It’s been four years since Osmo Vänskä stepped down from his role as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, a position he held for nearly two decades. Lucky for us, he hasn’t gone far. Vänskä still makes Minneapolis his home, living in an apartment near the Mississippi River with his wife, Minnesota Orchestra’s concertmaster Erin Keefe. He also continues to work with the Orchestra as conductor laureate. 

On Nov. 13 and 14, Vänskä will take up the baton for the second week of the orchestra’s Nordic Soundscapes Festival, now in its third iteration. Initiated under current music director Thomas Søndergård’s leadership, the festival celebrates Nordic composers, including those from the home countries of both Søndergård (Denmark) and Vänskä (Finland). 

Vänskä is pleased with the ongoing collaboration with his colleague. “I have heard many of the concerts conducted by Thomas, and I have met him many times,” Vänskä said. “We have had many conversations. I’m really happy that he is here and he is taking care of the orchestra.” 

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For opening weekend, Søndergård conducted a symphony by Jean Sibelius, who is Finnish, while Vänskä’s program on Nov. 13 and 14 is anchored by Symphony No. 6, “Sinfonia semplice,” by Carl Nielsen, who is Danish. 

When Søndergård approached him with his ideas for the program, Vänskä liked the idea of the conductors taking on composers of each other’s countries. “I am proud of the Finnish background and music culture, but Nordic composers are included in one way in that inner circle too,” Vänskä said. 

“Sinfonia semplice” means “simple symphony,” but the work is anything but simple, according to Vänskä. “It’s really complicated to play, especially for the strings,” he said. Nielsen was a violinist himself, and played in the opera orchestra in Copenhagen, “so he knew what he was writing,” Vänskä said. He considers the title a joke by the composer. 

Vänskä  will open the concert with a piece called “Songs of the Ice,” by Outi Tarkiainen, whose profile has grown in recent years. He will also conduct the Violin Concerto by Jaakko Kuusisto, featuring violinist Stella Chen. Kuusisto was a great friend of Vänskä’s. Vänskä asked him to audition for the Lahti Symphony Orchestra after Kuusisto showed promise in a number of international competitions. “I actually asked him to come to the audition when we needed a new concertmaster and I was really happy and surprised that he wanted to do it,” Vänskä said. 

Kuusisto died of brain cancer in 2022, while he was working on a symphony the Minnesota Orchestra had commissioned during Vänskä’s tenure. Kuusito’s brother, Pekka Kuusisto, completed the half-finished work with help from Jaakko’s longtime engraver and editor, Jari Eskola. The Minnesota Orchestra premiered it the same year. 

This week, the orchestra will perform an earlier work, which premiered in 2012. “He was a really important person for me in musical life, but also a great friend,” Vänskä said. “I’m really happy that we have a chance to do his violin concerto in this program. It’s a great piece of music.” 

Trading travel for time composing, playing music

As a world-class musician, Vänskä’s talents are sought after around the globe, but he told me he’s intentionally trying to travel less these days. “I have made a decision a little bit over a year ago that I just would like to reduce my guest conducting duties and have less time at the airport and away from home,” he said. The move has allowed him to focus on composing and playing his clarinet. “Those two things are very good,” he said. “They keep me happy and busy.” 

Recently, Vänskä completed an orchestral work called “Circus of Life,” which will receive its world premiere from the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in Philadelphia on March 14, 2027, and later be performed in Minnesota. On his clarinet, he’s performing his work “Duo” as part of a concert featuring Keefe, himself, and pianist Delvan Lin in a series presented by Mainly Mozart in San Diego. (Another Minnesota composer, Libby Larsen, is also on the two-day bill.) He’s got recording projects down the pike as well, including conducting several works by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski featuring violinist Sueye Park. 

When not playing music, Vänskä and Keefe also keep active with their dedicated workout regimen, which includes walking and lifting weights. “There are many reasons why it’s good to think about the physical health too,” he said.

Turmoil roils classical music organizations

Vänskä and Keefe married after a prolonged and painful lockout by the Minnesota Orchestra’s administration. Recent disputes across the classical music landscape highlight a fragile industry. Labor conflicts have disrupted organizations nationwide, including a three-day strike at the Cleveland Orchestra, a nearly weeklong strike by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra that forced the cancellation of several performances, including the season opener, and the Minnesota Opera’s postponement of “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr.” Meanwhile, following the Kennedy Center’s closure and subsequent internal disputes, the National Symphony Orchestra faces an uncertain future.

Asked about the labor disputes, Vänskä reflected that problems often stem from a lack of understanding of what it takes to make music.

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“I don’t know the details about the Minnesota Opera, but usually the problems are going to come to the table when there are many people who are not involved in music who believe that they understand how the orchestra is working,” he said. “Then they start to make genius solutions in their own opinion, and it’s often going to be a disaster.”

He sees the turmoil as part of a broader crisis. “It’s not only happening in the music world. This world is in very bad shape right now, and that is very sad,” he said. He also pointed to the National Symphony Orchestra, “which has no home and for which the future is very unclear.” 

Still, Vänskä believes music can offer pathways to understanding. When people sit down for a two-hour concert of music, “something usually happens to their mind,” Vänskä  said. “You don’t need to understand the music. You just need to open your mind and listen to it.” He added, “I don’t want to think about the world without music.”

To find out more about the Nordic Soundscapes Festival, including the performances Vänskä will be conducting at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14 ($25–$99, with choose-your-price options), visit the Minnesota Orchestra’s website. 

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