YourClassical

Interview: Jere Lantz of Minneapolis Pops Orchestra

Interview: Jere Lantz of Minneapolis Pops
jere lantz lake harriet 1
Conductor Jere Lantz before a Minneapolis Pops concert at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.
MPR photo/Luke Taylor

Each July, the Minneapolis Pops performs a set of free outdoor concerts at the Lake Harriet Bandshell. The programs include a mix of light classics, movie music, popular songs, marches and Broadway medleys.

This year, the ensemble is celebrating its 65th anniversary season, so there have been a few extra bells and whistles. This coming weekend, members of The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company will join the orchestra for excerpts from The Pirates of Penzance, and world-renowned pipa soloist Gao Hong (who lives and teaches in Northfield, Minn.) has been featured in a couple of concerts.

Jere Lantz is the conductor of the Pops. He stopped by to tell Classical MPR's Melissa Ousley what he enjoys most about working with the group and why you ought to consider coming to one of its summer concerts.

Besides his work with the Minneapolis Pops, Lantz is also the Music Director and conductor of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, conductor of the Minnetonka Choral Society and choir director at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. Maestro Lantz holds a Doctorate in Music Arts from Yale University.

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