Sheila Regan
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Minneapolis
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Dance, classical music, arts and culture.
I am an arts columnist, journalist, and critic. Words at MinnPost, the Pioneer Press and elsewhere.
Articles by Sheila Regan
Twin Cities composers built a publishing business for a new era of digital music
Married couple Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach are full-time composers, but their side hustle has grown into a major operation. This year, Graphite Publishing — the platform they founded to digitally distribute music scores — celebrates its 20th anniversary, and the business is finding its groove. “At the beginning, the big publishers weren’t really all that scared of us or didn’t think much of us,” Hagen said.
Concert review: Violinist Stefan Jackiw dazzles with the Minnesota Orchestra
Violinist Stefan Jackiw makes for a dazzling guest with the Minnesota Orchestra this weekend, playing a Mozart concerto with loving dexterity and spirited vigor. It’s part of a varied lineup that showcases the emotional power of sound, beginning with a contemporary work by Gabriela Smith, and heading eventually toward Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6. Led by Thomas Søndergård, the concert showcases the ensemble’s range of subtle and grandiose stylings.
Artscape on the road: Visiting artist Andy DuCett’s homage to Winona
Rocco’s Pub and Pizza in Goodview, Minnesota, is missing its painting, “Coming In” (1972), by the late Ron Hunt. The painting — an idyllic landscape of ducks and a marshy river bed — has hung in the restaurant since Hunt gifted it to Tom Barth, founder of Rocco’s. For the time being, the painting hangs at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, along with two tables and three booth seats from the restaurant.
Concert review: Guitar virtuoso Sharon Isbin displays instrument’s musical magic
Multiple Grammy Award-winner Sharon Isbin is sharing her considerable gifts with a hometown crowd in a pair of concerts presented by the Minnesota Guitar Society at Hamline University’s Sundin Music Hall in St. Paul on Friday and Saturday. With quick fingers and expressive artistry, the St. Louis Park native played classical works alongside contemporary pieces composed just for her.
Orchestra Hall’s iconic cubes get a video projection makeover
The iconic cubes on the back wall and ceiling of Orchestra Hall are getting a shot of high-tech video and lighting design, with BAFTA-winning Tal Rosner using them as his canvas. For the Minnesota Orchestra’s season opener, the London-based designer is creating a visual landscape to accompany the orchestra’s performance of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” part of the orchestra’s new multi-year series, “Sound Unbound,” developed around collaborations with visual artists.
The Fall Arts Preview
Music, dance, and theater are surging across Minnesota this fall, reminding audiences why the state remains one of the nation’s strongest performing arts hubs. From international headliners to local artists, Minnesota’s performing arts spaces remain vibrant, even as the cultural ecosystem faces steep economic headwinds. The state spent the early months of 2026 under a global spotlight during Operation Metro Surge, as federal immigration agents sparked widespread community panic.
The Format couldn’t look away when ICE came to Minnesota
Vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means were gearing up for their big comeback as the band The Format in January. But just as their new album was being released, Alex Pretti was killed on the streets of Minneapolis. Like many artists and musicians around the country and the world, Means and Ruess were shaken by what they were seeing on the news — and they wanted to use their creative powers to act.
When all the world — or at least many of its Minneapolis porches — becomes a stage
A few weeks ago, on a searing summer day, the Lowry Hill East neighborhood in Minneapolis buzzed with musical spirit for the Uptown Porchfest. Block after block, people had turned their front porches into stages for music of all genres — from punk bands to bluegrass to bossa nova and more. Crowds — including families and scenesters — wandered through the neighborhood, soaking up the free music and friendly atmosphere. Home-based venues offer an appealing, neighborly quality that feels timely.
Music review: Harpist Somogyi explores time, sensory experiences through electronic music
A hypnotizing aura wafted through the Berlin nightclub in Minneapolis’ North Loop district on Tuesday night, when Los Angeles-based harpist and contemporary classical performer-composer Lara Somogyi treated the crowd to her electro-acoustic music. Performing alongside local ensemble the Laurels String Quartet, Somogyi’s music traversed time and pondered nature through harp artistry enhanced by pedals and pickups that opened the instrument to new possibilities.
