“When the Minnesota Orchestra finally cemented a contract agreement earlier this month, patrons of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra had cause for relief,” writes Tanner Kent in Friday’s (1/31) Free Press (Mankato, Minnesota). “MSO Music Director Ken Freed is a [also] violist for the [Minnesota Orchestra] whose lockout began in October 2012. After the lockout continued into the following spring, Freed announced he would take leave from the Minnesota Orchestra and relocate to Seattle with his wife. Though Freed continued to conduct the Mankato orchestra even after his West Coast move, the long-distance arrangement was a tenuous one for the MSO. But with the lockout now over, Freed said he will soon return to Minnesota on a more permanent basis. ‘It’s been a long haul,’ he said. ‘I’m looking forward to coming back.’ … Though Freed will not appear with the MSO for the Feb. 9 concert—he has been accepted into the League of American Orchestras’ 10-day Essentials of Orchestra Management workshop, which accepts only 30 candidates a year and takes place Feb. 4-13—he will return in time for the ‘Deconstructing Rachmaninoff’ concert on March 2.”
Posted February 3, 2014
