Music with Minnesotans

Susanna di Palma thrives on flamenco. She's both a dancer and a choreographer, and directs her own company, Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater. She's Steve Staruch's guest on Music with Minnesotans.

Christina Baldwin enjoys the thrill of 'riding two career horses.' Baldwin is both a wonderful concert singer and a successful stage actor. She is Steve Staruch's guest on Music with Minnesotans

Kristen Bruya's path to principal bass of the Minnesota Orchestra meandered a bit. But the power of the double bass and the satisfaction of laying down a bass line that had "a funky groove" was overwhelming.

Ethan Larson is the Program Director of the MOD Squad at Great River Rescue in Bemidji. The MOD Squad is a volunteer-based, behavior modification and training program for shelter dogs. To do this work you have to have a big heart. On this week's Music with Minnesotans, Ethan Larson shares a playlist as big as his heart.

Music permeates every aspect of writer and director Freya Richman's life. Richman is Steve Staruch's guest on Music with Minnesotans.

How do you get to the conductor's podium? You go through the kitchen. Matthew Abernathy was training to be chef and working as a sous chef when he turned his career around. Matthew Abernathy is Steve Staruch's guest on Music with Minnesotans.

Christina Ogata is on the legal team for Education Minnesota. Her commitment to fairness and accountability is deeply ingrained. She's also a proud member of the St Paul Civic Symphony Orchestra. Her personal playlist is filled with the chamber music she loves.

Actor, director, fight choreographer and artistic director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minn., Doug Scholz-Carlson lives in the volatile world of the theater. He thinks in dialogue and Shakespearean verse. And his personal playlist is all about the deep meaning of words and an actor's expert timing.

Becca Chapin is a theater professional who has worked backstage at the Guthrie and the Park Square theaters. She joins Steve Staruch for Music with Minnesotans.

You can call Terry Blain many things: music journalist, reviewer, promoter, teacher ... but don't call him a critic! Terry Blain is a new Minnesotan, and he shares a few pieces on his personal playlist and tells Steve Staruch why the word 'critic' doesn't at all describe what he does or tries to be.