To help slow the spread of coronavirus, Minnesota's arts and culture institutions are canceling, postponing — or playing for radio broadcast only.
Here's a roundup of the latest:
Classical music
The Minnesota Orchestra has canceled two weeks of concerts, starting Friday and running through March 23.
The orchestra still performed Friday at Orchestra Hall — but for radio broadcast only. Listeners tuned into the 8 p.m. program, of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto and Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, on Classical Minnesota Public Radio or streamed at classicalmpr.org.
"We have made the decision to land on the side of caution for our audiences and to play our part in the wider community effort to help slow the transmission of COVID-19," said Michelle Miller Burns, the orchestra's president and CEO, in a Thursday news release. "I'm humbled by the fact that our musicians want to play Friday's concert for the listening public, and we're grateful to MPR for making this possible."
Cloud Cult's concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, set for March 20 and 21, will be rescheduled for later this year.
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra announced Friday that it, too, is cancelling performances from March 13 until March 29, citing the recommendation that public events of 250 people or more be canceled through the end of March.
"Ticket holders do not need to take any immediate action," the St. Paul nonprofit posted on its website. "Tickets for canceled concerts will be automatically banked in your account and can be used for future performances."