Osmo Vänskä has been Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra for nearly two decades, and his tenure is about to end. The accomplished conductor joined the Orchestra in 2003 and has led extensive recording projects of symphonies such as Beethoven and Mahler. He accompanied the Orchestra on seven international tours and four across the state, even leading the Orchestra to a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for an album from his Sibelius Symphonies series in 2014. So he didn’t could go away for a long time. Now, the orchestra has announced that it will appoint Vänskä as conductor laureate to continue bringing its stage presence, beginning in September 2022.

“Osmo Vänskä has significantly shaped the Orchestra’s sound, programming and reputation over two decades,” Minnesota Orchestra Board Chairman Joseph T. Green said in a statement. hurry. “His new role as conductor honors the great musical heights to which he has led the Orchestra and recognizes the friendship and loyalty that will endure between him, this Orchestra and our community. As a laureate conductor, Vänskä will return each year to conduct the Orchestra.

As the Orchestra’s tenth Music Director, Vänskä’s final concerts in this role will take place over two consecutive weekends at Orchestra Hall in June. From June 2 to 4, he will conduct works by Felix Mendelssohn and Jaakko Kuusisto, and from June 10 to 12, the Eighth Symphony and the Symphony of a Thousand by Gustav Mahler. The following month, he would make a final appearance as a clarinetist at a “NightCap” concert on July 22.

“Osmo’s continuing legacy is reflected in the composition of the Orchestra itself. He brought so many talented musicians into the ensemble and developed a remarkable artistic cohesion and integrity that will continue for years to come,” said Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns. “This new role also recognizes the remarkable partnership he and the Orchestra have forged 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 to make music with my friends at the Minnesota Orchestra and that I will remain connected to the public in Minnesota who have been so receptive and supportive of my musical ideas for so many years.”

Vänskä will join founding Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Emil Oberhoffer and sixth Music Director Stanislaw Skrowaczewski as the longest-serving Music Directors in Minnesota Orchestra history. According to the Orchestra, each led the ensemble for 19 seasons, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski served as laureate conductor until his death in 2017.

Tickets can be purchased at www.minnesotaorchestra.org. Revisit our Vänskä profile from earlier this year.