Retiring Musician Spotlight: Q&A with Manny Laureano
The summer of 2025 marks the end of an era at Orchestra Hall as Manny Laureano—who has held the principal trumpet position longer than anyone in Minnesota Orchestra history—retires after a remarkable 44-year career in one of the ensemble’s most visible positions. In this Q&A he reflects on some favorite Orchestra Hall and touring memories, his bond with colleagues in the trumpet section, pride in his former Minnesota Youth Symphonies students and more.
As you look on your Minnesota Orchestra career, what memories have stuck with you the most?
Playing the late Stephen Paulus’ Concerto for Two Trumpets alongside Doc Severinsen was a career highlight. Imagine having a musical hero as a kid and then getting to play a concerto with him? And the great Klaus Tennstedt conducted a set of performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that I recall with fondness and incredulity at how he was able to make the Orchestra sound. My most memorable tour concert was playing Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra in Puerto Rico with David Zinman. When David motioned to me to take a solo bow, the ovation was like nothing I'd ever experienced up to that point. Very humbling and poignant for me, being of Puerto Rican heritage.
You’ve been a soloist with the Orchestra in many concertos and other major works for solo trumpet and orchestra. Which one stands out in your memory?
When I first joined the Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner asked me to play the Hummel Concerto, which included a special cadenza I had written. In the middle of the cadenza, after hitting and sustaining an E over high C, the audience broke out into spontaneous applause! I looked at Sir Neville and just had to wait until the applause was over before I could continue.
How did you decide that now is the right time to retire?
With the advent of a new music director and knowing I’d be turning 70 by the end of this season, it just seemed like a natural time to call it a day and have someone new continue the traditions and perhaps start some new ones. Forty-four years in that chair is plenty, and I am grateful to have been able to live out a dream many others have had. How lucky am I?
The Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section is one of the longest-tenured sections, with all four current members being in the Orchestra 25 years or more—and your predecessors were longtime members as well. What have you enjoyed most about working with these colleagues?
The late Clement Volpe, who sat second to me when I first broke in, often told me, “The secret of second trumpet playing is getting along with the 1st trumpet player.” He was right. I have had the good fortune to sit alongside two teams of trumpeters who were friends and took care of each other. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other, and artistry was Job One. That’s the bottom line.
Being the Orchestra’s principal trumpet player is a big enough job on its own—but you’ve also made another career as a conductor. Can you talk about how you got started in that field, and what has made it important to you over the years?
Conducting was of interest to me since I was in junior high school, and the desire to lead people through great music or even lighter fare has been always present. The logical step was to pass on the enthusiasm and love I have for great symphonic repertoire to young musicians who were also interested. There’s no feeling quite like watching a bunch of young people play the opening bars to Beethoven’s Fifth for the first time and observing how their eyes would widen as they played. The times I’ve gotten to conduct my colleagues in Young People’s Concerts was another kind of thrill for which I'm truly grateful to have had. There’s nothing like it!
Some of your former Minnesota Youth Symphonies students are now musicians in the Minnesota Orchestra. How does it feel to have them go from students to colleagues?
In recent years, many of my former MYS alumni have become professionals and won positions in orchestras throughout the U.S. and the world. At first, I would see them subbing with us or playing as extra musicians. I realized it was only a matter of time before they would start to win positions with us in the Minnesota Orchestra. Currently, they are three violinists—Sarah Grimes, Hanna Landrum and Nora Scheller—and Sarah’s sister, Lydia Grimes, who holds a position with what I consider to be one of the finest viola sections in the country, here in the Minnesota Orchestra. There are also players who hold year-long contracts like Alexandra Early. I have “graduates” who play in Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco...everywhere! I feel like a proud Papa every time I hear of their musical successes.
Is there any message you’d like to send to our dedicated Minnesota Orchestra audiences?
The applause and recognition our home audiences give us is something my colleagues and I look forward to receiving after working hard during the week and then presenting the results at our concerts. As I’ve said many times, playing without those faithful people is just a rehearsal. Those folks are essential to completing the circle of communication music creates. The follow us, grow older with us, celebrate our triumphs and mourn our losses with us. We are a family held tight by sound and what it does to the heart. I am one lucky guy to be able to have been a part of this Minnesota Experience for 44 years. When someone asks What does the Minnesota Orchestra sound like?, the ones who know us and are best-suited to answer that are our audiences. After I’m gone, the Orchestra will continue to make those good people proud to talk about their orchestra. Of that, I have no doubt!
Laureano will be a special guest soloist at a highlight of Summer at Orchestra Hall 2025: the Grand Piano Spectacular on July 31. Laureano’s story is also told in the new biography Agradecido, A Life of Gratitude: The Manny Laureano Story by Christina M. Cavitt and Geni Cavitt—available now at online booksellers.
