2024/2025 SEASON
JACK, JOSEPH AND MORTON MANDEL CONCERT HALL AT SEVERANCE MUSIC CENTER
PAGE 3
Introduction
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THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM
Bruckner’s Seventh
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Time’s Cruel Hand
Three Sonnets in Music for Countertenor and Orchestra (page 8)
by Silvia Colasanti Tim Mead, countertenor
Symphony No. 7 in E major (1883 version, ed. Leopold Nowak) (page 14)
by Anton Bruckner
Conductor & Artist Biographies (page 23)
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TCO SPOTLIGHT
Feature articles & musician interviews
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IN THE NEWS
Noteworthy happenings at The Cleveland Orchestra
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SNAPSHOTS
Photo highlights from recent Cleveland Orchestra events
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THANK YOU
The community of supporters who bring the music to life
“TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE .” This saying, popularized in the crime drama True Detective and stemming from a concept posed by Friedrich Nietzsche, conveys our conception of time as a recurring, unending, and even callous cycle, one with little compassion for the finiteness of the human experience. The idea gained particular relevance during the pandemic, when days felt like months and months felt like years. (We all remember this as we started baking sourdough in March 2020, right?)
When it comes to music, perhaps no composer has such an exceptional relationship with time than Anton Bruckner. Many of Bruckner’s symphonies take dozens, if not hundreds, of measures to fully present and develop their ideas, stretching the symphonic form to its absolute breaking point before everything suddenly falls into place in a glorious revelation. Little wonder, then, that his symphonies are often referred to as “cathedrals in sound,” much like those worship spaces that Bruckner would have experienced in his Austrian homeland (above and see also page 16).
Tonight’s program, led by guest conductor Fabio Luisi, features one of these “cathedrals in sound”— Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. Composed in the 1880s, the work takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through a towering musical edifice, including a heart-wrenching Adagio written in memory of Bruckner’s idol, Richard Wagner. Also notable is the symphony’s sparse use of percussion, which includes just a single cymbal crash in the second movement — a jarring, yet powerful moment. In addition, the program features a new work by acclaimed Italian composer Silvia Colasanti. Setting three sonnets by Shakespeare, Time’s Cruel Hand takes on a more poetic exploration of humanity’s relationship to time, using a variety of orchestral effects and the ethereal voice of a countertenor (performed here by Tim Mead) to create a haunting — even time-stopping — musical landscape.
So, how should we as listeners approach a program like this? Perhaps the simplest way is to just let the music wash over you, letting the passage of time fade into the background “Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore,” as Shakespeare wrote. — Kevin McBrien Kevin McBrien is The Cleveland Orchestra’s publications manager.
THE MUSIC
Bruckner’s Seventh
Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 8 PM
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Silvia Colasanti (b. 1975)
Time’s Cruel Hand 20 minutes
Three Sonnets in Music for Countertenor and Orchestra
I. Time Will Come
II. Devouring Time
III. Time’s Cruel Hand
Tim Mead, countertenor US Premiere
Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E major
(1883 version, ed. Leopold Nowak)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam (Very solemn and very slow)
III. Scherzo: Sehr schnell (Very fast) — Trio: Etwas langsamer (Slightly slower)
IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell (Animated, but not fast)
Total approximate running time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Thank you for silencing your electronic devices.
This concert is sponsored by Northern Trust.
Fabio Luisi’s performance is generously provided by Anthony and Diane Wynshaw-Boris
Concert Preview with James O’Leary Reinberger Chamber Hall one hour prior to performance
Time’s Cruel Hand
Three Sonnets in Music for Countertenor and Orchestra
by Silvia Colasanti
BORN : March 8, 1975, in Rome
▶ COMPOSED: 2022
▶ WORLD PREMIERE : February 24, 2023, with countertenor Alex Potter and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano led by Jaume Santonja
▶ This weekend’s concerts mark the US premiere and first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Silvia Colasanti’s Time’s Cruel Hand.
▶ ORCHESTRATION : 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, percussion (cymbals, tam-tam, bass drum, tom-toms), and strings, plus solo countertenor
▶ DURATION : about 20 minutes
See page 12 for the sung texts.
“HERE WILL WE SIT , and let the sounds of music / Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night / Become the touches of sweet harmony.” So said the aspiring suitor Lorenzo to Jessica, daughter of Shylock, in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, going on to assert that a person unmoved by music is someone not to be trusted. And by extension, the playwright and poet shows and tells us readers, with musical descriptions and allusions throughout his celebrated oeuvre of dramas, comedies, histories, and sonnets.
Just as music was an integral theme to Shakespeare, his elevated language, memorable characters, and powerful
tales have proved persuasive to composers from his time to our own. Such disparate creators as Purcell, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Bernstein, and Thomas Adès have brought the playwright’s words and themes to lyrical life, both in functional theater music and with imaginative flights for the concert hall, dance stage, and opera house.
With Time’s Cruel Hand, Silvia Colasanti joins their ranks. Born in Rome in 1975, Colasanti studied at the Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia and continued her training with modern masters Wolfgang Rihm and Pascal Dusapin. Now one of Italy’s foremost
Many of Silvia Colasanti’s works are heavily inspired by literature, setting music to a stunning array of texts from Kafka to Shakespeare to Anna Akhmatova. contemporary composers, she has developed a potently dramatic style in her purely instrumental works. That quality extends to her vocal works, which now include an operatic setting of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis,
a Faust opera incorporating text by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, and a 2017 liturgical work, Requiem Stringeranno nei pugni una cometa. In September, Teatro alla Scala will mount the world premiere of Anna A., inspired by the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova — the first opera the storied company has commissioned from a woman composer.
In Colasanti’s own words, Time’s Cruel Hand “tells the inexorable passage of Time through the words of William Shakespeare, the voice of a countertenor, and the sounds of an orchestra.” Completed in 2022, the work had its premiere on a 2023 program by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, which also included two further Shakespearean inspirations: Richard Strauss’s tone poem Macbeth and music from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet.
Colasanti selected three of Shakespeare’s sonnets — poems 14 lines in length, set in iambic pentameter — to set in her work. The first movement, titled “Time Will Come,” adopts Sonnet 64 —
Colasanti sets Sonnet 60, “Time’s Cruel Hand” — “Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore” — in which the poet accepts the inevitability of time’s passage and the journey from birth to death. Yet once more, Shakespeare asserts the power of art to preserve his beloved in ideal form, through his words: “And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand / Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.”
Colasanti could be viewed as embracing a similar perspective. If the riotous orchestral agitations, anxious semitone trills, and turbulent percussion of her brilliant score for Time’s Cruel Hand aptly evoke the chaotic mutability,
If the riotous orchestral agitations, anxious semitone trills, and turbulent percussion of [Colasanti’s] brilliant score for Time’s Cruel Hand aptly evoke the chaotic mutability ... of time, the penetrating clarity of a countertenor’s voice over hushed strings conclusively asserts the power of music to preserve and extol a beauty subject neither to age nor decay.
“When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defac’d”— a meditation on the relentless progress of time and the change and decay inevitably exacted by time’s passing. The second movement, “Devouring Time,” is an aggressive, anxious setting of Sonnet 19 —“Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws.” In its lines, the poet invites time to wreak its havoc and destruction on all things, mindful that at least in his verses (and thus memories) his beloved will remain forever young and beautiful.
Finally, in the third movement,
implacable power, and foregone triumph of time, the penetrating clarity of a countertenor’s voice over hushed strings conclusively asserts the power of music to preserve and extol a beauty subject neither to age nor decay.
“It will be the voice that continues to sing incessantly, and the mournful and lyrical strings,” she writes, “to tell the immortal power of Music.” — Steve Smith
Steve Smith is a writer and editor based in New York City. He has written about music for The New York Times and The New Yorker, and served as an editor for the Boston Globe, Time Out New York, and NPR.
Composer’s Note
tells the inexorable passage of Time through the words of William Shakespeare, the voice of a countertenor, and the sounds of an orchestra.
In these three sonnets, alongside the images of a nature devastated and corroded by Time, a march of time that scratches beauty, Shakespeare inserts those of a nature that tears out fangs, blunts claws.
Symbolically, it brings me back to an idea of Time that belongs to me: it presents itself with its strong scratch, with the sense of continuous loss, a demon — Kronos — who devours everything he finds, whose destructive power does not, however, exclude another strength: that of softening the bumps, perhaps through a painful journey, an elaboration of memories, together with the awareness that that destructive Time will not be able to scratch the beauty. Love and art thus become a barrier erected as a defense and memory: “My love in my verses will live young forever.”
And if the destructive Time lives in the rhythmic violence and shocks of the entire orchestra, underlined by the strength of the percussion, it will be the voice that continues to sing incessantly, and the mournful and lyrical strings, to tell the immortal power of Music.
— Silvia Colasanti
Time’s Cruel Hand
by Silvia Colasanti
Text by William Shakespeare
I. TIME WILL COME
Text from Sonnet 64
When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defac’d The rich proud cost of outworn buried age; When sometime lofty towers I see down-ras’d And brass eternal slave to mortal rage; When I have seen the hungry ocean gain Advantage on the kingdom of the shore, And the firm soil win of the wat’ry main, Increasing store with loss and loss with store; When I have seen such interchange of state, Or state itself confounded to decay; Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate, That Time will come and take my love away. This thought is as a death, which cannot choose But weep to have that which it fears to lose.
