The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning recordings, broadcasts and educational engagement programs; and a commitment to intentionally build concert programs to feature more works by composers of color, exploring music both contemporary and historic. This past fall, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his tenure as music director.

Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä, whose 19-year tenure as the Orchestra’s music director concluded in 2022, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. His multi-year project with the Orchestra to perform and record all ten Mahler symphonies concluded in November 2022 with the Third Symphony. Signature initiatives of his music director tenure included a Sibelius symphonies cycle that earned the Orchestra its first Grammy Award and major tours to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. As a guest conductor, he has received extraordinary praise for his work with many of the world’s leading orchestras.

American violinist Stella Chen, the recipient of a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, was the winner of the International Queen Elisabeth Grand Prize—Queen Mathilde Prize in the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. This season, she makes her debut with the Chicago Symphony and her New York City concerto debut in the U.S. premiere of Jorg Widmann’s Concerto No. 2, conducted by the composer. Last season, she appeared with numerous orchestras including the Belgian National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonia and Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. She also gave debut performances at the Ravinia and Kronberg Academy Festivals as well as at the Salzburg Mozarteum. She has given solo performances at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. Chen received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from Harvard University and a master’s degree in music from the New England Conservatory.