Osmo Vänskä
Photo: A Marsden
Finnish conductor Osmo Väsnä, 65, announced today that he will conclude his tenure as Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra in August 2022. The 2021-22 season, his final as music director, will mark his 19th year at the helm of the Minnesota Orchestra. Beyond 2022, Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra will maintain their musical relationship, with him returning for ongoing concert engagements.
Vänskä became the Minnesota Orchestra’s 10th music director in September 2003. “I feel more than ever that the Minnesota Orchestra is my orchestra,” the conductor said. “As I’ve been thinking about how best to take care of the Orchestra’s future, it has felt very natural to me that the end of my current contract is the right time for different leadership and new directions for both the Orchestra and for me. We have explored so much together, and I cannot begin to say what the Minnesota Orchestra and this community mean to me. The Orchestra musicians always give of themselves totally, and making music here is a great, deep joy. This is what we will continue to do over the next three seasons—and then I look forward to continuing our partnership in a different way.”
In 2022, Mr. Vänskä will join founding Music Director Emil Oberhoffer and sixth Music Director Stanislaw Skrowaczewski as the longest-tenured music directors in Minnesota Orchestra history; each led the ensemble for 19 seasons.
