Update browser for a secure Minnesota Orchestra experience

It looks like you may be using a web browser version that we don't support. Make sure you're using the most recent version of your browser, or try using of these supported browsers, to get the full Minnesota Orchestra experience: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Conductor Osmo Vänskä
Osmo Vänskä | © Zoe Prinds-Flash

Osmo Vänskä Returns

Thu Feb 22 — Sat Feb 24, 2024

Orchestra Hall

~2 hours, including intermission

Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, a champion of both new music and rising stars, revisits his beloved Minnesota Orchestra. Through Orchestra commissions by Anders Hillborg and Kevin Puts—plus two bass concertos performed by Nina Bernat, the 2022 FRIENDS of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition winner—this concert reflects Vänskä’s wide-ranging and compelling vision for the future of orchestral music.

A Few Things to Know

  1. Bassist Nina Bernat is one of the recently announced winners of the prestigious 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Read our recent blog to get to know Nina.
  2. Kevin Puts’ Concerto for Orchestra and Anders Hillborg’s Through Lost Landscapes were both co-commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra during Osmo Vänskä’s tenure as music director; both pieces receive their U.S. premieres in these concerts as well.
  3. Estonian composer Eduard Tubin’s Double Bass Concerto will receive its first Minnesota Orchestra performances.

Explore the concert extras

Date & Time

{{perf.Date}}

{{perf.Time}}

Program

  • ROSSINI

    Overture to The Barber of Seville

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    Rossini’s overture sets the stage for an opera full of wit and comic intrigue. A slow introduction builds to an exciting Allegro con brio, with a well-known “laughing” main theme, and the music crescendos to a sparkling close.

  • BOTTESINI

    Bass Concerto No. 2

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    Bottesini did for the bass what Niccolò Paganini did for the violin, and his Bass Concerto No. 2 is a hallmark in the bass repertory. Rich with lyrical melodies and plenty of virtuosic writing, the work allows the soloist to put their full mastery of the instrument on display.

  • HILLBORG

    Through Lost Landscapes

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    Hillborg’s Through Lost Landscapes alludes to the disaster-struck state of the planet today. Its greatly varied scoring includes dense tone clusters, jazz-style piano, solo passages for soprano saxophone and haunting imitations of bird calls.

  • TUBIN

    Bass Concerto

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    Estonian composer Eduard Tubin wrote his Concerto for Bass and Orchestra for fellow countryman Ludvig Juth, who was a bass player in the Boston Symphony. The work is suffused with expansive melodic ideas and contains a unique cadenza which Juth called “unprecedented for the bass.”

  • PUTS

    Concerto for Orchestra

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    In composing his recent Concerto for Orchestra, Kevin Puts found a “creative entry point” in Amanda Gorman’s poem Hymn for the Hurting about the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Other varied inspirations include a Mozart opera and a 14th-century musical form, the caccia.

Artists

Minnesota Orchestra

Osmo Vänskä

conductor

Nina Bernat

bass

Plan your visit

  • Pre-concert activities
  • Valet Parking
  • Pre-order Beverages
  • Directions & Parking
  • Helpful Tips

Le Quatuor International de Saxophones

When: Thu Feb 22, Fri Feb 23, Sat Feb 24 | Pre-Concert
Where: Target Atrium

Four musicians from three continents, united by their dedication to the art of chamber
music. This winter the group is performing in Minnesota to champion new works by local composers Carol Barnett, Libby Larsen, and Carleton Macy.

Osmo Vänskä Signing

When: Thur Feb 22, Sat Feb 24 | Post Concert
Where: Lobby

In addition to conducting this weekend's concerts, Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä will do a CD signing after Thursday and Saturday's concerts!
Grab your copy of the newly released Mahler 8 (or any of your favorite MinnOrch/Osmo recordings) and don't leave without getting an autograph!

Know Before You Go

An engaging performance awaits, and the fun doesn’t stop there. Make this visit your own with food and activity options. Browse these helpful tips, and when your concert date arrives, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

Directions & Parking

All the information you need to know for getting to and from Orchestra Hall. Parking is just steps away from Orchestra Hall in the city-owned and skyway-connected 11th and Marquette Ramp.

Pre-order beverages

Skip the lines at the bar! Pre-order your intermission beverage via the Minnesota Orchestra App when you arrive at Orchestra Hall.

Listen Ahead

Accessibility Services

  • Armless & Bariatric Chairs
  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Large-Print Programs
  • Noise-Cancelling Headphones
  • Service Animals
  • Wheelchair & Accessible Seating

Additional services are available upon request.

SPONSORED BY

MSAB

The 2023-2024 Classical Season is presented by Ameriprise Financial.