2026–27 Season Preview: 23 Shows Marked on Our Contributors’ Calendars
While some artists reflect on the past and others imagine the future, the most exciting work coming to stages, screens, and less traditional venues this season is undeniably grounded in our shared present. Table of Silence Project 9/11. Photo by Paul B. Goode, courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations/Lincoln Center. Dance artists will help New York City move through the 25th anniversary of 9/11. As part of the River to River Festival, Bill T.
Fall arts and entertainment: A packed fall for classical music in Twin Cities
Twin Cities’ classical music organizations are bringing top-tier guests from all across the country and beyond this fall, creating a jam-packed season of local and world-class talent. Cantus & Imani Winds — Sept. 13 Cantus, fresh off the release of its latest album, “The Secret Letter” on Signum Classics, teams up with the New York-based Imani Winds.
At Shoreview museum, nature takes turns both lovely and terrifying
To prepare for “Meet Me in the Forest,” the newest exhibition at Shoreview’s Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, staff began by drilling holes across three gallery walls. Then artists like Erica Rosenfeld started a meticulous installation process. She created small nests for the bizarre creatures and collections she makes from glass, sculpture and found objects.
What’s in ‘HMong Futures’?
In January 2026, playwright Katie Ka Vang was working on her new play, HMong Futures, when thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents descended upon her home state of Minnesota. In the ensuing months of occupation, federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, raided homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools, and conducted violent detentions and arrests, including dozens of HMong. Vang described feeling “floored” by the occupation.
‘Made in INDIA’ at Minneapolis’ Cowles Center feels like a grand reopening – almost
Downtown Minneapolis’ Cowles Center opened its doors over the weekend to South Asian Arts and Theater House’s production of “Made in INDIA,” which runs through August 29. The performances felt almost like a grand re-opening of the venue, which has been closed since 2024. SAATH’s high-energy show features a youth-heavy cast exploring transracial adoption through a mix of theater and movement.
Review: Fifth ‘Divas & Drag’ blends musicianship and lighthearted entertainment
With raunchy innuendo, stripteases, political lampooning and a whole lot of silliness, An Opera Theatre’s production of “Divas & Drag V: Young, Sexy and Baroque,” doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s a good thing. While the quality of the musicianship in a program of Baroque operatic works remains at a high level, the show’s queer vaudevillian sensibility makes for a lighthearted evening. In this show, narrow ideas about gender get thrown out the window.
Minnesota publisher earns rare Booker Prize honor
A book from Minnesota-based publisher Coffee House Press has been longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize. The nominated book, "Helen of Nowhere" by Makenna Goodman, is a short, experimental novel. This recognition provides a significant boost for the small, nonprofit publisher amid financial challenges. A small, nonprofit publisher in Minnesota is celebrating a first: one of its books has made the longlist for the Booker Prize, a prestigious British literary award.
Dusk of a Great Day at Theater Mu
This story is one of two about the state of nonprofit theatres based in communities of color. You can find the other here. How do arts organizations centered around communities of color thrive? By telling their own stories, building trust with the people they serve, redefining success, and forging localized and global networks. Those are the core findings of a 2026 report published by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a 103-year-old institution dedicated to social science scholarship.
Big Booker boost for small Minnesota publisher
A small, nonprofit publisher in Minnesota is celebrating a first: one of its books has made the longlist for the Booker Prize, a prestigious British literary award. Coffee House Press, based in Northeast Minneapolis, published Makenna Goodman’s “Helen of Nowhere” in September 2025, before it was picked up by British publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions.
New exhibit centers Palestinian American identity, highlights strength of Arab women with screen printing
In her new exhibit, “Living Threads,” St. Paul-based artist Hend Al-Mansour uses screen printing as a vehicle for understanding. It is part of an ongoing body of work exploring what it means to be an Arab woman, driven by an effort to show “that not only Arab women are powerful, but all women are powerful,” she explained.
