Osmo Vanska will conduct the Minnesota Orchestra in the eighth annual Future Classics Concert Series. The concert will feature seven of the top emerging composers of today. The concert will take place Friday January 29th at 8 PM at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis. Tickets range from $20 to $40 dollars and the show will be hosted by former Portland, Oregon alum Fred Child. All seven composers will be present to introduce their work
Classicalite reported back in February that Grammy-winning maestro Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra would be performing this month in Cuba at the International Cubadisco Festival. Well, it's finally here! OK, so almost... Since POTUS Barack Obama made the first steps to "normalize" America's relationship with its neighbor Cuba, the Minnesota Orchestra will indeed be the first professional U.S. band to perform in Cuba this century--make that millennium (as the last to do was the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1999).
In light of the nation's newfound friendship with Cuba, the Minnesota Orchestra announced Thursday that it would travel to Havana to play two concerts in May. This would be the first major American orchestra to play there since President Obama normalized relations with the estranged nation.
It was announced earlier this week via Facebook that Minnesota Orchestra music director, Osmo Vänskä, and concertmaster Erin Keefe are engaged. An office romance indeed.
The fight between the heads at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians has been viciously ongoing. For the parent organization, their next move targets the kids as they suspend the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and its auditions this season.
After suffering from a condition called "essential tremor," the concert violinist's hopes of maintaining a perfect performance slowly dwindled. His bow-arm would shake so much that his playing was seriously hindered.
Where the status of classical music is subject to a much-heated debate among listeners, it should be noted that someone, somewhere, is still appreciating and contributing to the classical zeitgeist.
Music lovers in Minnesota will be delighted to hear that Osmo Vänskä will return as the music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. The orchestra's board of directors voted on Thursday to rehire the Finnish maestro.
As is being reported, it's not yet a done deal for Osmo Vanska to return to the Minnesota Orchestra as music director. But who would be a good choice?
The Minnesota Orchestra announced on Thursday evening that controversial President and CEO Michael Henson will step down at the end of the current season, on August 31.
Burt Hara, principal clarinetist of the Minnesota Orchestra for 26 years, announced his resignation last week in a letter to his colleagues. Hara will retain his current position as associate principal clarinetist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been on a leave of absence from the Minnesota Orchestra since last May, when he accepted the position with the L.A. Phil.
On Monday, several Minnesota Orchestra board members said that the board had voted in favor of keeping Michael Henson as president. They also said that Osmo Vänskä might be asked to take on a more limited role with the orchestra, such as principal guest conductor.
The Metropolitan Opera is proposing in contract talks with union-represented workers to cut compensation, the first this has happened in decades.
Conductor Osmo Vänskä talked with Brian Newhouse of Classical Minnesota Public Radio this weekend about what might prompt him to return to the orchestra as music director. Vänskä said, “For any healing to begin at the orchestra, Michael Henson must go.”
A new era in the history of the Minnesota Orchestra will begin next month, when the re-united orchestra will present its first performances in Orchestra Hall after a long and often bitter contract dispute that dragged on for 15 months.