Office files. Boxes 1-7 are from the offices of Richard Cisek, Richard Bass, Donald Engle, and Charles Fullmer and were merged at some point. There is significant overlap between early files of the Public Affairs Office and the Marketing Department (Series. 6.2).

Although the records focus on public affairs, because the office was intimately involved with all Orchestra activities, the files also contain substantial information about projects, programs, etc. that complement records from other offices. The records include details about consulting, public relations, and communication firms hired by the Orchestra for special projects (Pops, e.g.)

Boxes 3-4, 14-15, 18-20 also include biographical files about music directors and other conductors, musicians, and staff. These files include short bios, published articles, and reviews of the conductors conducting and recording activities.

Box 5 contains print sample books from various seasons. Each group contains a complete set of all publications from that season, both professionally printed and those prepared in house. Included are programs, publicity, development materials, tour programs & schedules, posters, forms, etc. The brochures in Box 7 complement the brochures’ collection in Series 5.2 (Marketing).

Box 21 includes reviews of numerous Orchestra recordings from the tenures of Skrowaczewski, Marriner, Slatkin, and deWaart.

Public Affairs Directors’ Files. Box 8 is from the office of Lynn Winkler and Boxes 9-13 are from the tenures of Deborah Blakeley, Lynn Winkler, and Mary Loiselle. Files in Boxes 16-17 are from Karl Reichert’s office. The files document the extensive involvement of the Public Affairs Director in all Orchestra activities. There is detailed information about the 90th Anniversary celebration in Box 16.

Mary Ann Feldman’s Files. Mary Ann Feldman has worked for the Minnesota Orchestra for nearly forty years. During that time she has served in various roles – as director of the Metropolitan Opera annual appearance, as editor of magazine, as program annotator, and within the last ten years as Orchestra historian. As the Orchestra’s centennial approached, Feldman was tireless in speaking about the Orchestra’s history and soliciting materials from musicians, staff, and patrons.

This collection from Feldman’s office documents her extensive and intensive involvement in artistic matters during her tenure. Of particular note in this collection are files relating to Speaker’s Bureau and other public appearances she made on behalf of the Orchestra; scripts she wrote for special summer presentations; detailed documentation of Requiem Hiroshima (controversial concert during Oue’s first year as music director); Midsummer A Minnesota Festival of Music; and the Orchestra name change, an ongoing controversy from 1968 to the present.

Many of the items that Feldman collected in the 1990s on behalf of the Orchestra were historical memorabilia that were transferred to Series 14 (Historical Materials), Series 10.2 (Programs), etc.