'BLUE' NOTES

Thursday-next Sunday: Jennifer Higdon likes orchestras, and they've returned the compliment. Her "Blue Cathedral" (1999), which the Philadelphia-based composer describes as "a tone poem with lots of chiming sounds," has been widely performed, and it opens this week's concerts by the Minnesota Orchestra. Led by associate conductor Mischa Santora, the program also features Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, with 23-year-old St. Paul native Andrew Staupe (pictured) as soloist, and Shostakovich's still-debated Symphony No. 5. (11 a.m. Thu.; 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $21-$83. Orchestra Hall, 11th St. and Nicollet Mall, Mpls. 612-371-5656.)

LARRY FUCHSBERG