Osmo Vänskä
Osmo Vänskä has been the Minnesota Orchestra’s music director for almost two decades, and his term is about to come to an end. The accomplished conductor joined the Orchestra in 2003, and has led sweeping recording projects of symphonies by the likes of Beethoven and Mahler. He’s accompanied the Orchestra on seven international tours and four across the state, even directing the Orchestra to a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for an album in its Sibelius Symphonies series in 2014. So he couldn’t leave for long. Now, the orchestra has announced it will appoint Vänskä as its conductor laureate to continue bringing his presence to the stage, effective September 2022.
“Osmo Vänskä has significantly shaped the Orchestra’s sound, programming and reputation over two decades,” said Minnesota Orchestra board chair Joseph T. Green in a press release. “His new conductor laureate role honors the great musical heights to which he has led the Orchestra and recognizes the ongoing friendship and loyalty that will endure between him, this Orchestra and our community.” As conductor laureate, Vänskä will annually return to conduct the Orchestra.
The Orchestra’s tenth music director, Vänskä’s final concerts in the position will take place over two consecutive weekends at Orchestra Hall in June. From June 2-4 he’ll be leading works by Felix Mendelssohn and Jaakko Kuusisto, and from June 10-12, Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and the Symphony of a Thousand. The following month he’ll make a final appearance as clarinetist in a July 22 “NightCap” concert.
“Osmo’s ongoing legacy is reflected in the membership of the Orchestra itself. He has brought so many talented musicians into the ensemble and developed a remarkable artistic cohesiveness and integrity which will carry forward for years to come,” said Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns. “This new role also acknowledges the remarkable partnership he and the Orchestra have established with Minnesota audiences over two decades.”
“The Minnesota Orchestra has been my musical home for almost 20 years,” Vänskä said in a statement. “It means a lot that I will continue making music with my friends in the Minnesota Orchestra and remain linked to the Minnesota audiences who have been so receptive and supportive to my musical ideas over so many years.”
Vänskä will join founding Minnesota Orchestra music director Emil Oberhoffer and sixth music director Stanislaw Skrowaczewski as the longest-tenured music directors in Minnesota Orchestra history. According to the Orchestra, each led the ensemble for 19 seasons, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski served as conductor laureate until his death in 2017.
Tickets can be purchased at minnesotaorchestra.org. Revisit our profile of Vänskä from earlier this year.