II. DEVOURING TIME
Text from Sonnet 19
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood; Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws, And burn the long-liv’d phoenix in her blood; Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets, And do what e’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time, To the wide world and all her fading sweets; But I forbid thee one most heinous crime: O! Carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow, Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen; Him in thy course untainted do allow For beauty’s pattern to succeeding men. Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young.
III. TIME’S CRUEL HAND
Text from Sonnet 60
Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end; Each changing place with that which goes before, In sequent toil all forwards do contend. Nativity, once in the main of light, Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d, Crooked eclipses ’gainst his glory fight, And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow, Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth, And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand, Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
Symphony No. 7 in E major (1883 version, ed. Leopold Nowak)
by Anton Bruckner
BORN : September 4, 1824, in Ansfelden, Upper Austria
DIED : October 11, 1896, in Vienna
▶ COMPOSED: 1881 – 83
▶ WORLD PREMIERE : December 30, 1884, with Arthur Nikisch conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE : March 10, 1938, with Music Director Artur Rodziński
▶ ORCHESTRATION : 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 4 Wagner tubas, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals, triangle), and strings
▶ DURATION : about 65 minutes
WHO WAS ANTON BRUCKNER ? This question is probably harder to answer than similar questions about Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, or Mahler. Most 19th-century composers left personal documents in which they disclosed something about themselves and the way they viewed their art. Bruckner, on the other hand, was never particularly good with words. His surviving letters, with a few rare exceptions, reveal very little about his inner world. There are many anecdotes about Bruckner’s life, his country upbringing, his devoutness, his odd Upper Austrian dialect, his difficulties in adjusting to life in Vienna, and his tragic lack of success with the numerous young girls with whom he fell in love.
All this has led many people to see Bruckner as an artist hopelessly out of sync with his environment, who removed himself from the world in order to spend his life stubbornly building (and rebuilding) his symphonies, those large “cathedrals of sound.”
However, in an era obsessed with innovation versus traditionalism (which is what the respective champions of Wagner and Brahms were endlessly debating), Bruckner created a unique synthesis between the two. He was considered part of the Wagner “camp,”
It took a while for Anton Bruckner to find success in the European music scene. It wasn’t until the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in 1884 that he began to receive his due from musicians and listeners.
and there was probably no one in his generation who felt Wagner’s music more deeply and responded to it with more originality than he. Yet if he stood with one foot in the world of Wagnerian Zukunftsmusik (music of the future), his other foot was planted firmly in the Austrian Catholic tradition into which he was born. He was marked for life by the monumental monastery of St. Florian, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture whose origins go back far into the Middle Ages, where he spent years as an organist and church composer. In addition, Bruckner had acquired some of his earliest musical experiences as a fiddle player at village weddings, gaining an intimate knowledge of Austrian folk
music — a knowledge we can hear in several of the scherzo movements of his symphonies.
Bruckner began work on his Seventh Symphony on September 23, 1881, exactly 20 days after completing his Sixth. At 57, he had just enjoyed his first truly important success earlier that year when, in February, Hans Richter gave a highly acclaimed performance of the Fourth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic. (The Philharmonic had earlier rejected the Second and Third symphonies.) Bruckner temporarily set
The magnificent interior of Austria’s St. Florian Monastery (see also page 3) — where Bruckner was a choirboy and organist — likely served as inspiration for the composer’s expansive musical language.
the first movement aside to compose the Scherzo, which he must have considered an easier task. Having completing the first draft of the Scherzo in July 1882, he traveled to Bayreuth to attend the premiere of Wagner’s Parsifal. Upon his return to Vienna, Bruckner took up the first movement again. It is hardly a coincidence, then, that in its finished form, the opening movement is full of Wagnerian quotations — some veiled, some more overt.
The first movement rests on three mighty pillars — three distinct thematic groups. The first is a soaring cello melody against some quintessentially Brucknerian tremolos in the violins. The second is a singing theme marked ruhig (calm), introduced by the woodwinds with accompanying horns and trumpets. Finally, the third, appearing after the first of many powerful crescendo surges, is a predominantly rhythmic idea, presented by strings and woodwinds. These three different characters start to interact in a development section that doesn’t really “develop” in the Classical sense at all. Instead, the music becomes slower and more fragmented before it suddenly erupts in a molto animato section. The ascending motive of the opening is here
turned upside down and blasted forth by the entire orchestra. The recapitulation ends with a fortissimo climax followed by a sehr feierlich (very solemn) coda. It is only here that the timpani is heard for the first time in the symphony. The tremolo of the timpani lasts a full 52 measures, increasing, decreasing, and rising again in volume as the rest of the orchestra brings the movement to its stunning conclusion.
On one of the rare occasions he revealed something of his feelings in verbal form, Bruckner told his former student, the conductor Felix Mottl, about the impulse that led to the composition of the sublime Adagio of the Seventh Symphony: “One day I came home and felt very sad. The thought had crossed my mind that before long the Master [Wagner] would die, and then the C-sharp minor theme of the Adagio came to me.”
One day I came home and felt very sad. The thought had crossed my mind that before long the Master [Wagner] would die, and then the C-sharp minor theme of the Adagio came to me.
— Anton Bruckner
For this solemn theme, Bruckner used a quartet of Wagner tubas, the special instruments Wagner had devised for his Ring cycle. (It also marked the first time another composer had employed these tubas.) The deeply sensual second theme, which is in a major key, follows another mighty orchestral surge culminating
in a fortissimo passage for the entire orchestra. Yet the high point of the entire movement comes when a crescendo, more astonishing than anything that has gone before, brings us to the full radiance of C major. This moment of arrival is marked by the work’s only cymbal crash, appearing exactly at the midpoint in the hour-long symphony.
According to Bruckner expert and editor of the symphonies, Leopold
This moment of arrival [in the second movement] is marked by the work’s only cymbal crash, appearing exactly at the midpoint in the hour-long symphony.
Nowak, the composer had progressed this far when he received news of Wagner’s death on February 13, 1883. During the “unwinding” that follows the C-major climax, a horn motive filled with extreme pain (marked triple forte) expresses Bruckner’s sadness more clearly than words ever could.
As with the Fifth and Sixth symphonies, the Scherzo of the Seventh is in a minor key, which immediately undermines the humorous character one habitually expects of scherzos. There is a fundamental ambiguity between playfulness and a certain menacing quality that comes to the fore in some harsh dissonances and the predominance of the brass. A mysterious timpani solo serves as a link between the various
sections of the Scherzo proper as well as the slower, more genial Trio. The latter — which finally brings major-key relief — begins with a singing violin melody over a long-held pedal note in the bass. Fleeting memories of the Scherzo’s trumpet motive ruffle the smooth surface of the music, as some intensely Wagnerian modulations complicate the initially simple and folklike melody. The A-minor Scherzo is then repeated in its entirety.
Finding the appropriate ending was always one of the most difficult problems Bruckner had to face in his symphonies. Finales were expected to resolve all the tensions that had accumulated over the first three movements and to bring about the climax of the entire work. Bruckner’s solution in the Seventh perplexed even some of his most enthusiastic supporters. Both the composer Hugo Wolf and the conductor Hermann Levi found certain parts of the Finale “incomprehensible,” though both eventually came around to appreciate its unique beauty.
The Finale is unusual for reasons other than its short length — around 13 minutes compared to the first movement’s 22. Its structure is something called Bogenform (arch form) in German, which means that in the recapitulation, the three thematic groups return in reverse order: A–B–C becomes C–B–A. The characters of Bruckner’s three thematic groups are as follows: “A” is resolute but understated, “B” is a religious chorale with Tristan-like
chromatic harmonies, while “C” is a variant of “A,” where the voice becomes powerful and triumphant as the Wagner tubas are heard again. In addition, by reversing “A” and “C” in the recapitulation, Bruckner allows the more subdued form of the theme to have the last word, and even though the theme gains a lot of power, especially in the coda, the tempo remains emphatically Bewegt, doch nicht schnell (Animated, but not fast). This is hardly a perfect apotheosis, but Bruckner clearly did not want one here.
The coda of the Finale brings back the opening motive of the first movement in its original form, in addition to its transformations, which are present simultaneously. As with the end of the first movement, the timpani enters after a long silence, with an extended tremolo over which unfolds the concluding measures of the symphony.
Bruckner finished his Seventh in the first days of September 1883. Conductor
Arthur Nikisch played it through on two pianos with Bruckner’s student Josef Schalk and immediately decided to perform it with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. This performance was followed by numerous others in cities across Europe as well as the United States, where it was introduced only a year and a half after the world premiere. The Seventh became, without a doubt, the greatest success of Bruckner’s life. The composer submitted it to King Ludwig of Bavaria, who had been Wagner’s benefactor, and the King accepted the dedication. Vienna finally gave Bruckner his due as well. In 1886, he received a high decoration from the Imperial Court and was, in September of that year, received by Emperor Franz Joseph I. When the monarch asked the composer if he had any wishes, Bruckner replied: “Your Majesty, will you graciously forbid [music critic Eduard] Hanslick to write so badly about me?”
