2023 Season: Bel Canto
The 15th annual season of the Lakes Area Music Festival will feature 200 artists from the top orchestras and opera companies nationwide. For one month this exceptional roster will make…
By Series
2023 Casual Classics
Our Casual Classics series brings our world-class roster of musicians outside the concert hall and into the community. Get to know these artists in an informal setting, and bring a…
Live Streaming
Over the past years the Lakes Area Music Festival has streamed its concerts and drawn many thousands of views from around the world. This season we remain committed to accessibility…
All Upcoming Events
Summer Solstice
Enjoy the longest sunset of the year lake-side at Madden's with the Lakes Area Music Festival. Summer Solstice is a celebration of great food and music, featuring a quartet of opera singers performing familiar hits by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet, and more. This annual fundraiser – complete with raffles and auctions - benefits our youth education …
Cabaret - AITKIN
Life is a Cabaret! Spend the evening being serenaded by our international vocal talents as they perform musical theater classics and American songbook favorites. Cash bar will be available for your enjoyment. These events typically sell out in advance!
Gala: The Golden Age of Jazz
Improvisation. Expression. Rebellion. Step back into the Jazz Age at our annual gala, featuring Grammy-nominated singer Julia Bullock and music from American musical legends such as George Gershwin and Margaret Bonds. American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald described this thrilling era as a time when “the parties were bigger, the pace faster, the buildings higher, and the …
Summer Nights
It’s difficult to fully experience the magic of the Lakes Area without spending a summer evening by the water. In a program inspired by the warmth and mystery of summer nights, the LAMF orchestra performs music by Anna Clyne that explores dark, nocturnal timbres, and Julia Bullock sings a set of intimate, reflective songs by …
Cabaret - NISSWA
Life is a Cabaret! Spend the evening being serenaded by our international vocal talents as they perform musical theater classics and American songbook favorites. Cash bar will be available for your enjoyment. These events typically sell out in advance!
Songs Without Words
Robert Schumann brought new life to the chamber music genre as one of the first composers to really explore the combination of string quartet and piano. In this mid-week chamber music program, a string quartet plays George Walker’s eloquent “Lyric” and, along with pianist Henry Kramer, Schumann’s gorgeous Piano Quintet. At the center of the …
A Night at the Opera
Our season is brimming with beautiful sounds, but in this special program, voices of all types and from every corner of the world come together to serenade you. Hear many of your favorite opera moments from the famous William Tell overture to soaring arias and animated ensembles, featuring our 2023 vocal fellows with full symphony …
The Composer is Dead
Enjoyable for kids of all ages! Mystery, sarcasm, and delight are all spun together in this family-friendly musical experience. Help the LAMF orchestra solve a musical mystery while being introduced to the variety of instruments onstage in creative and unusual ways. Jeff Andrews narrates the twisted adventure, featuring music composed by Nathaniel Stookey and story by …
Downtown Block Party
Downtown Brainerd Parking Lot
7:30PM, Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Join us for a block party in the heart of downtown Brainerd! A string orchestra will play pop music and familiar classical favorites. Bring a chair and grab a beer at Sage on Laurel, and enjoy music outdoors. Free and open to the public; no tickets required. Presented in partnership with Brainerd Restoration.
Don Pasquale
This rollicking bel canto comedy is a celebration of girl power! The buffoonish Don Pasquale is determined to marry the much younger Norina. However, with her wit and the help of a few friends, she manages to both teach Pasquale a lesson and find true love. Full of dazzling tunes and hilarious hijinks, Donizetti’s masterpiece …
Yoga + Live Music
Mississippi Landing Amphitheater
10:00AM, Saturday, August 12, 2023
Music, meditation, and fitness come together in this hour-long outdoor yoga class guided by Jennifer Smith of Nisswa Yoga. Sun salutations under the morning sun, with music provided by a quintet of LAMF musicians from around the country. All levels are welcome! Donation based and open to the public; pre-registration recommended.
Watermark
Pianist Tanya Gabrielian returns to the Lakes Area to perform Caroline Shaw’s Watermark, a spellbinding work for piano and orchestra that was created by reimagining the themes and textures of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. A chamber orchestra of LAMF musicians, led by conductor Christian Reif, will also bring unrivaled, collective energy to Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony …
Musicians Night Out
Roundhouse Brewery
7:00PM, Thursday, August 17, 2023
A perfect pairing: Beethoven and Beer! Our Musicians Night Out is a chance for our musicians to let loose playing music with colleagues and friends, new and old. Grab a pint and chat with musicians from around the world between sets of informal chamber music sight-reading performances outdoors at Roundhouse Brewery in Nisswa. Free and open …
Wagner & Shostakovich
Shostakovich’s 15th and final symphony closes our extraordinary 15th anniversary season. As he worked to express his symphonic voice one last time, Shostakovich also revisited the voices of many of his predecessors and musical heroes including Wagner, Rossini, and Mahler, by quoting them throughout this cryptic and poignant symphony. Join Christian Reif and the LAMF …