Minnesota Public Radio was a just fledgling radio station when Michael Barone first started working here. Barone celebrates fifty years at MPR on Monday, August 20.
The memorial service for the Queen of Soul has not yet been scheduled. It's expected to be announced in the coming days with several events in her adopted hometown of Detroit.
Regina Mundi Catholic Church played a central role in the organizing and the protests that led to the end of apartheid. On Friday, the Minnesota Orchestra will play the centerpiece concert of its two-week South African tour just in front of the church's altar.
The Minnesota Orchestra will be the first major U.S. orchestra to play in Soweto, South Africa. The orchestra's tour of the country grew out of its conductor's work with youth orchestras there.
Aretha Franklin, the undisputed "Queen of Soul" who sang with matchless style on such classics as "Think," "I Say a Little Prayer" and her signature song, "Respect," and stood as a cultural icon around the globe, has died at age 76 from advanced pancreatic cancer.
A 28-year-old Madonna said the song reflected her ambition and attraction to rich men. But 51-year-old Madonna told Rolling Stone the song was ironic because she's not very materialistic at all.
It was the young musicians of the South African National Youth Orchestra who inspired the Minnesota Orchestra's tour of their country this month. On Wednesday, the groups rehearsed side by side.