— Peter Laki
Peter Laki is a musicologist and frequent lecturer on classical music. He is a visiting associate professor of music at Bard College.
In September 2024, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst led The Cleveland Orchestra in an outdoor performance of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony in Ansfelden, Austria, mere steps away from where the composer was born.
ON VIEW AT SEVERANCE MUSIC CENTER
Standing the Test of Time: Composer-Conductors in Cleveland GREEN ROOM
The Cleveland Orchestra has been inviting composer-conductors to Severance for decades — Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók (right), and Igor Stravinsky among them. However, when they first came to Cleveland to present their own music, they ventured into “new and uncharted” territory and were met with some resistance from audiences and critics alike. Explore these famous figures and their early appearances with the Orchestra in this special exhibit.
Reflecting on Boulez
THE MAGICBOX
outside the Grand Foyer
Explore a new exhibit celebrating the 100th birthday of composer-conductor Pierre Boulez, who shared a remarkable 45-year artistic partnership with The Cleveland Orchestra.
Behind the Scenes of Severance Music Center
LERNER GALLERY
Take a photographic journey into the inner workings of Severance Music Center, including where musicians gather before concerts, where tour equipment is stored, and where the air for the organ comes from.
Fabio Luisi
Grammy Award–winner Fabio Luisi launched his tenure as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) at the start of the 2020–21 season. A maestro of major international standing, the Italian conductor is also principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. He previously served as principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and general music director of the Zurich Opera.
Luisi’s previous season with the Dallas Symphony featured monumental works by Mahler, Brahms, and Liszt, world premieres by Jessie Montgomery, Xi Wang, and Anna Clyne, and concluded with the first two operas in Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. The DSO and Luisi continue the cycle in the 2024–25 season, marking the first time in recent history an American orchestra has mounted the full Ring cycle.
Other highlights of recent seasons include Luisi’s debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, concerts with the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, and his return to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, followed by a tour in Japan and Korea.
Luisi’s extensive discography includes rare operas by Verdi and Salieri, the symphonic repertoire of Honegger, Respighi, and Schmidt, and an awardwinning account of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Staatskapelle Dresden. The conductor received his first Grammy
Award in March 2013 for Deutsche Grammophon’s DVD release of the last two operas of Wagner’s Ring cycle with the Metropolitan Opera.
Born in Genoa, Luisi began piano studies at age 4 and received his diploma from the Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini. He later studied conducting with Milan Horvat at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Named both Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana and Commendatore della Stella d’Italia, in 2014 he was awarded the Grifo d’Oro, the highest honor given by the city of Genoa, for his contributions to the city’s cultural legacy. Off the podium, Luisi is an accomplished composer whose Saint Bonaventure Mass received its world premiere at St. Bonaventure University, followed by its New York City premiere in the MetLiveArts series. Luisi is also a passionate maker of perfumes, which he produces in a one-person operation at FL Parfums.
Tim Mead Countertenor
TIM MEAD IS RECOGNIZED as one of the finest countertenors performing today. Highlights of the 2024 – 25 season include his debut with Pinchgut Opera in the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Mozart’s Mitridate at the Teatro Real, and Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival. On the concert platform, Mead performs a recital at Wigmore Hall, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and Silvia Colasanti’s Time’s Cruel Hand with The Cleveland Orchestra. He also continues his long-standing relationships with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, the Academy of Ancient Music, Dresden Philharmonic, and Les Grandes Voix.
Mead is lauded for his interpretations of the great Handel countertenor roles, including recent appearances with the Dutch National Opera, Garsington Opera, Bach Collegium Japan, and the English Concert. Other recent stage highlights include Endimione in Cavalli’s La Calisto at the Teatro Real, Apollo in Britten’s Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House, Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bergen National Opera, the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at Opera Vlaanderen, and Boy/Angel in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at the Bolshoi.
Recent concert highlights include Handel’s Messiah with the New York
Philharmonic and Handel and Haydn Society, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, a European recital tour with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée, appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall, a tour of Asia with Harry Bicket and the English Concert, and the world premiere of Theo Loevendie’s The Rise of Spinoza at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Mead released his debut solo album Sacroprofano (Alpha Classics, 2023) to great critical acclaim, adding to an already substantial discography with other releases, including Beauteous Softness with La Nuova Musica (Pentatone, 2023) and Purcell: Songs and Dances with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (Alpha, 2018).
Mead studied music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before continuing his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.
NOW FIRMLY IN ITS SECOND CENTURY , The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.
Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.
The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella.live and its own recording label. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.
The 2024 – 25 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 23rd year as Music Director, a period in which The Cleveland
Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of celebrated opera presentations.
Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director
KELVIN SMITH FAMILY CHAIR
FIRST VIOLINS
Liyuan Xie
FIRST ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Virginia M. Lindseth, PhD, Chair
Jung-Min Amy Lee
ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Gretchen D. and Ward Smith Chair
Stephen Tavani
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Dr. Ronald H. Krasney Chair
Wei-Fang Gu
Drs. Paul M. and Renate H. Duchesneau Chair
Kim Gomez
Elizabeth and Leslie
Kondorossy Chair
Chul-In Park
Harriet T. and David L. Simon Chair
Miho Hashizume
Theodore Rautenberg Chair
Jeanne Preucil Rose
Larry J.B. and Barbara S.
Robinson Chair
Alicia Koelz
Oswald and Phyllis Lerner
Gilroy Chair
Yu Yuan
Patty and John Collinson Chair
Isabel Trautwein
Trevor and Jennie Jones Chair
Katherine Bormann
Analise Handke
Gladys B. Goetz Chair
Zhan Shu
Youngji Kim
Paul and Lucille Jones Chair
Genevieve Smelser
SECOND VIOLINS
Stephen Rose*
Alfred M. and Clara T. Rankin Chair
Jason Yu2
James and Donna Reid Chair
Eli Matthews1
Patricia M. Kozerefski and Richard J. Bogomolny Chair
Sonja Braaten Molloy
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
Elayna Duitman
Ioana Missits
Jeffrey Zehngut^
Sae Shiragami
Kathleen Collins
Beth Woodside
Emma Shook
Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown and Dr. Glenn R. Brown Chair
Yun-Ting Lee
Jiah Chung Chapdelaine
Gawon Kim
VIOLAS
Wesley Collins*
Chaillé H. and Richard B.
Tullis Chair
Stanley Konopka2
Mark Jackobs
Jean Wall Bennett Chair
Lisa Boyko
Richard and Nancy Sneed Chair
Richard Waugh
Lembi Veskimets
The Morgan Sisters Chair
Eliesha Nelson^
Anthony and Diane Wynshaw-Boris Chair
Joanna Patterson Zakany
William Bender
Thomas Lauria and Christopher Lauria Chair
Gareth Zehngut^
CELLOS
Mark Kosower*
Louis D. Beaumont Chair
Richard Weiss1
The GAR Foundation Chair
Charles Bernard2
Helen Weil Ross Chair
Bryan Dumm
Muriel and Noah Butkin Chair
Tanya Ell
Thomas J. and Judith Fay
Gruber Chair
Ralph Curry
Brian Thornton
William P. Blair III Chair
David Alan Harrell
Martha Baldwin
Dane Johansen
Paul Kushious
BASSES
Maximilian Dimoff*
Clarence T. Reinberger Chair
Derek Zadinsky2
Charles Paul1
Mary E. and F. Joseph Callahan Chair
Mark Atherton
Thomas Sperl
Henry Peyrebrune
Charles Barr Memorial Chair
Charles Carleton
Scott Dixon
HARP
Trina Struble*
Alice Chalifoux Chair
FLUTES
Joshua Smith*
Elizabeth M. and William C.
Treuhaft Chair
Saeran St. Christopher
Jessica Sindell2^
Austin B. and Ellen W. Chinn Chair
Mary Kay Fink
PICCOLO
Mary Kay Fink
Anne M. and M. Roger Clapp Chair
OBOES
Frank Rosenwein*
Edith S. Taplin Chair
Corbin Stair
Sharon and Yoash Wiener Chair
Jeffrey Rathbun2
Everett D. and Eugenia S. McCurdy Chair
Robert Walters
ENGLISH HORN
Robert Walters
Samuel C. and Bernette K.
