NEW VENUE: Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church
511 Groveland Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Tickets are $15 for non-members & $10 per ticket for groups of 8+. Students are now free.
Going to miss a concert? Purchase a Youtube replay for $8 or get access to the full Thursday Musical library of concerts by becoming a member. Get a preview of our replays by watching last year’s opening concert: https://youtu.be/vaJXJ5vqfgg
Or become a member.
Featuring Thursday Musical Members Monica Murray, soprano with Lois Laitinen, clarinet* & Gail Olszewski, piano; Laura Horner, mezzo soprano** & Carson Rose Schneider, piano; and Koki Sato, piano.
Please note that Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church closely monitors its main entrance. The door is locked and visitors are buzzed in. ICE or US Border Patrol officers will not be allowed in the church unless they present a warrant signed by a judge. However, please be aware that immigration officers can access the church parking lot.
Audience Health and Safety Requirements:
Masks will not be required but are welcomed and encouraged at Thursday Musical concerts.
Laura Horner is a versatile mezzo‑soprano who performs regularly in musical theatre, choral ensembles, and opera throughout the Twin Cities. She recently appeared as Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County with Cross Community Players and as Annio in Opera Reading Project’s presentation of La clemenza di Tito.
Her choral experience includes serving as a contracted singer with the Minnesota Chorale, where she contributed to a wide range of symphonic and community‑focused performances. She is currently the alto section leader at Messiah Methodist Church in Plymouth, MN, providing both leadership and artistry within the church’s vibrant music program.
Equally at home on stage and in ensemble settings, Laura enjoys bringing expressive musicality, stylistic flexibility, and a collaborative spirit to every project she joins.
Praised for her “excellent musicianship” (Talkin’ Broadway) and “stunning and emotionally evocative” playing (Cherry and Spoon), Dr. Carson Rose Schneider is a versatile pianist who works as a duo partner, coach, music director, and rehearsal pianist with opera companies, chamber groups, and choirs. At home playing with instrumentalists and singers, Carson is in demand as a collaborative pianist around the Midwest. Most recently she is the co-Artistic Director of a new chamber music organization in Red Wing, MN called Lake Pepin Chamber Music. The roster of companies and universities she has worked with includes: St Croix Valley Opera, Nautilus Music Theatre, Lakes Area Music Festival, Lyric Opera of the North, Skylark Opera Theatre, and St Olaf College. She has a private coaching and recording studio and is also the Music Director at Union Congregational Church of Christ in Elk River, MN. Comfortable playing a variety of styles and genres, she is especially passionate about collaborating on projects curated by artists, new music, art song and chamber music, and connecting with audiences in more intimate venues.
Koki Sato is a pianist and music curator. Featured on Minnesota Public Radio for founding the University of Minnesota New Music Ensemble, he has given the world premiere of a new arrangement of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint and Leonardo Marino’s Memories of Things Unheard, as well as U.S. premieres of Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber’s Sept exceptions and Atsuhiko Gondai’s cendres lumineuses. As a curator, Sato traverses different styles, performing for interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music’s Out and About Outreach Program, the Music under the Dome series at the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, the opening ceremony for the Japanese Society of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and collaborations with ballet dancer Yuki Tokuda. In November 2025, he performed John Cage’s Telephones and Birds for Trisha Brown Dance Company’s production of Travelogue by Merce Cunningham at Northrop.
A first-prize winner of the Schubert Club Competition, Atlanta Music Club Scholarship Audition, Schwob School of Music Concerto Competition, and the Student Music Competition of Japan, Sato has appeared as soloist with the New Japan Philharmonic, Sendai Philharmonic, and Schwob Philharmonic, and with the Toho Gakuen Orchestra under Leon Fleischer in a joint Suntory Hall/Carnegie Hall workshop. Festival participations include Klangspuren Schwaz (International Ensemble Modern Summer Academy), Oxford Piano Festival, International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Kirishima International Music Festival, and Oh My Ears New Music Festival. Most recently, he was a semifinalist of the 2025 John Cage Award in Halberstadt, Germany.
Soprano Monica Murray received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Minnesota. She also earned degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music – Bloomington and St. Olaf College. She currently serves as a voice instructor at St. Olaf College and Chair of the St. Olaf Theatre Department. Dr. Murray is an active performer in the Twin Cities, having served as a section leader with the Minnesota Chorale, a frequent recitalist for Thursday Musical, and as a member of the Minnesota Opera Company Chorus. In 2009, she participated in the Barcelona Festival of Song, and in 2019 she participated as a Teaching Professional at the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY-Potsdam, a summer voice institute dedicated to cultivating singer and pianists’ artistry through contemporary American art song. In addition, Dr. Murray also holds a Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
Lois Laitinen began playing the clarinet in the fourth grade (and the only reason she picked that instrument was because her best friend was planning to play the clarinet!). Lois has degrees in music and marketing from the University of Minnesota. She taught middle school music in Rice Lake, Wisconsin for six years, junior high music in Circle Pines for one year, and then after thirty-four years retired from working as an administrative assistant in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Lois takes clarinet lessons from Tori Okwabi, owner of Midwest Musical Imports. Lois has played clarinet for over twenty years in the Shoreview Northern Lights Variety Band and serves as a board member for the band and coordinates the monthly SNLVB Fun Times Social Events. She has also played for over twenty years in the Capital City Wind Ensemble. More recently, she has also been playing clarinet in the Hopkins Westwind Concert Band and in the Aurora Winds, a trio started about one year ago with an oboe player and a flute player from the SNLVB band.
Gail Olszewski, DMA, has played solo and chamber recitals on piano, harpsichord, fortepiano, organ, harmonium and synthesizer in the US, Canada, Europe, Central America and Australia. Locally she has performed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra,
Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Chanhassan Dinner Theaters, Ordway Productions and Garden of Song Opera. She is a founding member of The WolfGang, performing music of the Classic period on authentic instruments, Duo Tastiera with harpsichordist/composer Asako Hirabayashi and with the Stillwater-based chamber group Music St. Croix. Gail has a private studio and teaches at MacPhail Center for Music. FFI: www.gailopiano.com