Minnesota Orchestra

Minnesota Orchestra
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Symphony Orchestra
Years active	1903-present
Associated acts	Minnesota Chorale
Website	http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/
Members
Music Director Osmo Vänskä Sommerfest Artistic Director Andrew Litton Composer Laureate Dominick Argento Conductor Laureate Stanisław Skrowaczewski Pops Conductor Laureate Doc Severinsen Principal Conductor of Pops and Presentations Sarah Hatsuko Hicks
Past members
Music Directors Eugene Ormandy (1931–36) Dimitri Mitropoulos (1937–49) Antal Doráti (1949–60) Stanisław Skrowaczewski (1960–79) Neville Marriner (1979–86)

Entrance of Orchesta Hall in downtown Minneapolis

The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year.^[1] In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra. It makes its home in downtown Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall, which was built for the ensemble in 1974. The Minnesota's previous hall, starting in 1929, was Northrop Memorial Auditorium on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.^[1]

Since the 2003-04 season the orchestra's music director has been Osmo Vänskä.^[1] Under Vanska's direction, the orchestra has garnered significant critical praise, including a 2010 description from The New Yorker's Alex Ross as sounding like "the best orchestra in the world."^{[citation needed]}

Staff

Official Minnesota Orchestra logo

Music Directors

Emil Oberhoffer was the Minnesota Orchestra's principal conductor until 1922.^[1] He was followed by Bruno Walter (chief guest conductor 1922–23); Henri Verbrugghen (1923–31); Eugene Ormandy (1931–36); Dimitri Mitropoulos (1937–49); Antal Doráti (1949–60); Stanisław Skrowaczewski (1960–79); Neville Marriner (1979–86); Edo de Waart (1986–95); and Eiji Oue (1995–2002).^[1] In 2002, Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä was appointed the ensemble's 10th music director and assumed the post in September 2003. In 2005, Vänskä extended his tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra through 2011.^[1] In September 2009, the orchestra announced the further extension of Vänskä's contract through the 2014-15 season.^[2] On June 9, 2011, Vänskä was presented with the Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming by ASCAP.^[3]

Musicians

Erin Keefe was appointed concertmaster in September 2011.^[4] The position was open for two years after the departure of Jorja Fleezanis in 2009 to join the faculty of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Section Leaders include Manny Laureano (trumpet), Doug Wright (trombone), Adam Kuenzel (flute), Gina DiBello (second violin), Thomas Turner (viola), Anthony Ross (cello), Basil Reeve (oboe), Burt Hara (clarinet), John Miller, Jr. (bassoon), Michael Gast (horn), Steven Campbell (tuba), and Brian Mount (percussion).^[5] The principal bass position has been vacant since the 2007 departure of longtime principal Peter Lloyd. Assistant principal bass William Schrickel is serving as acting principal.

Recordings

The orchestra first began recording in 1924, and produced some landmark records. Among these was the first electrical recording of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony with Eugene Ormandy, who recorded extensively with the orchestra for RCA Victor in the 1930s. In the 1940s, the Minneapolis Symphony was contracted to Columbia Records and made a series of records with Ormandy's successor, Dimitri Mitropoulos. These included the premiere recording of Mahler's First Symphony.^[6] In 1954, the group made the first complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's three ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker under the baton of Antal Doráti. That same year, they also made the first recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture to include actual cannon fire, again under the direction of Antal Doráti. These recordings were made for Mercury Records as part of the Living Presence series. In the 1970s, the now Minnesota Orchestra made a series of recordings for Vox Records under the direction of Stanisław Skrowaczewski. In the 1990s, the orchestra recorded for the Reference Recordings label under the direction of music director, Eiji Oue. During his tenure, current music director Osmo Vänskä has conducted a cycle of the Beethoven symphonies for the Swedish BIS label.^[7] Their recording of the Ninth Symphony, with the Minnesota Chorale, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2007.

Summer festival

Begun in 1980 with Leonard Slatkin at the helm, the orchestra's summer festival has been known by several names, beginning with "Viennese Sommerfest," changing to "MusicFest" in 2001, and eventually reverting to "Sommerfest" in 2003. Sommerfest concerts are held at Orchestra Hall over a four-week period in midsummer. The orchestra also offers free live music on the plaza before and after each show, in genres varying from folk to jazz to polka. Slatkin was Music Director of Sommerfest from 1980 to 1989. Since 2003, Andrew Litton has been Music Director, and in June 2008, his contract in this post was extended to 2011.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Sandi, Brown (2008). "Brief History". About Us. Minnesota Orchestral Association. http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/index.cfm. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
2. ^ "Music Director Osmo Vänskä Extends Contract With Minnesota Orchestra" (Press release). Minnesota Orchestra. 24 September 2009. http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/news_story.cfm?id_news=18873384. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
3. ^ "ASCAP "Adventurous Programming" Awards Presented at League of American Orchestras Conference in Minneapolis". 9 June 2011. http://www.ascap.com/press/2011/0609_AdventurousProgramming.aspx. Retrieved 2011-Jul-29. 
4. ^ "Minnesota Orchestra names Erin Keefe as new concertmaster". http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/news_story.cfm?id_news=45888451. 
5. ^ "Orchestra Musicians". Music and Musicians. Minnesota Orchestral Association. 2008. http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/music/musicians.cfm. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
6. ^ David A, Pickett, PhD
7. ^ James R. Oestreich (17 December 2006). "A Most Audacious Dare Reverberates". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE0DE1531F934A25751C1A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
8. ^ Rob Hubbard, "Sommerfest artistic director Litton extends contract with Minnesota Orchestra". Pioneer Press, 30 June 2008.

External links

• Minnesota Orchestra Web Site
• Regional and National Radio Broadcasts by Minnesota Public Radio
• Minnesota Orchestra Archives home page
• November 1903: Review of Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra's first concert