Osmo Antero Vänskä (born 28 February 1953) is a Finnish conductor,

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Vänskä started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971–76). He then became the principal

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

of the Helsinki Philharmonic from 1977 to 1982. During this time, he started to study conducting with Jorma Panula at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

, where his classmates included

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. In 1982, he won the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. Vänskä became principal guest conductor of the

Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finland, Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipali ...

in 1985, and chief conductor in 1988. He concluded his tenure with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in 2008 and is now the orchestra's Conductor Laureate. His complete set of Sibelius symphonies with the

, also on the BIS label, has garnered widespread acclaim. He has recorded extensively with the Lahti orchestra for the BIS label, including music by Kalevi Aho, Einojuhani Rautavaara,

Bernhard Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Swedish people, Swedish-Finns, Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born Classical period (music), classical co ...

, Uuno Klami,

Tauno Marttinen Tauno Olavi Marttinen (27 September 1912 – 18 July 2008) was a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Helsinki, Marttinen studied in Viipuri and Helsinki. His earliest works are mainly late romantic. His output includes ...

, Robert Kajanus, Sofia Gubaidulina,

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performa ...

, Jan Sandström,

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

, and Fredrik Pacius. Vänskä was chief conductor of the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, he was appointed chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBCSSO), and served in that capacity until 2002. With the BBCSSO, he made recordings of the complete

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...

symphonies for the BIS label. In June 2014, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra announced the return of Vänskä to the orchestra as its next principal guest conductor, effective with the 2014–2015 season. In 2003, Vänskä became the music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. He and the orchestra have received critical praise, and he is regarded as having enhanced the quality of the orchestra. In 2004, Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra began a five-year project to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on the BIS label. In 2005, Vänskä signed a contract extension with the Minnesota Orchestra through at least 2011. In September 2009, the orchestra announced the extension of Vänskä's contract through the 2014–2015 season. He announced his resignation on 1 October 2013, one year after management locked out the musicians in a longstanding labor dispute. In January 2014 Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra won a Grammy for best orchestral performance for the album of Sibelius' Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4. He was re-appointed music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in April 2014 with a two-year contract, which was extended in May 2015 to last until August 2019. In July 2017, the orchestra announced a further extension of Vänskä's contract through the 2021–2022 season. In December 2018, the orchestra announced that Vänskä is to conclude his music directorship of the Minnesota Orchestra at the close of the 2021-2022 season. Vänskä is subsequently scheduled to take the title of conductor laureate with the Minnesota Orchestra. In May 2008, an orchestral piece composed by Vänskä titled ''The Bridge'' was premiered by the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, led by William Schrickel, assistant-principal bassist of the Minnesota Orchestra, with Vänskä in attendance. In April 2019, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announced the appointment of Vänskä as its next music director, effective January 2020, with an initial contract of 3 years. Vänskä stood down as music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the end of 2022.

Personal life

Vänskä has been married twice. He and his first wife Pirkko, a freelance drama critic, have three grown children, one of whom, Olli, plays

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

in the Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band Turisas. The couple separated in 2009. In April 2015, Vänskä married Erin Keefe, concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra. The couple reside in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. In private life, one of his hobbies is riding motorcycles.

References

Literature

* Michael Anthony: ''Osmo Vänskä: Orchestra Builder''. Kirk House Publishers.

External links

HarrisonParrott agency page on Osmo Vänskä

Minnesota Orchestra page on Osmo Vänskä

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160728173014/http://www.indigestmag.com/osmo1.htm David Luke Doddy (with Taya Mueller), "Seeing Anew: Osmo Vanska and the New Minnesota Orchestra". ''InDigest'' online magazine (retrieved page)] {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanska, Osmo 1953 births Living people People from Savonlinna Finnish classical clarinetists Musicians from Minneapolis Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors Sibelius Academy alumni Finnish expatriates in the United States 21st-century Finnish conductors (music) 21st-century clarinetists Pupils of Jorma Panula Chief conductors of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Music directors of the Minnesota Orchestra