Hello Sam,

I see that you are logged in to the forum right now. I wanted to ask how the musicians are liking Vanska? Between him and Woodcock, I assume the MN musicians are quite happy?

We are quite happy with Osmo, Cheryl, and this past week, an interesting event took place that illustrates what an unusual music director he actually is. As you may know, Osmo made his name in the business as the music director of the Lahti Symphony, which rose under his leadership from a small regional orchestra in Finland to one of the better-regarded ensembles in Europe, with an award-winning Sibelius cycle under its belt with the Bis record label.

Last winter, we made Lahti the last stop on our European tour, giving Osmo a chance to come full circle. Everyone expected it to be an emotional night for Osmo, and it was. But what many of us hadn't counted on was how emotional it became for all of us as well. The Lahti musicians left commemorative pins on each of our music stands, ponied up for an amazing reception after the concert, and actually invited any of us who were interested in staying for a couple of days to spend a day cross-counrry skiing with them.

This past week, we had the chance to return the favor, as the Lahti Symphony chose Minneapolis to kick off a brief U.S. tour. We threw them a couple of parties, and generally did our best to show them a good time in the frozen North before they had to dash off to their next stop.

My point is this: lots of music directors have more than one orchestra at a time, but I have never known that to be any reason for the two groups of musicians to pursue an international friendship. Obviously, the Lahti musicians weren't nice to us just because Osmo is our music director, nor we to them, but Osmo is an unusually quirky and inspiring conductor, and the experience of working under him seems to have bound us together with Lahti in ways I wouldn't have imagined possible.

A few years ago, the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks made a joke about the Minnesota Wild and their coach, Hall of Famer Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire is the inventor of a defense-first system of hockey known as The Trap, which is much admired by some in the game and much reviled by others. In the 2002-03 season, the Wild surprised the whole NHL by going from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best, and opposing teams were frequently asked what they made of the ultra-focused, trap-happy Minnesotans. Vancouver GM Brian Burke's response was to laugh, and say: "That's not a hockey team. That's a cult." He meant it as a compliment.

I don't think anyone in our orchestra or Lahti's is exactly in awe of Osmo. He's just not that kind of conductor, and I don't think he would ever want to be. But it can't be denied that his leadership style, both on and off the podium, tends to inspire serious loyalty in his players. It's not a cult, but it's a helluva lot of fun, and if it means that we get to have a sister orchestra a continent and a half away, that's even better.