Jaffe Chair
CLARINETS
Afendi Yusuf*
Robert Marcellus Chair
Robert Woolfrey
Victoire G. and Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Chair
Daniel McKelway2
Robert R. and Vilma L. Kohn Chair
Amy Zoloto
E-FLAT CLARINET
Daniel McKelway
Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan Chair
BASS CLARINET
Amy Zoloto
Myrna and James Spira Chair
BASSOONS
John Clouser*
Louise Harkness Ingalls Chair
Gareth Thomas
Jonathan Sherwin
CONTRABASSOON
Jonathan Sherwin
HORNS
Nathaniel Silberschlag*
George Szell Memorial Chair
Michael Mayhew§
Knight Foundation Chair
Jesse McCormick
Robert B. Benyo Chair
Hans Clebsch
Richard King
Meghan Guegold Hege^
TRUMPETS
Michael Sachs*
Robert and Eunice Podis Weiskopf Chair
Jack Sutte
Lyle Steelman2^
James P. and Dolores D. Storer Chair
Michael Miller
CORNETS
Michael Sachs*
Mary Elizabeth and G. Robert Klein Chair
Michael Miller
TROMBONES
Brian Wendel*
Gilbert W. and Louise I. Humphrey Chair
Richard Stout
Alexander and Marianna C. McAfee Chair
Shachar Israel2
BASS TROMBONE
Luke Sieve
EUPHONIUM & BASS TRUMPET
Richard Stout
TUBA
Yasuhito Sugiyama*
Nathalie C. Spence and Nathalie S. Boswell Chair
TIMPANI vacant
PERCUSSION
Marc Damoulakis*
Margaret Allen Ireland Chair
Thomas Sherwood
Tanner Tanyeri
KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
Marjory and Marc L. Swartzbaugh Chair
LIBRARIANS
Michael Ferraguto*
Joe and Marlene Toot Chair
Donald Miller
Gabrielle Petek
ENDOWED CHAIRS CURRENTLY UNOCCUPIED
Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair
Blossom-Lee Chair
Clara G. and George P. Bickford Chair
Sandra L. Haslinger Chair
Charles M. and Janet G. Kimball Chair
Sunshine Chair
Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair
Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Smucker Chair
Rudolf Serkin Chair
CONDUCTORS
Christoph von Dohnányi
MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE
Daniel Reith
ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR
Sidney and Doris Dworkin Chair
Lisa Wong
DIRECTOR OF CHORUSES
Frances P. and Chester C. Bolton Chair
* Principal
§ Associate Principal
1 First Assistant Principal
2 Assistant Principal
^ Alum of The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
This roster lists full-time members of The Cleveland Orchestra. The number and seating of musicians onstage varies depending on the piece being performed. Seating within the string sections rotates on a periodic basis.
WINTER
FEB 20 & 22
ADÈS CONDUCTS ADÈS
Thomas Adès, conductor
Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
SIBELIUS The Oceanides
IVES Orchestral Set No. 2
SAARIAHO Oltra Mar
THOMAS ADÈS America: A Prophecy
RECITAL
FEB 23
ÓLAFSSON & WANG IN RECITAL
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Yuja Wang, piano
Works by Berio, Schubert, Cage, Nancarrow, John Adams, Arvo Pärt, and Rachmaninoff
FEB 27–MAR 1
BEETHOVEN’S EROICA
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
MAR 6–9
TCHAIKOVSKY’S
FOURTH SYMPHONY
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G major TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4
MAR 13 & 15
HAYDN & STRAUSS
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Asmik Grigorian, soprano
HAYDN Symphony No. 52
R. STRAUSS Four Last Songs
JANÁČEK Suite from From the House of the Dead
PUCCINI Final Scene from Suor Angelica
MAR 14
HAYDN & STRAVINSKY
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
HAYDN Symphony No. 52
STRAVINSKY Pétrouchka
MAR 22 & 23
YUJA WANG PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
SPRING
RECITAL
MAR 27
ANDSNES IN RECITAL
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Works by Grieg, Tveitt, and Chopin
RECITAL
APR 8
IN THE FIDDLER’S HOUSE
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Hankus Netsky, music director, arranger, saxophone, piano
Andy Statman, clarinet, mandolin
Michael Alpert, vocals, violin
Lorin Sklamberg, vocals, accordion
Judy Bressler, vocals, percussion
Frank London, trumpet
Klezmer Conservatory Band
APR 17–19
BACH’S EASTER ORATORIO
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Adèle Charvet, mezzo-soprano
Andrew Haji, tenor
Gordon Bintner, bass-baritone
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
J.S. BACH Easter Oratorio
J.S. BACH Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29
J.S. BACH Magnificat
APR 24–26
MOZART & ELGAR
Kazuki Yamada, conductor
Francesco Piemontesi, piano
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25
ELGAR Symphony No. 1
RECITAL
MAY 7
KISSIN IN RECITAL
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Works by Beethoven, Chopin, and Shostakovich
MAY 8–10
MOZART’S SYMPHONY NO. 40
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
MOZART Symphony No. 40
ALLISON LOGGINS-HULL
Grit. Grace. Glory.
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 4 *
MAY 17, 22 & 25
JANÁČEK’S JENŮFA
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Latonia Moore, soprano
Pavol Breslik, tenor
Miles Mykkanen, tenor
Nina Stemme, soprano
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
JANÁČEK Jenůfa
Opera presentation sung in Czech with projected supertitles
MAY 23 & 24
VOX HUMANA
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Sarah Aristidou, soprano
Tony Sias, narrator
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
POULENC La voix humaine
J.S. BACH Concerto from Komm, Jesu, komm
USTVOLSKAYA Symphony No. 5, “Amen”
J.S. BACH Aria from Komm, Jesu, komm
R. STRAUSS Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten
* Not
Generous support for the 2024–25
Recital Series provided by the Reyzis Family Foundation
MAY 15–26
Join us for the third annual Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival, which delves into how Reconciliation shapes relationships, societies, and cultures — highlighting its challenges, triumphs, and enduring relevance in a fractured world.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
MAY 16
The Moth Mainstage: Live from Severance
Five masterful tellers share true, personal stories on the theme of reconciliation — stories of mending, healing, and finding common ground.
MAY 17
United in Song!
A Community Celebration
An afternoon of joyous vocal performances at Severance Music Center representing the rich diversity of the Greater Cleveland choral community.
MAIN EVENT
MAY 17, 22 & 25
Janáček’s Jenůfa
A harrowing tale of forbidden love, desperation, and reconciliation, Jenůfa is a strikingly original opera with an intense drama at its core.
MAY 18
Opera Curious?
The World of Jenůfa
Experience the opera like an insider through the world of Jenůfa, with a thoughtfully curated discussion and musical interlude designed to enlighten and inspire.
MAY 19
The Women of Chicago’s Black Renaissance
Pianist Michelle Cann brings the legacy of Chicago’s Black Renaissance to life in this compelling recital, celebrating the music and stories of pioneering women composers.
MAY 23 & 24
Vox Humana
The full range of human emotion is on display with Poulenc’s La voix humaine, alongside works by J.S. Bach, Ustvolskaya and R. Strauss
A SCULPTOR OF SOUND: Celebrating Pierre Boulez’s 100th Birthday
PIERRE BOULEZ WAS A LUMINARY OF 20TH-CENTURY MUSIC , inspiring generations of musicians and listeners as a composer, conductor, and pedagogue. He also spent a great deal of time with The Cleveland Orchestra, first as a guest conductor in the 1960s, then as musical advisor starting in 1970. The artistic relationship remained strong, with Boulez returning nearly annually to Cleveland to lead concerts and recording projects. With 2025 marking the 100th anniversary of Boulez’s birth, we take a brief look at his five-decade relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra.
Boulez was born on March 26, 1925, in Montbrison, France. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1942 to study composition with Olivier Messiaen. After graduating, Boulez quickly identified with a group of young firebrand composers who believed that music ought to capture the anxiety of the moment and was not afraid to criticize the old guard of modernists when they fell short of that mark. He also found opportunities to spread his influence as a conductor as well as a composer. Boulez’s debut in Cleveland in 1965 was not his first time to appear in the United States, but it was his first time leading a major American orchestra.
Over dinner in 1963, then-Music Director George Szell invited the rising European star to guest conduct The Cleveland Orchestra, an offer which Boulez graciously accepted. That first program the composer-conductor led at Severance featured a collection of modernist works, including one of his own compositions — the US premiere of Figures — Doubles — Prismes
The performance was a great success and Szell invited him back in 1967. That same season, Boulez entered a five-year guest conducting agreement with the Orchestra, and in February 1969, he was appointed its first-ever principal guest conductor. The press release quotes Szell: “I feel sure that our community of artistic purpose and our mutually complementing musical backgrounds will greatly benefit The Cleveland Orchestra and its audiences.”
Pierre Boulez fostered a remarkable five-decade relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra, which encompassed concerts at home, tours abroad, and numerous recording projects (five of which received Grammy Awards).
On July 30, 1970, Boulez was conducting a concert at Blossom Music Center when word of Szell’s untimely passing reached the Orchestra. Assistant Conductor Louis Lane delivered the news to Boulez at intermission, who promised to tell the musicians only after the concert. Soon after, Boulez agreed to serve as musical advisor to The Cleveland Orchestra for the following two seasons, ushering the organization through the upheaval in the wake of Szell’s loss.
pieces. He led the Orchestra at Severance, Blossom Music Center, and on regional runouts, in addition to joining the Orchestra on international tours to Montreal and Japan.
