Kenneth Freed, a member of the Minnesota Orchestra’s viola section since 1998, also holds the executive director post with the Stillwater Music Festival. In addition, he has been music director of the Mankato Symphony since 2006. His passionate interest in children’s music education led him to found a nonprofit company, Learning Through Music Consulting Group.

Pablo Medina is the author of fourteen books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translation, among them the critically acclaimed novel Cubop City Blues and, with Mark Statman, an English version of Lorca's Poet in New York. A recipient of numerous awards, he teaches at Emerson College.

Sidney Wade’s sixth collection is Straits & Narrows. She has served as president of AWP and secretary/treasurer of ALTA, and she teaches workshops in poetry and translation at the University of Florida’s MFA program. She is the poetry editor of Subtropics.

Mark Wigglesworth has worked as a guest conductor with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, from London and Berlin, to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He has enjoyed a close relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra, leading concerts almost every season since 1995. Also active on the opera stage, he has led productions of the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, Welsh National Opera, and English National Opera, among other companies.