"Belly Laugh at a Funeral" Stages the Rituals of Mourning
Visitors to Ziba Rajabi's "Belly Laugh at a Funeral" are invited to lie inside a nest for mourning as singer Aida Shahghasemi's voice fills the gallery. The immersive installation anchors an exhibition of luminous textiles and tempera paintings that draws on Persian traditions of grief to contemplate loss, healing and renewal. The exhibition is on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art through October 25.
How a Minneapolis translator is bringing Pokémon to life in ASL
There’s a new partnership between streaming services and Signup Media offering free, in-screen American Sign Language translation to dozens of movies and TV shows. Minneapolis translator Everett Glenn, who recently signed 45 hours of “Pokémon Horizons,” is part of the effort. Ever since TV broadcasters developed closed captioning in the 1970s, text has been the default standard for media accessibility. But captions aren’t equally accessible for everyone.
How a Minneapolis translator is bringing Pokémon to life in ASL
8 hours ago We asked the BuzzFeed Community what their favorite final lines of movies are. Here are some of the agreed-upon best of all time! 1. Babe 2. The Princess Bride 3. Black Swan 4. Some Like It Hot 5. Jaws 6. Back to the Future 7. The Usual Suspects 8. Casablanca 9. Fight Club 10. Toy Story 3 11. Avengers: Endgame 12. The …
Oratorio Society takes listeners on a joyful ‘Musical Journey to Korea’
Korean-American singers and musicians shone in the Oratorio Society of Minnesota’s summer concert, “A Musical Journey to Korea.” With guest musicians from the Twin Cities and Chicago, the show offered a window into Korean folk and courtly music, at times finding points of connection between those traditions and Western classical choral music.
This outdoor production of ‘The Hobbit’ is a timely celebration of classic bravery
The smashing success of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” might tell us something about ourselves: Amid the problems of the world today, we are hungry for a mythic, faraway escape. Add Zephyr Theatre’s outdoor production of the fantasy classic “The Hobbit” to the list of options.
Concert review: Salsa bands keep Lowertown Sounds listeners on their feet
A warm, clear summer night awaited the audience at Mears Park on Thursday for the latest edition of Lowertown Sounds, the popular summer series featuring free music and food trucks. Salsa music was on the docket. The Tropical Zone Orchestra and Salsa del Soul got listeners on their feet with their Caribbean rhythms, rich harmonies and salsa melodies.
‘Put on some protest jewelry’ – Fringe Fest teaser is a very 2026 take on a 2025 show
The Minnesota Fringe Festival is just around the corner, opening August 6. Ahead of it, comic actor and Fringe veteran Lauren Anderson is reviving her hit one-woman show, “Jewelry Power Elite,” for a two-weekend run at Minneapolis’ Dudley Riggs Theatre. At last year’s Fringe, the show marked Anderson’s first full-length solo performance after more than 20 years performing with the Brave New Workshop sketch and improv troupe.
Generations collide and powerful art emerges at Minneapolis’ All My Relations
For South Dakota-based artist Ray “Rock Boy” Janis, mentors have become his collaborators. Together, they’re central to Janis’ new exhibition at Minneapolis’ All My Relations Gallery, called “Sakowin Synergy.” The show’s title refers to the people of the Seven Council Fires – the Oceti Sakowin – an historic alliance of Dakota, Lakota and Nakota nations.
Nature provides the visuals for a new North Shore art installation
Diver Van Avery grew up in the Twin Cities with little exposure to nature. But as a teen, they fell in love with the North Shore and developed a special connection with Sugarloaf Cove, a nature preserve along Lake Superior, about 45 miles north of Two Harbors. “You learn right away when you’re there that it used to be clear-cut,” they said, referring to the site’s past use as an industrial log storage facility. “[It] has — really in our lifetimes — come to be this forested place that feels wild.
Review: Budding musicians shine in St. Paul Chamber Music Institute concert
At an office building in St. Paul that formerly housed the Richards Gordon School, where “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz attended as a child, an audience gathered for a lunchtime concert featuring six talented young people performing classical music solos.