Boulez took time off from guest conducting in 1977 to found the Institute de Recherche et de Coordination Acoutstique/Musique (IRCAM). But beginning in 1991, Boulez returned to Cleveland once or twice a season to lead projects and went on tour with the
I believe that Pierre Boulez has left his fingerprint on this Orchestra in a very strong way. ... He has widened the horizon of all the players individually but also as a collective.
— Franz Welser-Möst
It was during his stint as musical advisor that Boulez led a series of “Informal Evenings”— concerts of new music interspersed with lectures from the conductor. The musicians dressed in casual suits and the lights stayed up while Boulez walked the audience through seemingly inaccessible modernist pieces by Messiaen, Varèse, and others. Robert Finn of The Plain Dealer captured the crux of these experimental concerts: “While it did not sell many tickets, there is no question that it was an artistic triumph.”
In his years with an official appointment in Cleveland (1967 – 72), Boulez led the Orchestra in over 100 works spanning three centuries, including the Cleveland premieres of more than 30
Orchestra in 1993 (Carnegie Hall), 1996 (Paris), and 1999 (Carnegie). Boulez remained active internationally into the early 2000s, when health concerns began to slow his musical activities.
Before Boulez’s passing in 2016, The Cleveland Orchestra held three major birthday celebrations for him — for his 80th in 2005, his 85th in 2010, and his 90th in 2015 — the first two of which he himself conducted. As a happy coincidence, these celebrations also corresponded with the 40th, 45th, and 50th anniversaries of Boulez’s first appearance with the Orchestra in March 1965. Each of these programs featured quintessentially Boulez selections celebrating 20th-century music, including his own compositions.
To this day, Boulez holds the record for having the longest working relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra. Since his first appearance in 1965, Boulez led the Orchestra in over 220 performances at home and on tour, and recorded more than 50 works with the Orchestra, winning five Grammy Awards. The Musical Arts Association honored him with the 2013 – 14 Distinguished Service Award.
In a video produced for Boulez’s 90th birthday celebration in 2015, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst reflected on the lasting impact the conductor has had on the reputation and identity of The Cleveland Orchestra:
I believe that Pierre Boulez has left his fingerprint on this Orchestra in a very strong way. He has conducted this orchestra [for] over 40 years with his very calm style of teaching the Orchestra the most complex scores. He has widened the horizon of all the players individually but also as a collective. … The Cleveland Orchestra in our day is known actually for playing the music from the last 70 years with an ease which is unmatched in our world, and I think that is very much thanks to him.
Music Director George Szell (right) first invited Boulez to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in 1963. His debut appearance in 1965 would ultimately lead the Frenchman to be named the Orchestra’s musical advisor after Szell’s death in 1970.
The Orchestra and its members had an equal impact on Boulez, which one can see in the collection of hand-written thank-you notes preserved in the Orchestra’s Archives. An undated photograph from the 1970s reads: “To the members of the Cleveland Orchestra with my deepest gratitude for the wonderful partnership we always had.” More recently, the letter sent after his 85th birthday celebration reads:
Since 45 years — yes, forty five! — I have the privilege to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra. To all of its members I want to express my sincere gratitude for the wonderful memories I spent working with them, great moments of joy and of accomplishment. Such a rewarding experience has been and still is an extremely precious part of my musical life. My warmest thanks to all of you and to each of you.
— Ellen
Sauer Tanyeri
Ellen Sauer Tanyeri is the 2024 – 25 Cleveland Orchestra Archives research fellow and is working towards a PhD in musicology at Case Western Reserve University.
Visit clevelandorchestra.com/archives to read an extended version of this essay featuring audio and video clips.
BY
February 2010 marked Boulez’s final appearance in Cleveland, where he led the Orchestra and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in Ravel’s two piano concertos. These performances were recorded and subsequently released by Deutsche Grammophon.
PHOTO
ROGER MASTROIANNI
A Conversation with Mark Kosower
Principal Cello
LOUIS D. BEAUMONT CHAIR
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA’S 2024–25 SEASON has featured not one, but two musicians stepping out from its ranks and into the solo spotlight. In the fall, Principal Percussionist Marc Damoulakis took on Tan Dun’s mesmerizing Water Concerto. On February 7 – 9, Principal Cellist Mark Kosower tackles an equally impressive concerto: Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain… (A whole distant world…) for cello and orchestra. We sat down with Kosower to find out more about this fascinating piece, his role as a principal string player, and his fleeting impressions of Pierre Boulez.
Talk a bit about the Dutilleux work. Have you performed it before? What made you choose it?
MARK: It’s funny because the guest conductor for those concerts, Thomas Guggeis, actually requested it! I’ve never played it, but it just so happened to be one of those works I’ve always wanted to learn and perform.
It’s definitely different than your standard Romantic-era concerto. One of the most striking things is the role of the soloist. You’re sort of this voice of the cosmos instead of the “hero” that overcomes a struggle. The language is “atonal,” but it often doesn’t sound that way. The orchestration and colors are very much an outgrowth of the French tradition: Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen, and Boulez. It’s absolutely captivating.
The first time I heard it, I thought, “Wow, I want to hear that again!” It just draws you in.
Plus, it fits nicely in that program with Ravel’s La valse and Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, which famously has the 2001: A Space Odyssey connection.
MARK: Absolutely! The perfect type of program for early February.
What is your preparation like for a work you’ve heard a lot but have never performed before?
MARK: It’s a very complex work, so it requires a lot of score study. I’ve also been listening to different recordings to gain some points of reference. And in addition to working on it by myself,
I’m practicing with a pianist because, harmonically, it’s very sophisticated. A piece like this needs a lot of playing to make it feel “normal.” I try to work on things from many different angles; it gives you a fuller, complete kind of approach. But I’m so fortunate to get to sit in front of this amazing orchestra and play this piece.
A piece like [Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain...] needs a lot of playing to make it feel ‘normal.’ I try to work on things from many different angles; it gives you a fuller, complete kind of approach.
For those who may not know, what does your role typically look like as a principal string player?
MARK: There are several things. As principal cello, you’re the leader of the bassline in most musical compositions. You need to have a strong understanding of how the harmony works and develops in each piece. There are melodic places where the cello section is leading, but there are also places where you provide support. So, it’s all about interpreting your role in the music and setting the tone for the group.
Also, before the first rehearsal, I coordinate bowings with the other string sections. We do bowings before anything starts so they align with the other
sections and our own musical style. Some educated guessing is often required — since we don’t always know what the conductor’s interpretation will be — so we might tweak some things later during rehearsal to make it work better.
You mentioned Boulez earlier. Since 2025 marks the centennial of his birth, do you have a favorite memory or impression of working with him when he conducted the Orchestra?
MARK: Sadly, the first time I got to play for him in 2012, he conducted half a rehearsal and then had to pull out due to health concerns. So, I didn’t really experience him, but he was such a gentleman and still stuck around to observe the rehearsals. This was the last we saw of him; he passed away a few years after that.
He was one of the greatest musical minds and had one of the greatest sets of ears. He could pick out anything, anywhere. One touching thing was in the Mahler 10 video recording he made with the Orchestra the year before I arrived in Cleveland: It was his birthday, and Franz [Welser–Möst] came on stage with a cake. And you can see in Franz’s eyes the admiration he had for that man. Boulez loved the Orchestra, and it seems like the Orchestra really loved him too.
It certainly does. One last question: Outside of your Dutilleux performance, what other concerts are you excited about in the remainder of the season?
MARK: I’m really looking forward to working with Elim Chan again [January 16–18]. And the piece she’s bringing — Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra — is outstanding. I first played it with Franz in 2012 and was so taken with it. It’s an amazing piece in the same vein as Bartók’s own Concerto for Orchestra. Outside of that, I always enjoy
returning to Carnegie Hall [March 18 & 19]. Other than Severance, it’s one of my absolute favorite halls in the world. And I’m also excited for Janáček’s Jenůfa [May 17, 22 & 25]. When we did The Cunning Little Vixen several years back, it was so memorable. That composer has such a specific, individual voice, and I can’t wait to return to his music.
New Events Announced for 2025 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival
THE JACK, JOSEPH AND MORTON MANDEL Opera & Humanities Festival has quickly become an anticipated yearly highlight in The Cleveland Orchestra’s season. Its third iteration — which takes place at Severance Music Center from May 16 to 25 — is no exception, centered around three concert performances of Janáček’s riveting opera Jenůfa, led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst (May 17, 22 & 25). This year’s festival explores the theme of Reconciliation, highlighting its challenges, triumphs, and enduring relevance in a fractured world.
The award-winning Moth Mainstage comes to Severance on May 16 to kick off the festival. In this two-act evening, five masterful tellers share true, personal stories on the theme of reconciliation. Honest and compelling, each story invites listeners into an intimate world of transformation and humanity, with brief musical interludes in between.
Acclaimed pianist Michelle Cann brings the legacy of Chicago’s Black Renaissance to life on May 19 in a recital that celebrates the music and stories of pioneering Black women composers.
The Moth
comes to Severance on May 16 for an evening of inspiring and intimate storytelling, interspersed with musical interludes.
