Learn & Engage
K-12 Programs

Northrop is ready to welcome students back for the school year with four more exciting field-trip opportunities! Another world-class line-up of educational, engaging, and thought-provoking music and dance programming awaits your students in Northrop’s 2024-25 Student Matinees schedule. Tickets on sale now—with options for in-person, livestream, and on-demand viewing.
The 2024-25 Northrop Season includes four student matinees, including a multidisciplinary experience with Bharatanatyam dance from Twin Cities-based Ragamala Dance Company, the spirited UMN Marching Band indoor concert, and a world-class ballet experience by BalletMet. The fourth student matinee offered is provided with our partner VocalEssence. For the WITNESS Young People’s Concert, VocalEssence joins a collective of Twin Cities-based artists to present songs and stories centered on the Civil Rights Movement.
For more information or questions, please email matinees@umn.edu.
Northrop proudly engages students in meaningful experiences that expand their worldview and provide the hope and joy the arts offer through its K-12 matinee program. The program provides students and educators high-quality and affordable arts programming with expanded access online and flexible on-demand options that fit school schedules. Each performance is augmented with additional study materials that meet learning standards, as well as resources to guide students about arts performances.
Research shows that children who study the arts demonstrate stronger overall academic performance, helping to produce creative thinkers that employers need in an increasingly complex workforce.
K-12 students involved with the arts show higher levels of success in math and reading skills, and additional skills are strengthened in communication and problem-solving abilities.
Exposure to the arts help K-12 students improve ACT/SAT test scores, perform higher on standardized tests, and achieve higher GPAs. These students are less likely to drop out of school and three times more likely to receive a bachelor's degree in higher education.
Both state and federal laws require K-12 schools to provide arts education for students to foster a more well-rounded education.