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 Deanne Mohr, piano; PIPS Piano Duo: Yuko Shiina, piano & Anders Martinson, piano*; and Aja Majkrzak, violin & Carson Rose Schneider, 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.
Winona State University faculty member Deanne Mohr performs extensively as a soloist and collaborative artist in the Midwestern United States and Canada. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Mohr completed her doctorate in piano performance at Université de Montréal under the tutelage of Marc Durand. A laureate in several national competitions, she has been recorded in recital for CBC Saskatchewan and Radio-Canada and was featured in the Montréal Début Series and the Banff Centre of the Arts’ Summer Festival.
Aja Majkrzak has been playing the violin since she was 4 years old. She received her Bachelor's of Music from the University of Minnesota in 2011 under the tutelage of Mark Bjork, and her Master's of Music from Louisiana State University in 2013 studying with Espen Lilleslatten. Since then she has performed with many regional orchestras and has served as section leader for various community orchestras. Her orchestral experiences have given her the opportunity to share the stage with performers like Leila Josefowicz, Audra McDonald, and Gil Shaham. Orchestral playing is the focus of her career but Aja has also performed with 2 Cellos, Foreigner, Harry Connick, Jr., Kygo, the Transiberian Orchestra and the Latin jazz group Charanga Tropical. In June 2015 she traveled to Havana, Cuba with the group to become the first band from the United States to participate in the International Danzon Festival. If she is not making music you can find Aja with her two cats, Cindy Lou Who and Captain Barbossa, cooking vegetarian and vegan meals, and experimenting with various crafts like crocheting and sewing. You can keep up with her various hobbies and concerts on instagram @violiningaja.
Praised for her “excellent musicianship” (Talkin’ Broadway) and “stunning and emotionally evocative” playing (Cherry and Spoon), 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. Based in Minneapolis, MN, she is at home playing with singers and instrumentalists and is in demand by companies and recitalists around the Midwest. The list of companies she has recently been seen gigging with includes Skylark Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of the North, Out of the Box Opera, An Opera Theatre (AOT), Journey North Opera, St Croix Valley Opera, Really Spicy Opera, Schubert Club, and Twin Cities Opera Guild. Most recently, she was the Music Director and Pianist for Lyric Opera of the North's October 2023 production of Michael Ching's Speed Dating Tonight. She is Music Director at Union Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Elk River, MN and has a private home recording and coaching studio.
Yuko Shiina and Anders Martinson established the Pine Island Piano Studios (PIPS) of Minnetonka, and its performance arm, the PIPS Piano Duo, shortly after moving to Minnesota in 2022. With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance from Tokyo College of Music and Cal State Long Beach, Yuko Shiina served for many years as the official pianist for numerous choral groups in the Los Angeles area. She also performed frequently with instrumentalists—as accompanist, in chamber music, and as concerto soloist with orchestra. As a teacher, Shiina maintained an active piano studio in Los Angeles, guiding many students through annual State Piano Exams. Anders Martinson made his national piano debut at age 15 performing on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. A graduate of Yale University, where he received top conducting awards, he has been 1st or 2nd place winner in multiple International Piano Competitions, and received the United States Presidential Scholar and Gilmore Foundation Young Artist Awards. Solo performances include a concerto under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, a solo recital at Carnegie's Weill Hall, and performances in London and Rome. Martinson’s students have appeared on television, performed concertos with multiple orchestras, and won numerous local, regional, statewide and international competitions.