With her signature artistry, Cann weaves spoken commentary and storytelling into the evening, offering insight into the fascinating lives of Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King, Nora Holt, and Irene Britton Smith. Curious about opera? On May 18, you’ll have an opportunity to step behind the curtain and experience the art form through the world of Jenůfa, with a curated discussion and performance designed to enlighten and inspire. This special event features members of the Jenůfa cast and is open to the public as part of The Cleveland Orchestra’s newly launched Opera Club.
Plus, on May 17, the audience-favorite United in Song! returns for its third year, highlighting the rich diversity of the Greater Cleveland choral community.
“Jenůfa is a rare gem of the operatic repertoire — emotionally raw, morally complex, and musically gripping,” said Welser-Möst. “Its profound exploration of sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption makes it a uniquely compelling artistic journey that I look forward to sharing with our musicians, cast, chorus, and audiences in Cleveland this spring.”
More festival events will be announced in February. Visit clevelandorchestra.com/festival for details and ticketing information.
Mainstage
2025 MLK Service in the Arts Award Winners
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA is proud to announce the three recipients of the 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Service in the Arts Awards: Richard K. Levitz, Dr. David Thomas, and Splice-Cream Truck. This is the 21st year for the awards, which recognize individuals and organizations whose work has had a positive impact on music and the arts in the Cleveland community, reflecting the spirit, example, and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
An accomplished architect, planner, and urban designer, Richard K. Levitz has served on the Orchestra’s Community Engagement Committee for decades, passionately advocating for the inclusion
of Hispanics/Latinos in the Cleveland Orchestra family. Levit has been responsible for establishing community concerts by Orchestra members, including the Hispanic Heritage Month concerts at Severance.
Dr. David Thomas is a celebrated performer, composer, arranger, and teacher, who serves as music director at Karamu House. His numerous compositions have been published by GIA Publications, Inc. and he co-authored A Child’s First Book of Spirituals, which received the Coretta Scott King Award.
Creator of the Splice-Cream Truck — an ice-cream-truck-meets-recordingstudio — Benjamin Smith is a composer, vintage electronics tinkerer, and aural/ visual artist. He uses and creates sometimes forgotten analog and acoustic musical devices to bring a hands-on approach to connecting with people through art and sound.
PHOTO
Blossom Spotlights Favorite Movies & Star Singer This Summer
IT ISN’T TOO EARLY to start anticipating warm summer nights at Blossom Music Center. Alongside a hearty lineup of classical and pops concerts, music lovers can look forward to three particularly special events at the 2025 Blossom Music Festival.
On July 5 and 6, The Cleveland Orchestra performs John Williams’s magical score to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone accompanied by the film on the big screens. Follow Harry and his friends Ron and Hermoine as they begin their studies at Hogwarts, encountering all sorts of adventures and dangers along the way. Later, the 1994 animated classic The Lion King (right) — which
celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024 — comes to Blossom on August 29, 30, and 31, featuring Hans Zimmer’s Oscarwinning score and beloved songs by Elton John and Tim Rice.
But that’s not all! On July 27, Cynthia Erivo (left) — Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award–winning actress, singer, producer, and recent star of the smash-hit film adaptation of Wicked — joins the Orchestra for a program of legendary voices. Erivo will perform hits from some of the greatest vocalists of all time, along with her own original songs.
Don’t miss out on these extraordinary performances!
Visit clevelandorchestra.com/blossom for tickets and the full Blossom Music Festival season lineup.
Blossom Music Festival Movie Nights are presented by NOPEC
TCO Releases New Digital Recording
A NEW SPATIAL AUDIO RECORDING of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, led by Music Director Franz WelserMöst, is the latest addition to The Cleveland Orchestra’s growing catalog. Initially available as an Apple Music Classical exclusive, it is now available to stream and purchase on all major streaming platforms.
Recorded live at Severance Music Center in May 2024, Symphonie fantastique is an unforgettable orchestral showpiece, taking listeners through tender love scenes, a thrilling march to the scaffold, and concluding with an opium-induced nightmare.
This was The Cleveland Orchestra’s fourth digital release of 2024, a year that also marked the centennial of its firstever recording. Other recent recordings highlight the music of Bartók, Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony, and Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony.
Visit clevelandorchestra.com/recordings for more information on the Orchestra’s latest releases.
Two New Trustees Join TCO Board
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA is pleased to welcome two distinguished individuals, Arthur C. Hall III (left) and Tony White (right), to its Board of Trustees.
Hall is the firm administrative partner and partner-in-charge of the Cleveland office of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP. In 2021 and 2022, he was named in Cleveland Magazine’s “500” list and also
serves on the boards of Great Lakes Theater, Business Volunteers Unlimited, and Cleveland Leadership Center.
White is the managing partner and chief executive officer at Thompson Hine. He also sits on the board for Greater Cleveland Partnership, and is a former board member for United Way of Central Ohio, The Ohio State University Hospital, and the Big Ten Conference Advisory Commission.
Elected to three-year terms as members of the Class of 2027, both bring a wealth of expertise and visionary leadership to further strengthen the Orchestra’s mission and board.
PNC Foundation Grant Helps Children “Grow Up Great” Through Music
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA is proud to announce an extension of the PNC Grow Up Great program through a PNC Foundation grant that will support our Music Explorers initiative for the 2024–25 season. Now in its 20th year, PNC’s $500 million, bilingual, signature philanthropic initiative is designed to help prepare children from birth through age 5 for success in school and life.
Through the PNC Foundation grant, Music Explorers supports early childhood learning through engaging 30-minute concerts that introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra, with the goal of sparking creativity and a love for learning and music. The series also incorporates essential school readiness skills and helps set foundational building blocks that connect children in our community with the music The Cleveland Orchestra creates.
“PNC Grow Up Great is built on the
knowledge that high-quality education is a powerful means for social and economic mobility,” said Pat Pastore, PNC regional president for Cleveland. “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to bring together two amazing organizations that are focused on early childhood education and exposing children to arts and culture.”
Thanks to PNC’s support, these concerts are provided at no cost to schools, and tickets for adults are kept at an affordable price, allowing guardians to bring their children through The Cleveland Orchestra’s Under 18s Free program.
In addition to supporting Music Explorers, PNC has helped establish additional collaborations, including PNC Fairfax Connection and the PBS Kids national resource database, further expanding access to The Cleveland Orchestra’s educational resources.
Support from the PNC Foundation enables us to reach future musicians and music lovers, helping them form vital memories and strong first impressions with live music. We are thankful to have PNC’s support in making these important moments happen for the young people in our community!
There’s still time to bring your little ones to a Music Explorers concert! Mark your calendar for Cheerful Cello with Cleveland Orchestra cellist Alan Harrell on March 7 and 8, and Totally Tuba with tubist Kenneth Heinlein on April 4 and 5. Visit: clevelandorchestra.com/attend/ concerts-for-families
END-OF-YEAR CONCERTS
As temperatures outside dropped, Severance Music Center stayed toasty with a flurry of orchestra concerts, recitals, movies, and more. Here are some highlights from the end of the calendar year:
4 1
1) In late October, hundreds of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from around Cleveland learned about American music as the Orchestra performed a time-spanning program of music by a wide variety of American composers.
2) The sounds of water splashing, dripping, and bubbling filled Severance as Principal Percussionist Marc Damoulakis presented Tan Dun’s mesmerizing Water Concerto, conducted by the composer himself.
3) Associate Conductor Daniel Reith led the Orchestra through a cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos, featuring five acclaimed pianists: Sir Stephen Hough, Yunchan Lim (pictured), Garrick Ohlsson, Minsoo Sohn, and Orion Weiss (who performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto alongside violinist Augustin Hadelich and cellist Julia Hagen).
HOLIDAYS AT SEVERANCE
4) Santa cracks a joke with guest conductor Sarah Hicks at one of The Cleveland Orchestra’s annual Holiday Concerts, a beloved community favorite.
5) Venera Foti and Mark Plush enjoy the festivities at the annual Winter Spree, an evening of music, merriment, and good cheer for the Orchestra’s family of supporters.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PHOTOS BY SCOTT ESTERLY, ROGER MASTROIANNI, YEVHEN GULENKO, YEVHEN GULENKO, ROGER MASTROIANNI
THANK YOU
Severance Society
The John L. Severance Society is named to honor the philanthropist and business leader who dedicated his life and fortune to creating The Cleveland Orchestra’s home concert hall, which today symbolizes unrivaled quality and enduring community pride.
The donors recognized here represent today’s visionary leaders, who have each surpassed $1 million in cumulative gifts to The Cleveland Orchestra. Their generosity and support joins a long tradition of community-wide support, helping to ensure our mission to provide extraordinary musical experiences — today and for future generations.
Gay Cull Addicott*
Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
BakerHostetler
Bank of America
The William Bingham Foundation
Mr. William P. Blair III*
Blossom Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra
Mr. Richard J. Bogomolny & Ms. Patricia M. Kozerefski
Jeanette Grasselli Brown & Glenn R. Brown*
Mary E. & F. Joseph Callahan
Foundation
Mary Freer Cannon*
The Cleveland Foundation
The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation
Robert & Jean* Conrad
Mr. & Mrs. Alexander M. Cutler
Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
Mrs. Rebecca F. Dunn
Eaton
FirstEnergy Foundation
Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra
GAR Foundation
The Gerhard Foundation, Inc.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Geoffrey & Sarah* Gund
The George Gund Foundation
The Haslam 3 Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. James A. Haslam III
The Estate of Leonard & Joan Horvitz
Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Horvitz
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.