For one of Minneapolis’ largest nonprofits, a theater kid has become the boss
With college theater programs getting absorbed by other departments or eliminated altogether, you might think an advanced theater degree leaves graduates with few options. But for Signe Harriday, theater led to her new role as president and CEO of one of the Twin Cities’ oldest and largest nonprofits, Pillsbury United Communities.
Bon Iver frontman returns to Eaux Claires as 'Bon Dylan'
The Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival is returning after an eight-year hiatus at a new location in Carson Park. Justin Vernon will perform a tribute to Bob Dylan under the name "Bon Dylan" instead of with his band Bon Iver. This year's lineup includes headliner Aimee Mann, Kevin Morby, and various Minnesota-based artists. Justin Vernon, the indie folk superstar from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, really loves his hometown’s Carson Park.
Bon Iver, at Eaux Claires, to perform Bon Dylan. And yes, that’s spell-checked.
Justin Vernon, the indie folk superstar from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, really loves his hometown’s Carson Park. At a recent event outside its baseball stadium, Vernon put the grounds in rare company: “Central Park in New York and Carson Park are the top two parks that I know about,” he said.
Bon Iver, at Eaux Claires, to perform Bon Dylan. And yes, that’s spell-checked.
Justin Vernon, the indie folk superstar from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, really loves his hometown’s Carson Park. At a recent event outside its baseball stadium, Vernon put the grounds in rare company: “Central Park in New York and Carson Park are the top two parks that I know about,” he said.
Kronos Quartet to record first live album in Minneapolis
The Kronos Quartet will record its first-ever full-length live album at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. The Grammy-winning string ensemble has released over 70 albums but never a complete live recording. The performances will feature works reflecting American history, including pieces by John Coltrane and Billie Holiday. A new work by Minneapolis-based artists Joe Rainey and Andrew Broder will also premiere at the shows.
Kronos Quartet playing the Dakota this week to record first-ever live album
For decades, the trailblazing Kronos Quartet has reinvented classical music, exploring its edges in an increasingly digital world. This week, the Grammy Award-winning string ensemble will take the stage at Minneapolis’ Dakota Jazz Club to capture their first full-length live album recording. Kronos is no stranger to the Twin Cities, having performed at the Fitzgerald, the Walker Art Center, Northrop, Ted Mann Concert Hall and the Landmark Center.
Concert review: Gábor Takács-Nagy leads SPCO in an emotion-filled finale
For its season finale, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is once again joined by its artistic partner, the spritely Hungarian conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy. Having also led last year’s final concert, Takács-Nagy brings a program that taps into pulsing emotion. The repertoire moves from Zoltán Kodály’s folksong-influenced “Summer Evening” to works by Richard Strauss and Robert Schumann that draw on themes from Ludwig van Beethoven.
Three new books with Minnesota connections uncover hidden family histories
Sheila Regan MinnPost June 12, 2026, 4:49 a.m. CT Three new books with Minnesota connections explore family histories to uncover historical truths. Putting together your summer reading list? Consider three recent books from Minnesota publishers that use literature to confront the limits of the historical record.
Three books with Minnesota connections unearth family stories, deliver historical truths
Putting together your summer reading list? Consider three recent books from Minnesota publishers that use literature to confront the limits of the historical record. In “Without Terminus,” released June 2 by Graywolf Press, Minneapolis-based writer Chaun Webster deconstructs his family’s history and recreates it as luminous, poetic nonfiction. Using poetry, prose and graphic design, the book investigates the lives of Webster’s grandfather and great-grandfather, who both worked in railroad service.
Man pleads guilty to killing Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband
Man pleads guilty to killing Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband (washingtonpost.com) Man pleads guilty to killing Minnesota state Rep.
Three books with Minnesota connections unearth family stories, deliver historical truths
Putting together your summer reading list? Consider three recent books from Minnesota publishers that use literature to confront the limits of the historical record. In “Without Terminus,” released June 2 by Graywolf Press, Minneapolis-based writer Chaun Webster deconstructs his family’s history and recreates it as luminous, poetic nonfiction. Using poetry, prose and graphic design, the book investigates the lives of Webster’s grandfather and great-grandfather, who both worked in railroad service.
