Music

Edina native Johnny Lewis will have a new album released this month. Now living in New York City, Lewis has been working in the entertainment industry for quite some time. He initially worked in electronic producing in Colorado but later decided to take a look back at his roots. Gaining inspiration from Minnesota legend Bob Dylan, as well as Neil Young, Lewis is now focused on his true passion: songwriting. His new album is more full-band than his previous music has been. Read more about Minnesota Music Roots

Matty Harris is a 30-year-old Edina native who came up through the ranks of the Edina band program, starting on clarinet in fifth grade and switching to the saxophone in seventh grade. Harris now plays a dozen woodwind instruments; a few “weird ones” are his favorites: bass clarinet, a tiny sax called the sopranino and the piccolo. Read more about Local Jazz Musician Matty Harris to Release Matty Harris Double Septet

Every Monday from 9:30 a.m. to noon the women of the LeagueAires choir ensemble gather for rehearsal at Colonial Church of Edina, until the second week of January, when it is time to take their show on the road throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. Jane Ramsland, the longest-serving LeagueAires member at 42 years, was just a young mom when she joined LeagueAires. Although Ramsland credits the ensemble for expanding her horizons and creating countless friendships over the years, it is obvious the LeagueAires’ influence extends well beyond its members. Read more about Choral Ensemble LeagueAires Continues Its Mission to Help and Heal

Plunging mercury and towering snow piles are the co-parents of invention, especially when winter nights stretch longer than our imaginations. A remedy to cure an ailing spirit is offered at Morningside After Dark (MADark), music and storytelling events, which are held in January, February and April in the basement of Edina Morningside Community Church. Read more about The Bright Side of Winter

Every other Saturday morning, Suzanne Klein pulls out of her driveway at 9:30 so she can make it across town by 10. Her violin in tow, she’s headed to orchestra rehearsal. Not because she has to be there, but because she wants to be there.

She’s not alone. Thirty or so musicians join Klein in this bi-weekly routine, gathering in South View Middle School’s orchestra room for one simple reason—to play music. Read more about Playing by Heart

How the individual players came to join Wild Prairie Brass in Edina is an exercise in six degrees of separation. The group’s website lists 16 other Twin Cities musical ensembles in which various Wild Prairie Brass players are also members, including the Lake Woebegone Brass Band, Minneapolis Brass and the First John Philip Sousa Memorial Band. Through their various professional and performance relationships, these musicians essentially have chosen each other for Wild Prairie Brass. Read more about Wild About Brass

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