NACCO Industries, Inc.
The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation
Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland
Jones Day Foundation
The Junior Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra
Myra Tuteur Kahn Memorial Fund of the Cleveland Foundation
The Walter and Jean Kalberer Foundation
Joseph and Nancy Keithley Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Keithley
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas A. Kern
KeyBank
Dr. & Mrs. Herbert Kloiber
The Estate of Giles & Malvina Klopman
Kulas Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis W. LaBarre
Nancy Lerner & Randy Lerner
Mrs. Norma Lerner and The Lerner Foundation
Daniel R. Lewis
Jan R. Lewis
Virginia M. & Jon A. Lindseth
The Lubrizol Corporation
Maltz Family Foundation
The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation
Elizabeth Ring Mather and William Gwinn Mather Fund
Alexander & Marianna C. McAfee*
Elizabeth F. McBride*
Nancy W. McCann
William C. McCoy*
The Sisler McFawn Foundation
Medical Mutual
The Miami Foundation, from a fund established by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The MJH Foundation
Ms. Beth E. Mooney
John C. Morley*
John P. Murphy Foundation
David and Inez Myers Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
The Eric & Jane Nord Family Fund
Mrs. Jane B. Nord
Ohio Department of Development
State of Ohio
Ohio Arts Council
The Honorable John Doyle Ong
Parker Hannifin Foundation
The Payne Fund
The Dr. M. Lee Pearce Foundation, Inc.
PNC
Julia & Larry Pollock
Mr. & Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin, Jr.
Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin, Sr.
Mr. & Mrs. Albert B. Ratner
Charles & Ilana Horowitz Ratner
The James and Donna Reid Foundation
James* & Donna Reid
The Reinberger Foundation
Barbara S. Robinson*
The Ralph and Luci Schey Foundation
The Seven Five Fund
Mrs. Gretchen D. Smith
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation
Richard & Emily Smucker Family Foundation
The J. M. Smucker Co.
Mr. & Mrs.* Richard K. Smucker
Jenny & Tim Smucker
Richard & Nancy Sneed
Myrna & James Spira
Lois & Tom Stauffer*
Thompson Hine LLP
Timken Foundation of Canton
Joe & Marlene Toot
Ms. Ginger Warner
Robert C. Weppler
Anonymous (7)
The Cleveland Orchestra Endowment
For over a century, The Cleveland Orchestra has sought to inspire and unite people through the extraordinary power of music. The Cleveland Orchestra’s Endowment provides vital funds each season and is a long-term investment in the institution’s future.
We share our deepest gratitude to the following supporters who have established and contributed to a named fund in the Endowment. Their leadership support creates a legacy of music that will be shared for generations.
General Operating endowed funds provide foundational support for artistic initiatives, education and community programs, recordings, and more.
Gay Cull Addicott & Robert R. Cull
Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
Randall & Virginia Barbato
John P. Bergren & Sarah S. Evans
William P. Blair III
Cynthia R. Boardman & Jane R. Horvitz
Clarence E. Klaus
Elizabeth Ring Mather & William Gwinn Mather
Margaret Fulton-Mueller
Virginia M. & Jon A. Lindseth
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation
Nancy McCann
MJH Foundation
Harlan & Elizabeth Peterjohn
Leighton A. Rosenthal Family
Naomi G. & Edwin Z. Singer
Artistic endowed funds support a variety of programmatic initiatives ranging from guest artists and radio broadcasts to the all-volunteer Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and the commissioning of new works.
Artistic Excellence
George Gund III
Artistic Collaboration
Dr. Feite F. Hofman
Joseph P. & Nancy F. Keithley
Artistic Initiatives
Barbara Robinson
Young Composers
Daniel R. Lewis
Friday Morning Concerts
Mary E. and F. Joseph Callahan Foundation
Radio Broadcasts
Robert & Jean Conrad
Dr. Frederick S. & Priscilla Cross
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
Jerome & Shirley Grover
Meacham Hitchcock & Family
American Conductors Fund
Douglas Peace Handyside
Holsey Gates Handyside
Severance Guest Conductors
Roger & Anne Clapp
James & Donna Reid
Concert Previews
Dorothy Humel Hovorka
Guest Artists
Kulas Foundation
The Payne Fund
Julia & Larry Pollock Family
James S. Reid Jr.
Timothy J. & Jennifer C. Smucker
International Touring
Frances Elizabeth Wilkinson
Center for Future Audiences supports programs to develop new generations of audiences.
Center for Future Audiences
Marguerite B. Humphrey
Maltz Family Foundation
Saul & Linda Ludwig
Student Audiences
Alexander & Sarah Cutler
Severance Music Center endowed funds support maintenance of keyboard instruments and the facilities of the Orchestra’s concert home in Cleveland.
Keyboard Maintenance
Mary Freer Cannon
William R. Dew
The Frederick W. and Janet P. Dorn Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Manuel
Vincent K. & Edith H. Smith
Memorial Trust
Organ
D. Robert & Kathleen L. Barber
Arlene & Arthur Holden
Kulas Foundation
Descendants of D.Z. Norton
Oglebay Norton Foundation
Severance Music Center
Preservation
Severance family and friends
Blossom Music Center and Blossom Festival endowed funds support the Orchestra’s summer performances and maintenance of Blossom Music Center.
Blossom Festival Guest Artists
Dr. & Mrs. Murray M. Bett
The Hershey Foundation
The Payne Fund
Mr. & Mrs. William C. Zekan
Blossom Festival Family Concerts
David E. & Jane J. Griffiths
Landscaping and Maintenance
The William Bingham Foundation
Emily Blossom family members and friends
The GAR Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Education and Community endowed funds support programs that deepen connections to symphonic music at every age and stage of life, including music instruction, performances, and classroom resources for thousands of students and adults each year.
Education Programs
Hope & Stanley I. Adelstein
Kathleen L. Barber
Isabelle & Ronald Brown
Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown & Dr. Glenn R. Brown
The Brown and Kunze Foundation
Frank & Margaret Hyncik
Junior Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra
Mr. & Mrs. David T. Morgenthaler
John & Sally Morley
Jane B. Nord & the Eric and Jane Nord Family Fund
The William N. Skirball Endowment
Family Concerts
Stanley & Barbara Meisel and the Meisel and Pesses Foundation
In-School Performances
Alfred M. Lerner
Classroom Resources
Charles & Marguerite C. Galanie
Education Concerts
Courtney & Marguerite Rankin
Burton
Malcolm E. Kenney
Jane B. Nord & the Eric and Jane Nord Family Fund
The Max Ratner Education Fund, given by the Ratner, Miller, and Shafran families and by Forest City Enterprises, Inc.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
William E. Dean Jr. & Gloria P. Dean
Geoffrey & Sarah Gund
The George Gund Foundation
Christine Gitlin Miles, in honor of Jahja Ling
Jules & Ruth Vinney
Music Explorers
Pysht Fund
Community Programming
Alex & Carol Machaskee
Make Music a Part of Your Legacy
Your support for the Endowment creates a long-lasting connection to The Cleveland Orchestra. Whether you endow a chair or establish an endowed fund, your generosity is a powerful investment in classical music that will endure for years to come.
To learn more about ways to support The Cleveland Orchestra’s Endowment, contact: Katie Shames, JD, Sr. Major Gift and Planned Giving Officer
216-456-8400 | legacy@clevelandorchestra.com
Stand Partner Monthly Supporters
The Cleveland Orchestra’s Stand Partner monthly donors keep the music playing through their ongoing generosity and dedication.
Thank you, Stand Partners, for giving from the heart — and for being invaluable advocates for music in our community.
