Minnesota Orchestra to be Featured at Halftime

Yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings officially announced their halftime show partner for the home opener in the brand new Vikings stadium. And they turned to one of their own: the Minnesota Orchestra, lead by conductor Osmo Vänskä. As a classical musician myself I couldn't be more excited about this choice.  It's a bold move for the Vikings to choose a world-class orchestra of the type and caliber of the Minnesota Orchestra and is a unique way to bring in a local cultural organization to help celebrate the grand opening of the new stadium.

Here is what the Vikings had to say about the partnership:

The Vikings encourage fans to stay in their seats during an extended halftime ceremony unlike any other in Vikings history. The team has partnered with the Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, as well as event producer and stage director Michael Shann, whose producing experience includes the Closing Ceremony for the XXII Winter Olympic Games and the Opening/Closing for the 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am Games. The eight-minute performance, which will feature acclaimed conductor Osmo Vänskä leading the orchestra, celebrates Vikings fans, Minnesota history and Minnesota’s beloved icon Prince. It will include a light and video show featuring 15,000 square feet of projection-mapping on the stadium’s turf.

It is sure to be an emotional experience, and I hope that NBC will show parts of it, or make the entire half-time show available on their streaming service for those of us not able to be in attendance live.  This is just more evidence that the Home opener this Sunday night should be a grand spectacle befitting of a great Vikings team.