Editing Minnesota Orchestra (section)

==History==
[[File:Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra - DPLA - 5f432c3d22014324569cd1e688f1cb7c.jpg|thumb|Emil Oberhoffer conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in the 1904-1905 season.]]
The eighth major orchestra established in the United States, the Minnesota Orchestra was founded by [[Emil Oberhoffer]] as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903. It gave its first performance on November 5, 1903, in Minneapolis's [[Industrial Exposition Building|Exposition Building]].<ref name="MO_History">{{cite web | title = History | publisher = Minnesota Orchestral Association | year = 2012 | url = http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/history | access-date = 2012-03-09}}</ref> In 1911, it began a series of children's concerts under the sponsorship of the Young People's Symphony Concert Association (YPSCA), which continues to this day. Early in the 1920s, the orchestra was one of the first to be heard on recordings and on the radio, playing a nationally broadcast concert with guest conductor [[Bruno Walter]] in 1923.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minnesota Orchestra / Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (Symphony Orchestra) - Short History |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Minnesota-Orchestra.htm |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.bach-cantatas.com}}</ref> In 1968, the orchestra changed its name to the Minnesota Orchestra. It makes its home in downtown Minneapolis's [[Orchestra Hall (Minneapolis)|Orchestra Hall]], which was built for the ensemble in 1974. The orchestra's previous hall, starting in 1929, was [[Northrop Memorial Auditorium]] on the [[University of Minnesota]]'s Minneapolis campus.<ref>{{cite book |last=Swanson |first=Walter |title=''Minneapolis: City of Enterprise, Center of Excellence : A contemporary portrait'' |publisher=Windsor Publications, Inc  |date=1989 | pages=92–93| isbn=0-89781-292-1}}</ref>

===Financial concerns===
In 2007 the Minnesota Orchestra's assets began declining, a trend exacerbated by the [[financial crisis of 2007–2008]]. In August 2008, the Minnesota Orchestra Association's invested assets totaled $168.5 million, 13% less than the $192.4 million the Association had projected in its 2007 Strategic Plan.<ref name="minnpost_20130531">{{cite web | last = Hogstad | first = Emily E. | title = Questions remain about fiscal performance of Minnesota Orchestra's board | work = MinnPost | date= 31 May 2013 | url = http://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2013/05/questions-remain-about-fiscal-performance-minnesota-orchestras-board-manage}}</ref><ref>Minnesota Orchestral Association, "MOA's invested assets are lower than projected," in Vision for a Sound Future, http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/pdf/strategic_plan/#/10/zoomed</ref> In fiscal year 2009, the Minnesota Orchestra's board "sold $28.7 million in securities at a nearly $14 million loss".<ref name="minnpost_20130531"/>

During 2009 and 2010, the orchestra's board reported a balanced budget and drew on its endowment to cover operational deficits. At the time, it was trying to secure $16 million in state bonding for renovations of Orchestra Hall and [[Peavey Plaza]].<ref name="startribune_20121206_finances">{{cite news|last=Royce|first=Graydon|title=Minnesota Orchestra's board walked thin line on finances|url=http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/180782151.html?refer=y|newspaper=Star Tribune|date=6 December 2012}}</ref> The orchestra posted operational deficits of $2.9 million in 2011 and $6 million in 2012.<ref name="startribune_20121206_deficit">{{cite news|last=Royce|first=Graydon|title=Minnesota Orchestra reports record deficit of $6 million|url=http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/182420701.html|newspaper=Star Tribune|date=6 December 2012}}</ref>

===2012–2014 lockout===
On October 1, 2012, the Minnesota Orchestral Association (the orchestra's governing body) locked out the orchestra's musicians and canceled concerts through November 18 after failing to reach a new [[collective bargaining agreement]]. The MOA stated that spending on musician salaries and benefits was depleting the organization's endowment, and that labor costs needed to be reduced by $5 million per year. The musicians and their union took the position that the proposed cuts were so deep and draconian as to represent an existential threat to the future of the orchestra.

The entire 2012–13 concert season was canceled.<ref name="twincities_20130508">{{cite web | last = Raihala | first = Ross | title =  Minnesota Orchestra cancels rest of season, but hopes for summer concerts | work = TwinCities.com | date = 8 May 2013 | url = http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23198745/minnesota-orchestra-cancels-rest-season }}</ref> During the lockout, the musicians periodically presented concerts on their own.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kerr|first=Euan|title=Emotions, economy collide for locked out Minnesota Orchestra musicians show|url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/14/arts/locked-out-minnesota-orchestra-musicians/|newspaper=MPR|date=December 14, 2012}}</ref> In December 2012, Vänskä sent the board of directors and the musicians a letter warning that the lockout was severely damaging the orchestra's reputation at home and abroad.<ref>{{cite news|last=Platt|first=Russell|title=Trouble in the Twin Cities|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/12/trouble-in-the-twin-cities-minnesota-orchestra-and-saint-paul-chamber-orchestra-labor-disputes.html|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=December 4, 2012}}</ref> On April 30, 2013, Vänskä said he would resign if the lockout continued:

: I must make it clear that in the case [[Carnegie Hall]] chooses to cancel the Minnesota Orchestra's concerts this November, i.e. if they lose confidence in our ability to perform … then I will be forced to resign.<ref name="startribune_20130503">{{cite web | last = Royce | first = Graydon | title = Vänskä threatens to resign if Minnesota Orchestra lockout isn't settled | work = Star Tribune | date = 3 May 2013 | url = http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/205850451.html }}</ref>

After the orchestra management canceled the concerts in question, Vänskä resigned as music director on October 1, 2013.<ref>{{cite news | author=Euan Kerr | title=Conductor Vanska resigns from Minnesota Orchestra | url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/10/01/arts/osmo-vanska-resigns-minnesota-orchestra | work=Minnesota Public Radio | date=2013-10-01 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> On October 4 and 5, he conducted three final concerts with the locked-out orchestra at the University of Minnesota's Ted Mann Concert Hall, with [[Emanuel Ax]] as guest pianist. As an encore, Vänskä conducted Sibelius's ''Valse Triste'' and requested that the audience withhold its applause afterward.<ref>{{cite web | last = Oestreich | first = James R. | title = Departing Director Conducts Locked-Out Minnesota Orchestra| work = The New York Times | date= 5 October 2013 | url = http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/departing-director-conducts-locked-out-minnesota-orchestra}}</ref>

===Post-lockout===
On January 14, 2014, the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra announced that they had reached a collective bargaining agreement with the Minnesota Orchestra Association to end the lockout on February 1, 2014.<ref name=settled>{{cite news | author=Euan Kerr and Jon Collins | title=Minnesota Orchestra labor dispute settled | url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/01/14/minnesota-orchestra-settlement | work=Minnesota Public Radio | date=2014-01-14 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> Concerts resumed at Orchestra Hall in February. On April 24, 2014, the orchestra announced Vänskä's return as music director effective with the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/learn-more/press-room/908-vanska-to-return | title=Osmo Vänskä to return as Minnesota Orchestra music director | publisher=Minnesota Orchestra | date=24 April 2014 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> In July 2017, the orchestra announced the extension of Vänskä's contract as music director through the 2021–22 season.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/learn-more/press-room/1696-music-director-osmo-vaenskae-extends-contract-with-minnesota-orchestra | title=Music Director Osmo Vänskä extends contract with Minnesota Orchestra | publisher=Minnesota Orchestra | date=10 July 2017 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> In December 2018, the orchestra announced that Vänskä would conclude his tenure as music director at the close of the 2021-2022 season.<ref name = Kerr>{{cite news | url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/12/05/osmo-vanska-to-step-down-minnesota-orchestra | title=Minnesota Orchestra's Osmo Vanska to step down in 2022 | work=MPR News (Minnesota Public Radio News) | author=Euan Kerr | date=2018-12-05 | accessdate=2022-01-17}}</ref> He is to take the title of conductor laureate.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.startribune.com/osmo-vanska-leaving-minnesota-orchestra-bis-records-minneapolis-classical-finnish-conductor-sibelius/600178202 | title='I have done my part' | work=Minneapolis Star-Tribune | author=Rob Hubbard | date=2022-06-03 | access-date=2022-08-08}}</ref>

In May 2015, the Minnesota Orchestra performed in [[Havana, Cuba]], as a result of the [[Cuban Thaw]], becoming the first professional U.S. orchestra to play in Cuba since the [[Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite news | author=Euan Kerr | title=After Thaw, Minnesota Orchestra Returns To Cuba | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/05/17/406993869/after-thaw-minnesota-orchestra-returns-to-cuba | work=National Public Radio | date=2015-05-17 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> In August 2018, it became the first professional U.S. orchestra to perform in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-orchestra-will-tour-to-south-africa-to-play-nelson-mandela-tribute/469949233/|title=Another first for Minnesota Orchestra: A tour to South Africa|website=Star Tribune|access-date=2019-08-02}}</ref> In January 2022, the orchestra, Vänskä, and [[Elina Vähälä]] gave the North American premiere of the original 1904 version of [[Jean Sibelius]]'s [[Violin Concerto (Sibelius)|Violin Concerto]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-orchestras-sibelius-festival-provides-a-star-turn-for-another-finn/600133871/ | title=Minnesota Orchestra's Sibelius Festival provides a star turn for another Finn | work=Minneapolis Star-Tribune | author=Rob Hubbard | date=2022-01-08 | accessdate=2022-01-17}}</ref> 

In December 2021, [[Thomas Søndergård]] first guest-conducted the orchestra. He returned for another guest-conducting engagement in April 2022. In July 2022, the orchestra announced Søndergård's appointment as its next music director, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/press-room/press-releases/d/ | title=Thomas Søndergård Appointed Minnesota Orchestra's 11th Music Director | publisher=Minnesota Orchestra | date=28 July 2022 | access-date=2022-08-08}}</ref>