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

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baermann * ...

, 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 Defi ...

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 musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

of the

Helsinki Philharmonic The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (in Finnish: ; in Swedish: ; literal English translation: Helsinki City Orchestra; commonly abbreviated as HPO) is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic Orc ...

from 1977 to 1982. During this time, he started to study conducting with

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...

at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

, where his classmates included

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

and

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola He was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula in the same class as Esa-Pek ...

. In 1982, he won the

International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors The International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors, is a music competition for young conducting, conductors in the city of Besançon, France. History The competition was organized for the first time in 1951 by the music and film critic an ...

. Vänskä became principal guest conductor of the

Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a 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 municipality in 194 ...

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 Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

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 Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a List of compositions by Einojuhani Rautavaara, gre ...

Bernhard Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finn ...

Uuno Klami Uuno (Kalervo) Klami (20 September 1900, Virolahti – 29 May 1961, Virolahti) was a Finnish composer of the modern period. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish composers to emerge from the generation that followed ...

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 Robert Kajanus (2 December 1856 – 6 July 1933) was a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher. In 1882, he founded the Helsinki Orchestral Society, Finland's first professional orchestra. As a conductor, he was also a notable champion and in ...

, 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 performance ...

, Jan Sandström,

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

, and

Fredrik Pacius Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music". Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...

. Vänskä was chief conductor of the

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

from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, he was appointed chief conductor of the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

(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 ...

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 The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

. 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 The compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven consist of 722 works written over forty-five years, from his earliest work in 1782 (variations for piano on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler) when he was only eleven years old and still in Bonn, until hi ...

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 The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) is a South Korean orchestra based in Seoul. Founded in 1948, it is one of the oldest orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia ...

announces 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 Olli is a Dutch children's book character and a stuffed toy. The character Olli was created in 2004 by Dutch designer and film director Hein Mevissen and writer Diederiekje Bok as a character for a bottled mineral water. Olli was one of the many ...

, plays

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

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 exampl ...

band

Turisas Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war. Turisas are a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal and sym ...

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

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. 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 Finnish conductors (music) Musicians from Minneapolis Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors Sibelius Academy alumni Finnish expatriates in the United States 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century clarinetists