2024 Impact Report
Dear band fans, thank you for an amazing year of firsts! Launching the first professional concert band in our state, presenting the first performances, hosting the first school concerts, and more. Read on for a look at what you made possible in 2024!
Minnesota Winds premiered on August 30, 2024 at the Minnesota State Fair!
Band on the main concert stage.
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Meet the Band.
The first two Minnesota Winds concerts featured a chamber band of some of the top musicians in our community. It was an honor to work with members of the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera Orchestra, and other world-class professional freelance musicians to bring band music to the main concert stage. Interested in playing with Minnesota Winds in the future? Click here for more details »
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In your words.
Thank you to each person who was part of the first two Minnesota Winds concerts—we loved sharing these performances with you! We asked MacPhail concert-goers to share one word that best summed up your concert experience, and we were overwhelmed by your responses (see some of them above). More of this magic to come in 2025!
It was a joy to welcome audiences to the first performances of the Minnesota Winds!
For band students, by band students.
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Dream it.
Minnesota Winds was started by two former band kids with a dream to serve the tens of thousands of students who experience the power of music every day through school band and to give everyone in the band community the opportunity to experience their art form celebrated at a professional level.
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Build it.
This fall, the Minnesota Winds trio brought music, stories, and conversation to over 500 band students in band rooms across the metro. These school concerts will start up again in the new year. Thank you to YourClassical MPR and the Class Notes program for making this possible!
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Why band.
In the spring, Minnesota Winds asked high school band students across our state to share in their words why band is so important. For them, band is community, acceptance, a safe space, growth, and joy. Something that provides all of this for our students is worth investing in! We are grateful to every student who composed an essay. Read the winning entries here »
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Student-centered.
Huge thanks to our student volunteers who were an integral part of making the first concerts such a success! Welcoming guests, handing out programs, taking donations, and giving out Minnesota Winds t-shirts—they did it all. These students, who joined us from high schools across the metro (Centennial, Edina, Edison, and Wayzata), came early to sit in on sound check and watch the pros prepare for the concert.
THANK YOU to our Founder’s Circle members!
You are Minnesota Winds, and your donations are investing in a bright future for band in our state.
Mary Aamoth | Chris & Hannah Allen | Anonymous | Kati Bachmayer | Meagan Bachmayer & Neal Meyer | Kurt Bachmayer & Lisa Dalke | Kyle Bachmayer | Gregory Baker | Keith & Mary Bednarowski | Barry Berg & Walter Tambor | Katherine & Matt Bergman | Rebecca & Thomas Bergman | Jeff Bowar | Margaret Bracken | Elizabeth Burnside | Rod Cameron | Crawford Campbell | Tina Cavitt & Tami Wood | Bob Cline | Elliot & Linda Dallavalle | Ian Decker | Laura Doebler | Beth & Kevin Dooley | Allison Dunley | Peter Eckman & Erika Olson | Jeff & Michelle Family Charitable Fund | Andrew Eklund | Kate Ellingsen | Rolf Erdahl | Lynn Erickson | Katie Feterl | Christopher & Sarah Fogderud | Erinn Frees | Justin Frerich | James & Laura Frese | Kristen Genet | Charles Gibb | Paul & Margot Grangaard dedicated to Ed Melichar, Bill Webb & Paul Kile | Kenneth Green | Manny Green | Joe Green & Trudi Anderson | Aaron Hanson | Karen Hartung | Marya Haugland | Claire Hill | Ben Hill dedicated to Claire Hill | Elizabeth & Edwin Hlavka | Beth Huizinga | Kevin Huseth | Sachiya Isomura | Andrew Jensen | Mary & Mark Johns | Jennifer Kemp | Jon Kietzer | Paul Kile | Chance Korpela | Donald Krubsack & Teri Larson | Manny & Claudette Laureano | Lauren Leisen | Matt & Liz Lindner | Bruce Machmeier | Sara Martin-Utter | Nick Mason | Katie Matter | Katy Meffert | Karrin Meffert-Nelson & Jim Meffert | Dan & Dianne Melcher | Anya Menk | Ted & Terrie Meyer | James Patrick Miller & Heidi Johanna Miller | Sarah Mohrhauser | Kathryn Mohrhauser | Laura Morris | Amanda Mosborg | Blair and Jean Nelson | Kristine Nelson | Douglas & Ginny Nimmo | Pamela Nordmark | Thomas & Serena Oelfke | Ephraim Olani | Bruce Olson | Darrell Owens | Keith Paap | Stephanie Peterson | Matthew Pettis | Carl Pickerell | Leslie Pietila | Lawrence Pitsch | Jonathan Posthuma | Thomas Prahl | Chris Ravndal | Renee Reed in honor of Mia & Chae | Samuel & Krin Reid | Britta & Kirk Reierson | Susan Ripple in memory of Karl Bachmayer | Karissa Roden | Diane Rosenwald | Dorea Ruggles & Joel Abrahamson | Peter Ruggles | Justin Schramm & Richard Carlbom | Carl Schroeder | Gwenn & Dan Schwartz | James Skakoon | Kathleen Smith | Laura Stelter | Erika Svanoe & Erik Evensen | Bill Teeple & Julie Schramke | Alex Terpkosh | Beth Thompson | Emily Threinen | Kristin Tjornehoj | Elisa Vicuna & Brett Ahlgren | Gia Vitali & Andrew McNattin | Maxwell Voda | Patrick & Kirsten Warfield | Jordan Warfield | William & Susan Webb | Annika Weber | Isaac Weeks | Becky Weiland | Katie Weiland | Brian & Lynn Weist | Ingrid Welna | Ian Wilkinson | Alyson Winn-Lagergren & Ben Lagergren | Elizabeth Winslow | Ross Wolf | Tami Wood | Susan Wood | Steve Wright | Anita & Jon Young
