Carnegie Hall

Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) performs and produces in a variety of formats throughout New York City, including orchestra and chamber music series on each of Carnegie Hall’s iconic stages, programs focused on contemporary composers presented throughout the five boroughs, collaborations with Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center, a composition institute, education and community engagement programs, and much more. Founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso chamber musicians began performing together in Greenwich Village at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the ensemble expanded into an orchestra in 1979 and is today “a mainstay of New York’s classical scene” (The New Yorker) under the baton of Principal Conductor Bernard Labadie, a celebrated specialist in 18th-century music, and special guests. OSL has participated in 120 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards; has commissioned more than 70 new works; and has given more than 200 world, US, and New York City premieres. OSL champions the work of historically underrepresented composers, who in recent seasons have included Florence Price, Julius Eastman, Joseph Bologne, and others along with living composers who have recently included Valerie Coleman, Eleanor Alberga, Anna Clyne, and Joan Tower, among others. OSL’s Education and Community Engagement programs include accessible, interactive concerts for New York City public school students in addition to the 100-member Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), now in its 10th season and the only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional group in the city; concert tours that introduce classical music to new audiences; a mentorship program for pre-professional musicians; and the DeGaetano Composition Institute, which mentors developing composers and commissions new work each season. OSL built and operates The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Midtown Manhattan, the city’s only rehearsal, recording, and performance space built specially for classical music. Thousands of local and international musicians create work at The DiMenna Center, where they not only stage performances, but also rehearse, record, and broadcast music heard throughout the city and around the world. To learn more, visit OSLmusic.org or follow @OSLmusic on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, or Facebook.

Conductor laureate of the Minnesota Orchestra, where he held the music directorship for 19 years, and music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra from 2020 to 2023, Osmo Vänskä is recognized for his compelling interpretations of diverse repertoire and his energetic presence on the podium. His democratic and inclusive style of work has been key in forging longstanding relationships with many orchestras worldwide.

When Mr. Vänskä concluded his tenure as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2022, he had led the ensemble on five major European tours, as well as a historic trip to Cuba in 2015—the first visit by an American orchestra since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations. With the orchestra, he also made a groundbreaking tour to South Africa in 2018 as part of worldwide celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s centenary, drawing together South African and American performers in musical expressions of peace, freedom, and reconciliation on a five-city tour.

Mr. Vänskä’s recent guest conducting invitations include renowned ensembles such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and San Francisco Symphony in North America; and the Orchestre de Paris, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra in Europe. He is also regularly invited to guest conduct in Asia, including appearances with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the China, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taiwan philharmonics.

A distinguished recording artist for the BIS label, Mr. Vänskä has recorded all of Mahler’s symphonies with the Minnesota Orchestra. The Fifth Symphony received a Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance in 2017. They have also recorded the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Sibelius to critical acclaim, winning a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in 2014 as well as being nominated on other occasions. In 2021, the Minnesota Orchestra—under Mr. Vänskä’s direction—was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year.

Mr. Vänskä is the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award, the Finlandia Foundation’s Arts and Letters Award, and the 2010 Ditson Award from Columbia University and the Pro Finlandia medal awarded to him by the State of Finland. He holds honorary doctorates from the Curtis Institute of Music and the universities of Glasgow and Minnesota, and was named Musical America’s 2005 Conductor of the Year. In 2013, he received the Annual Award from the German Record Critics’ Award Association for his involvement in BIS’s recordings of the complete works by Sibelius.

Isabelle Faust captivates audiences with her insightful and faithful interpretations, which are based on a thorough knowledge of the historical context of the works as well as attention to current scholarship, allowing her to bring illumination and passion to her performances in repertoire by a wide range of composers. After winning the renowned Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition and the Paganini Competition at a young age, she began to perform regularly with the world’s major orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston and NHK symphony orchestras, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Les Siècles, and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. This led to close and sustained collaborations with conductors who include Andris Nelsons, Giovanni Antonini, François-Xavier Roth, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jakub Hrůša, Klaus Mäkelä, Robin Ticciati, and Sir Simon Rattle, with whom she tours again in March 2024.

Highlights of the 2023–2024 season include the celebration of Ligeti’s 100th birthday with an extensive tour with Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth. Ms. Faust performs with such orchestras as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; in addition, she tours with the London Symphony Orchestra and serves as artist in residence with the SWR Symphony Orchestra. Her chamber music projects include collaborations with Antoine Tamestit, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Anne Katharina Schreiber, and Kristin von der Goltz, as well as a North America tour with Alexander Melnikov and Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Ms. Faust’s numerous recordings have been praised by critics and awarded the Diapason d’Or, Gramophone Award, and Choc de l’année, among other prizes. Recent recordings include Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth, Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Alexander Melnikov, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Pablo Heras-Casado, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.