Northern Lights Music Festival

Help Keep Music Resonating Throughout Northeastern Minnesota

For more than 20 years, the Northern Lights Music Festival has brought world-class musicians, young aspiring artists, professional  chamber music, orchestral concerts, and opera to the heart of Minnesota’s Iron Range. 

(Cembalom virtuoso Ivan Curetean with members of the audience after a performance at St. Mary's.  This was the first time a cembalom performance was given on the Iron Range.)

But sustaining this level of artistry and outreach takes far more than applause. It takes your continuing financial support.

Why Your Gift Matters

Each year, we transform lives through music:

Because a youth who hears the strings of a full orchestra for the first time might decide to make music a part of their future.

(Winners of the Helen Bradach Zuponcic Concerto Competition: Samuel Cronk, piano; Austin Wu,cello; Alyssa Gabrilovich, piano; Alvaro Miranda, cello)

Because a family on the Iron Range deserves access to world-class performances right in their hometown — without long drives and big ticket prices.

(Our 2025 production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro was brought to three Range cities: Aurora, Virginia and Ely.)

Because professional musicians who make their way here, bring with them prestige, economic activity, and cultural vibrancy to a region that deserves the spotlight.

(Dr. Lourin Plant returned in 2025 to perform a lecture recital of African-American music to a sold out house at B'nai Abraham Cultural Center.)

Without your support, these concerts, educational music programs, outreach clinics and full-scale opera productions simply cannot happen.

What Your Donation Will Do

Your generosity enables us to:

Secure and pay professional musicians, conductors and soloists of the highest caliber.

                                                   

Subsidize student participation and community access—making sure cost is never a barrier for aspiring young musicians or families.    

                                     

Present our full summer festival season: chamber concerts, symphonic concerts, our Young Artists Program, and a full-length professionally produced opera.

Maintain the organizational infrastructure (from marketing to venues to outreach) that ensures Northern Lights thrives year-after-year.

                                                         

Join Us—Be the Note that Creates the Harmony

We’re asking you to step in now, so we can plan boldly for next season—with confidence and creative freedom. Every dollar you give is a seed for the next performance.

Will you make a gift today?

Your contribution says: “Yes—this region matters. The arts matter. The next generation matters.”

Donate now—and join a movement that brings musical excellence to northeastern Minnesota.