"Off to Minnesota," 2021 In 2009, John Goodin arranged the traditional Irish tune "Off to California" for us. The tune has appeared in our performance rotation many times since. You can check out John's most recent compositions at his blog, So Many Tunes.
The Gloria Suite, 2021 Every year, Sherry Ladig graciously composes original work for our orchestra. In 2020, she composed the Gloria Suite in memoriam to her sister. Gloria was an avid dancer, and Sherry an incorrigible jokester, so the first and third movements have some rhythmic oddities in the direction. The name "Valse Variable" refers to a trick Sherry enjoyed of increasing the tempo at which she playing dance tunes on the piano for Gloria until she would collapse breathless with joy. (In the interest of recording simplicity and honesty, our version maintains a steady waltz tempo.) The third movement, "Caprice, Qui Est Fou!" has a quick 5/4 tempo, which is unusual for many listeners.
For fans of Sherry's work, her nephew Chris, the subject of "Lullaby for Chris," makes several cameos in the videos.
"Epilogue," 2020 Our artistic director, Lon Hendricks, arranged this version of Enrique Granados' conclusion of the 1906 Escenas Románticas. Originally composed for solo piano, many have posited that the work was inspired by a triste with one of Granados' students.
"Expectation," 2020 This is Lon's arrangement of a pre-Soviet era Russian waltz written by Herold Lavrentievich Kittler.
"Minneapolis March," 2020 This was our first attempt to make a socially-distant video early on in the Pandemic. Lon arranged this tune by Joseph Nicomede, which appears in an early 20th-century mandolin method book.