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About Minnesota Varsity

Minnesota Varsity is a high school-level Classical music showcase for classical and musical theater performance Minnesota students.

Showcase Round Concert

These 5 artists performed at the Fitzgerald Theater on April 17th at 2 p.m. as part of our Showcase Round concert.

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Valais Duo
Valais Duo (Melissa Deal and John Belk)
Henry Johnston
Henry Johnston
Andy Xue
Andy Xue
Joshua Weinberg
Joshua Weinberg
Austin Wahl
Austin Wahl
Each Showcase Artist will receive a cash prize of $1,000 through the generosity of an anonymous donor.

Honorable Mentions

The judges agreed on two Honorable Mentions. They are:

Matt Lammers
Maeve Moynihan

Educational Sponsor Scholarships

Classical MPR was pleased to welcome three Educational Sponsors to present a special scholarship offer to the Minnesota Varsity Featured Round Artists. Luther College, Concordia College and The College of St. Scholastica presented $4,000 for four years, to each Featured Round musician to attend their school. We're grateful for the commitment these institutions of higher education have made to our Minnesota Varsity musicians!

Submissions

High-quality recordings now available
Click on the yellow, green or red pin markers, or browse Featured Round Artists.

You can hear all the submissions by clicking on the map above, or going to the submissions page, where we've listed each entrant and the Featured Round Artists (each Featured Artist now has professionally-recorded audio available on their page.)

Events Calendar

Tuesday, March 1st 2 p.m.
15 Featured artists announced, all submissions posted online

Monday, March 21st 2 p.m.
Audio posted, featured Artist Voting opens

Wednesday, March 30th 4:15 p.m.
Live announcement of Showcase Performers

Sunday, April 17th 2 p.m.
Free Showcase event at The Fitzgerald Theater (no tickets required!)

Master Class Videos

We've been recording video Master Classes with some of the top names in Classical music across Minnesota and the world. These master classes are your chance to interact with professional instrumentalists, vocalists, and maybe even some conductors, right from your own home.

Videos
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Selection Process

Classical MPR staff screened all submissions and choose 15 for the Featured Round. Those chosen for the Featured Round were matched with a professional recording engineer to produce a high-quality recording. We had an open ballot to choose one performer to go on to the Showcase Round.

The remaining 14 recordings were played for a panel of celebrity judges from the Minnesota classical scene—including frequent Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra collaborator Nicholas McGegan, Minnesota Orchestra's Sarah Hicks, Classical MPR's John Birge, Brian Newhouse and Steve Staruch, Steve Boehlke and Karen Bradley, who selected 4 artists to perform at a showcase concert at the Fitzgerald Theater on Sunday, April 17th at 2 p.m.