terence Blanchard.

The Oratorio Society of Minnesota starts its season on November 18th with Greater Love: In Search of the Hidden Road, featuring Benjamin Britten's Cantata Misericordium, Britten's Saint Nicolas and Howard Goodall: selections from The Beatitudes: Pro Eis Solitariis (For Those that are lonely), Pro Eis Sine Domo (For the stateless).

And One Voice Mixed Chorus is headed up north to Ely, Mountain Iron, and Duluth on November 18-20 to kick off their new season with the Imuka Singers, a chorus all the way from Tanzania!