Osmo Vänskä

Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra’s tenth music director, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. He has led the Orchestra on five major European tours and a historic Cuba tour that was the first by an American orchestra since the thaw in Cuban-American diplomatic relations, as well as numerous tours to communities across Minnesota. 

 

 

Honors and distinctions awarded to Vänskä include an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow. In May 2002 he was honored with a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his outstanding contribution to classical music during 2001. Musical America named Vänskä 2005 Conductor of the Year, and in 2008 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Minnesota as well as a Champion of New Music Award from the American Composers Forum. In 2010 he received the Ditson Award from Columbia University, honoring him in particular for his support of American music.

 

 

At age ten, she began studying with Professor Lin Yaoji at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and already was receiving media attention for the quality of her playing. After she performed at the 1999 Beijing Music Festival, violinist Isaac Stern invited her to play with him in the United States.

 

Ms. Yang has won several awards during her career including the Volkswagen Foundation prize “Star of Tomorrow” by Seiji Ozawa and the 2006 “Prix Montblanc.” She is the recipient of the much coveted ECHO Klassik Award for Best Up-and-Coming Artist 2014. She is Professor of Violin at the University of the Arts, Bern, Switzerland  and is grateful to Lin Yaoji, Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn and Anner Bylsma for the musical insight and support they have offered throughout her career. She performs on a Guarneri del Gesu (1730 ).

 

 

Conductor: Osmo Vänskä

Violin: Yang Tianwa

 

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

 

Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni 5’

Lalo: Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op.21 33’ (Violin: Yang Tianwa)

 

- Intermission -

 

Copland: Symphony No.3 43’