Twenty-four pianists -- culled from a herd of pianists by playing the best on a "replicating piano" -- will converge in St. Paul for the fourth Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition.

This week, archaeologists in southern Germany discovered the earliest known instrument -- a 35,000-year-old flute made out of a vulture bone. You can hear a modern silver flute -- played with the same techniques as that old bone flute -- with the Dorian Wind Quintet in concert last January in St. Paul.

One of the most overlooked and under-valued reasons new college grads and young professionals move to the Twin Cities is its vibrant local music scene.

Duluth officials are asking weekend visitors to park downtown to avoid congestion near the city's waterfront this weekend.

Over the next few weeks thousands of people are expected to enter the big top on the edge to downtown St Paul to see Cirque de Soleil. The Canadian troupe has brought acrobats and clowns from all over the world to perform it's new show called "Kooza." The show is of special significance to the growing number of Minnesotans who are honing their own circus skills.

Thomas Paine's influential pamphlet "Common Sense" had a profound impact on American colonists seeking to break with the British Empire. Yet 200 years after his death, his role in American independence is often overshadowed. Midmorning looks at the legacy of the man some call the "forgotten founding father."