Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä became the Minnesota Orchestra's tenth music director in September 2003. Praised for his intense and dynamic performances, Vänskä is recognized for compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires, as well as the close rapport he establishes with the musicians he leads.

In his initial seasons in Minnesota, Vänskä has drawn acclaim for concerts both at home and abroad, including an August 2006 tour of major European festivals, a 2004 tour to European music capitals and performances in communities around Minnesota. During his tenure, he has emphasized Beethoven, Nielsen and Bruckner in programming, been named Conductor of the Year by Musical America and made his Twin Cities clarinet performance debut at the 2005 Sommerfest, playing the Beethoven Clarinet Trio. He won acclaim as a clarinetist in New York when he performed Mozart's Serenade No. 11 as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival in August 2007. Vänskä has extended his tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra through 2011.

In 2004 Vänskä and the Orchestra embarked on a five-year, five-disc recording project with the Swedish label BIS to record the complete Beethoven symphonies. With four albums now issued—featuring Symphonies No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9—the cycle has drawn superlative international reviews and a Grammy nomination ("Best Orchestral Performance") for the Ninth Symphony. According to The New Yorker (November 2006), “This is some of the most vivid Beethoven playing on the market.”

Highlights of Vänskä's fifth season in Minnesota include a reprise performance and recording of Stephen Paulus' Holocaust memorial oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn, a three-week January festival dedicated to film music, a three-week spring percussion festival featuring performances of Aho's Symphony No. 11, and the conclusion of his acclaimed Beethoven symphonies survey with performances of the Second, Seventh and Ninth. Vänskä and the Orchestra tour Minnesota in February and perform at New York's Lincoln Center in April.

As music director of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra since 1988, Vänskä transformed the regional ensemble into one of Finland's flagship orchestras. Under his leadership, the Lahti Symphony has received international attention through its collection of innovative Sibelius recordings on the BIS label and its international performances in London, Birmingham and New York. In May 2008, after two decades at the helm of the Lahti, Vänskä will become that ensemble's conductor laureate. Vänskä began his music career as a clarinetist. He held the co-principal chair of the Helsinki Philharmonic (1977-82) and the principal chair of the Turku Philharmonic (1971-76). Following conducting studies under Jorma Panula at Finland's Sibelius Academy, Vänskä was awarded first prize in the 1982 Besançon International Young Conductor's Competition.

Three years later he began his tenure with the Lahti Symphony as principal guest conductor, while also serving as music director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. In addition, Vänskä served as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra of Glasgow (1997-2002). As a guest conductor, Vänskä has appeared with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as the major symphonies of Dallas, Detroit, Houston, San Francisco and St. Louis. In Europe, he has led such eminent orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, London's BBC Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. This season he returns for engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Japan.

Vänskä has recorded extensively on the BIS and Hyperion labels. His numerous Sibelius recordings with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for BIS, part of an ongoing complete Sibelius edition, have amassed numerous awards, including a 1996 Gramophone Award and Cannes Classical Award for the original version of the Fifth Symphony. His first-ever complete recording of The Tempest won the 1993 Prix Académie Charles Cros, and his original version of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos won 1991 Gramophone Awards for Record of the Year and Best Concerto Recording.

The many honors and distinctions awarded Vänskä include an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow, a privilege given in recognition of his tenure as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony. In May 2002 he was honored with a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his outstanding contribution to classical music during 2001. In December 2004 Musical America named Vänskä 2005 Conductor of the Year.

Vänskä and his wife, Pirkko, reside in Minneapolis.

February 2008