In Friday’s (3/25) Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Kristin Tillotson writes that in the Minnesota Orchestra’s just-announced 2016-17 season, “the most significant development may be the tradition-bucking collaborative approach that the orchestra has adopted…. Musicians are much more involved in every aspect of operations … particularly in shaping programming…. Tony Ross, principal cello and chairman of the musicians’ artistic committee, said that the kind of trust required for such a relationship has been years in the making. … [Music Director Osmo] Vänskä will conduct … Mahler’s Sixth and Second symphonies, which the orchestra will record as part of a new series of albums for the BIS label…. The 24-week subscription season begins Sept. 22 with [Joshua] Bell performing his signature Tchaikovsky concerto after an unconventional opening work, Todd Levin’s electronically enhanced ‘Blur.’ … Six conductors will make their subscription-series debuts, twice as many as last season…. The orchestra will present several large-scale choral works,” including the late Stephen Paulus’s Mass for a Sacred Place and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. “Highlights of the ‘Live at Orchestra Hall’ season include local rapper Dessa joining the orchestra for a classical/hip-hop mashup.” Also scheduled are a European tour and Florida concert series.
Posted March 25, 2016
