Minneapolis Symphony 1960

The Minneapolis Symphony in 1960, the first year in which Stanislaw Skrowaczewski served as Music Director of the orchestra.

Skrowaczewski replaced Antal Dorati, who had guided the Minneapolis Symphony the previous eleven seasons.

Skrowaczewski was to remain with the orchestra until 1979. Skrowaczewski continues to make his home in the Twin Cities, more than three decades after stepping down from the orchestra, and he generally continues to conduct the orchestra for one subscription week each season.

The Minneapolis Symphony changed its name to the Minnesota Orchestra in 1968.

Conventional local wisdom is that Skrowaczewski remained on the Minnesota Orchestra podium too long—and conventional wisdom in this case may very well be correct. Depending upon the person offering an opinion, the prevailing view is that Skrowaczewski should have departed voluntarily anywhere from five to ten years prior to his forced exit.

Skrowaczewski was succeeded by Neville Marriner, who experienced an unhappy tenure in Minneapolis. The dour and unimaginative Edo de Waart was next on the Minnesota podium, followed by the peppy and flashy Eiji Oue; neither conductor was to make a mark with the orchestra or the city.

The photograph depicts the orchestra onstage at Northrop Auditorium, home of the Minneapolis Symphony/Minnesota Orchestra from 1929 until purpose-built Orchestra Hall opened in 1974.

Northrop Auditorium is currently closed while undergoing a multi-year renovation.

Orchestra Hall will close at the end of the current Minnesota Orchestra season for its own $90 million renovation.