Osmo Vänskä Returns
Thu Feb 22 — Sat Feb 24, 2024
Orchestra Hall
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
- Bassist Nina Bernat is one of the recently announced winners of the prestigious 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
- 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.
- Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski’s Flounce and Estonian composer Eduard Tubin’s Double Bass Concerto both receive their first Minnesota Orchestra performances.
Program
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WENNÄKOSKI
Flounce
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ROSSINI
Overture to The Barber of Seville
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BOTTESINI
Bass Concerto No. 2
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HILLBORG
Through Lost Landscapes
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TUBIN
Bass Concerto
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PUTS
Concerto for Orchestra
Artists
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, whose 19-year tenure as the Orchestra’s music director concluded in summer 2022, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. His multi-year project with the Orchestra to perform and record all ten Mahler symphonies concluded in November 2022 with the Third Symphony. Signature initiatives of his music director tenure included a Sibelius symphonies cycle that earned the Orchestra its first Grammy Award and major tours to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. As a guest conductor, he has received extraordinary praise for his work with many of the world’s leading orchestras.
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
The 2023-2024 Classical Season is presented by Ameriprise Financial.