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RUSH LINE: Downtown station location up in air PAGE 10A
And the winner for ‘Best Minnesota Town’: White Bear Lake
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Joining Michael Djupstrom onstage will be critically acclaimed violinist Luosha Fang, as well as NPR-featured cellist Clancy Newman.
World-class composer brings his music home
MINNEAPOLIS — Results are in. White Bear Lake was voted the 2018 Best Minnesota Town by a panel of Minnesota Monthly magazine judges. Earlier this year, Minnesota Monthly sent a call out to towns, suburbs and cities across the state for entries in its second annual “Best MN Town” search. The publication’s editorial team sought the answer to “which town most embodies the Spirit of Minnesota?” It was announced Dec. 5 that the town with the most spirit is White Bear Lake. Dozens of towns heeded the request and submitted their cases on why they should be named best town. The selection process used wide-ranging criteria that included responses from
the town’s people to questions about its traits and engagement, qualitative and quantitative research, as well as a popular vote. Representatives from the top five finalists, Eden Prairie, Fergus Falls, Northfield, Roseville and White Bear Lake, were invited to a “Best Of” party at the Aria in downtown Minneapolis. During the festivities, White Bear Lake was announced the winner by Publisher Tammy Galvin and Director of Marketing, Events and Partnerships Arthur Morrissey. “We at Minnesota Monthly are proud to recognize White Bear Lake as the Best Minnesota Town as it SEE BEST TOWN, PAGE 9A
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BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
When musician Michael Djupstrom got the email inviting him to play at Hanifl Performing Arts, he thought it was spam. The composer and pianist quickly realized the invite to play for his hometown was legit and he accepted. "I'm so happy to come back to White Bear Lake to perform," Djupstrom said by phone from Philadelphia last week. He had just returned from a short sabbatical in Romania to study both the country's classical composers and the language to better understand their work. The person who sent the email to Djupstrom is Jim Berry, a Lakeshore Players board member who helps book concerts at the arts center. "Michael has put together a world-class trio to perform in his hometown," said Berry, who provided the Press bios for the musicians. "He has been commissioned many times to compose and/or arrange classical music compositions and is a top classical pianist who performs on stages of the world." A 1998 White Bear grad, Djupstrom left his hometown to pursue a major in music performance at the University of Michigan, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to get a master's in composition and then an Artist Diploma SEE COMPOSER, PAGE 9A
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Face-to-face consultation with the man
Mason, Wyatt and Miles Menchaca share their gift wishes during a visit with Santa at Manitou Grill and Event Center in downtown White Bear Lake Saturday, Dec. 8. Visits with Santa, free with a donation to the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf , will be offered again on Saturday, Dec. 15.
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