Cheeseheads? Nah. Minnesota hosts true fromage experts
The American Cheese Society has held its annual cheese judging and competition in Minnesota since 2022. Experts evaluate over 1,600 cheeses from nearly 200 producers across the Americas in 139 categories. The event relies heavily on volunteers, some of whom study for years to become certified judges. A football stadium is hardly where you’d expect to find fine artisanal cheeses.
Concert review: Minnesota Orchestra counteracts ‘Adagio’s’ sadness with lively Prokofiev
The playfulness of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sergei Prokofiev counterbalances one of the world’s most disconsolate pieces of music — Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” — in the Minnesota Orchestra’s most recent concert.
Cheeseheads? Nah. Minnesota hosts true fromagières.
A football stadium is hardly where you’d expect to find fine artisanal cheeses. Yet each spring, Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota hosts the American Cheese Society’s annual competition, judging the best cheeses made in the Americas. This year, MinnPost’s Taylor Canas and I got to attend. My stomach began grumbling as soon as I stepped onto the stadium loading dock. An earthy, pungent aroma wafted from one cart; a sweeter, more buttery smell from another.
Cheeseheads? Nah. Minnesota hosts true fromagières.
A football stadium is hardly where you’d expect to find fine artisanal cheeses. Yet each spring, Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota hosts the American Cheese Society’s annual competition, judging the best cheeses made in the Americas. This year, MinnPost’s Taylor Canas and I got to attend. My stomach began grumbling as soon as I stepped onto the stadium loading dock. An earthy, pungent aroma wafted from one cart; a sweeter, more buttery smell from another.
Cheeseheads? Nah. Minnesota hosts true fromagières.
19 hours ago Jen Zeszut, CEO of mac and cheese manufacturer Goodles, discusses how her company was able to disrupt a multi-billion dollar industry through “weird” branding, targeting an older demographic, and using nutrient-dense ingredients.
Before DEI, there were the women artists of WARM
The dramatic federal backlash against DEI in the arts shows little sign of abating. But two exhibitions on view in Minneapolis reintroduce visitors to a time when the tides were reversed and identity-focused arts advocacy gained major momentum. Both shows – one at Downtown’s Kickernick Gallery and one at Form and Content Gallery in the North Loop – have roots in the Twin Cities’ 1970s art scene.
Twenty-Four-Seven: Christine Sun Kim Transforms Language at the Walker Art Center The Berlin-based American artist upends hierarchies of language in a survey organized with the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Installation view of “Christine Sun Kim: Cues on Point” (Secession, Vienna, February 17–April 16, 2023). From left to right: Christine Sun Kim, “Prolonged Echo,” 2023; “Long Echo,” 2022; and “Cues on Point,” 2022. Photo: Oliver Ottenschläger.
Review: Cellist Abel Selaocoe, SPCO collaborate on another fine program
South African cellist Abel Selaocoe returns to the Twin Cities to play with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for an uplifting concert of 20th-century avant-garde gems and the U.S. premiere of a piece by British composer Edmund Finnis. The SPCO artistic partner leads the ensemble, guides the audience in song, and sings his own blissful vocals. While Selaocoe shared his own compositions in past concerts, he now presents other composers’ takes on older material.
Comedian Paula Poundstone on pogo-sticks and politics
On January 11, comedian Paula Poundstone made a short video for social media: “Day 307 of Saving our Democracy.” She encouraged viewers to make sure they were registered to vote, and she bounced one time on a pogo stick, stating she’d add one bounce each day until the mid-term elections on Nov. 3. “I said from the very beginning of this thing, I will add a pogo on my pogo stick every day until we take back the House and the Senate,” Poundstone told me in a recent interview.
Closings, openings and cautious optimism for the Twin Cities art scene
Minneapolis’ In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre was bustling on Saturday, its new Hennepin Avenue location packed with people building masks and touring the puppet library as part of Doors Open Minneapolis. Not long ago, it could’ve hosted even more visitors. But after decades at the Avalon Theatre on Lake Street, Heart of the Beast is moving forward with a much smaller footprint, operating as a renter rather than an owner.
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