Rena Abrams
David Adams
Mr. & Mrs. Timothy L. Adams
Louis V. Adrean
Mr. Mark D. Agrast & Mr. David M. Hollis
Sharon Aitken
Cheryl Allen
Moses Allooh
Benjamin Altose
Susan Aluzri
Mary Ellen Amos
Gail Anderson
Herb & Sheila Andre de la Porte
Joseph Andrews
John Anzevino
Valerie Arbie-McClelland & Warren McClelland
Ms. Jane Archer
Michael Archiablee
Dalia N. Armonas
Catherine Armstrong
Jean Armstrong-Mathews
Helen Arnett
Lowry & Linda Arnold
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Audino
Anthony E. Bacevice
Mr. Charles Bacon
Kelsey Baer
Matthew Baker
Mr. Kenneth & Mrs. Sharen Bakke
Christine Banks-VanAllen
Mrs. Borbala Banto, CPA
Anemaria Iani & Thomas Barnard
Christy Barnes
James & Mary Barry
Wayne Bartlett
Aliza Bartunek
Dr. Benico & Mrs. Joan Barzilai
Stephanie Bass
Dr. Debbie Bates
Mike & Cynthia Bauman
Reverend Thomas & Dr. Joan Baumgardner*
Michael & Mary Anne Baumgartner
Mr. Robert C. Beiter
Lois Bell
Kathy & Andrew Bemer
Daniel Bennett
David Benson
Scott & Pamela Benson
David Bercheck
Jared Berg
Molly Berger
Thomas M. Berger
Mr. Kurt Berglund
Dr. & Mrs. Rolf S. Bergman
Ms. Cornelia Bergmann
Vincent & Sydney Bertei
Ashley Best
Brian Bialik & Rhonda Richardson
Barb Birk
Joanne Blanchard
Nicholas Blasius
Ryan Boehm
Scott Boehnen
Drs. Robert & Constance Bouchard
Conda Boyd
Ramone Boyd
Lisa & Ronald Boyko
Barbara Bradley
Mr. Gary L. Brahler
Dr. Eugene Brand
Rick Breault
Justin Brewer
Matthew P. Brewer, MD
Michael Brewer
Constance Brewster
Keith & April Brewster
Sean Brewster
Mr. Frank Brichacek & Mrs. Roseanna Lechner-Brichacek
Claudia Brobst
Mr. Richard Brockett
Kathryn Brockway
Linda L. Brown, PhD
Mrs. Carole D. Brown
Troy Brown
Erik Bruder
Gayle Brun
Ms. Leslie Buck
Ryan Buckley
Mr. & Mrs. John Budnik
Brian Bugay
Ms. Mary Ann Bugno
Christopher & Elizabeth Burdick
Brian & Cyndee Burke
James Burkholder
Alicia Burkle
Kathryn Button
Lynn & Jeffrey Callahan
Steve & Polly Canfield
Robert Carlyon
John Carter
Mr. & Mrs. William S. Carter
Theresa Cassara-Norvell
John & Pamela Caulkins
John & Linda Chae
Angel Chan
William & Jennifer Clawson
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Claytor
Ms. Sara Clem
Candy Clemson
Mr. & Mrs. George J. Clessuras
Josh & Cinda Coldwell
Abigail Coleman-Kemp
Ms. Kathleen Collins & Mr. Jonathan Fields
Mrs.Barbara F. Colombi
Mr. Carlton J. Conrad
Sheila Cooley
John & Colleen Cooney
Esther Cooper
Craig Cope
Renee Copfer
Dr. Christine M. &
Mr. Vincent A. Cortese
Ella Corvin
Joseph Cosentino
Morgan Cotopolis
Elizabeth Counsil
Bridget Courtright
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick H. Cowie
Joann Toth & Lon Cseplo
Jennifer Cullum
William Curtin
Mr. Robert & Mrs. Susan Curtis
Dr. Christine A Hudak &
Mr. Marc F. Cymes
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Dahnke
Carmen & Faye D’Amore
Mr. James Damoulakis
Ms. Barbara D’Angelo
Jennifer Darling
Holly Davies
Jill Davis
Ms. Marcia Davis
Mr. Matthew Davis
Randall De Alba
Mr. Fred & Mrs. Mary Deblasis
Charles & Marion DeBrosse
Suzanne DeBrosse
Anita Bertin Degreen
James & Kathleen Deily
Alec Deitz
Teresa Del Moral (Miami)
Joan Delahay
Richard DeLoof
Vincent DeLuca
Elaine R. DeMore
William Dempsey & Beverly Sater Dempsey
L. Susan De Pould
Roderick & Barbara Dibble
Darlene Dimitrijevs
Drs. Michael & Leslie Dingeldein
Molly Dise
Todd & Lynne Dixon
Gregory Dobbins
F. Paul & Nora C. Doerder
Mrs. Linda Dolce
Mary Kay DeGrandis & Edward Donnelly
Dr. & Mrs. Michael B. Dowell
Douglas & Amanda Droste
L. M. Dunker
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin D. Durham
Lisa Durkin
Giselle Dutcher
Clare Dyczkowski
Adrienne Dziak
Martha Eagleton
Dr. Robert E. Eckardt
Paul & Peggy Edenburn
Carter Edman
Bonnie Eggers
Amy Egle
Mr. & Mrs. Edward A. Eiskamp
Teresa Eland
Dr. Mark D. Elderbrock
Harald Ellers
Matthew Ellis
Marlene & Jon Englander
Gary English
Marilyn Eppich
Ted Espenschied
Louis* & Patricia Esposito
Sharon & Nicholas Ezzone
Robert Fabien
Joe & Stephanie Fagan
Jon & Mary Fancher
Ava & Michel Farivar
Lori Faust
Mr. Cole Fauver
John Fazio
Donald Ferfolia
Tracy Ferguson
Michael Ferraguto
Dylan Findley
Mary Kay Fink & Nicholas Underhill
Joan Firmin
Melissa & Eliana Fittante
Ms. Susan Flowers
Laura Fox
Michael Fox
Marianne Frantz
John & Barbara Freshley
Chris Frey
Julie Frey
Adam Fuller
Katherine Funkner
William Furfaro
Alexandra Fushi
Dennis Fyffe
James Gaffney
Nancy Galambush
Mike & Kay Galloway
Margaret Gambill
Mr. Stefan Ganobcik
Ms. Deborah A. Geier
Joseph & Margaret Geiger
Ms. Lesley Geldart
Frank & Louise Gerlak
Hollie Geyer-Rasnick
Jennifer Gilles
Nairn’ Gillet
Terri Gilliam
Patrick Giuffrida
Dan & Lee Glover
Pamela & Richard* Goetsch
Mrs. Heather Goldberg
Mr. Robert & Mrs. Lisa Goldberg
Mr. John Goodell
Andrew Gordon-Seifert
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas F. Gorgas
John & Ann Gosky
Angela & Jeffrey Gotthardt
Charlotte Gouveia
Dr. Ruffin Graham
Heather Grant
Tyler Grasee
Ms. Sarah Gridley
Emily Griffin
Patrick Grijak
James Grover
Dr. William K. & Mrs. Judith Guegold
Dr. & Mrs. Alan Gurd
Genevieve Gurnick
Ann Guthrie
Mary Gutierrez
Judge James & Bonnie Gwin
Adam Hackett
The Adam & Loren Hackett Family
Meg Hackett
Eleanor Hagan
Earl Hagey
Karen Hale
Alison Hall
Megan Hall & James Janning
Yoshinori & Yukiko Hamamura
Mr. Ray Hamlin, Jr.
Amy Han
Karen Hanrahan
Jill Harbaugh
Delores Hargrove
Gregory Harig
Jared Harp
Shaun Harper
Betty Harrell
Brian Harris
Albert & Jean Harsar
Melody Hart
Gerald Harvey
Mr. Robert Hawkes
Scott Healy
Drs. John & Brittany Heffernan
Craig Heitger
Mr. & Mrs. Wade F. Helms
Abby Henderhan
Candace & Jack Hendershot
Kevin & Pam Hendryx
Nathan Hensley
Rob Hermanowski
Rita Herrera
Patti Hester
James & Susan Hildebrandt
Mr.* & Mrs. Richard A. Hiles
Michael Hoffman
Susan M. Biasella-Hohs
Mary Holland
Suzanne Holt
Supensri Holzheimer
Jim Hoover
Mr. Herbert J. Hoppe Jr.
Craig Horst
Jon Horvath
Xavier-Nichols Foundation/
Robert & Karen Hostoffer
Rebecca Hoyt
Katheryn Hrabik
Phillip Huber
Bradley Hughes & Claire Sonneborn
Mr.* & Mrs. J. David Hunter
Jesse & Rachel Hurst
Todd & Joy Hutchinson
Michael Iodice
Ms. Anna Marie Irwin
Margaret Irwin
Todd & Shelley Ivary
Cori Jackson
Jasmine Lynn Jackson
Ms. Rebecca Jackson
Mr. John E. Jackson
David Jacob
Daniel Jacobs
Thomas K. & Crystal R. James
Scott James
Amy & Kerry Janke
Edward Janoch
Dr. Maita & Mr. Gary Jarkewicz
Ms. Abigail Jasper
Penny Jeffrey
Mr. Robert & Mrs. Patricia Jeffreys
Sandra Jensen
Amy & Jaren Jenyk
Dylan Jin
Dane Johansen
Sandra John
Jeffrey & Amy Johnson
Mr. Jeremy V. Johnson
Eric & Susan Johnson
Kimberly Johnson
Gennie S. Johnston
Alex Jones
John Jones
Janet Jordan
Mr. Robert & Mrs. Mary V. Kahelin
Susan Kaiser
Nozomu Kawashima
David Keep
Robert Keesecker
Ellen Keffer
Rev. John S. Keller & Mr. Donald J. Jackson
Valerie Kelly
Joyce Kennedy
Ryan Kerfoot
Dr. Kristin A. Kerling
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Kest
David Keymer
Ms. Chere Kilbane
Linda Kirkwood
Dr. Jacobo & Mrs. Joana Kirsch
Ms. Trudee Klautky
Michael & Lisa Knall
Mr. Thomas J. Kniesner & Mrs. Deborah A. Freund
Alicia Koelz & Christos Georgalis
Tim & Linda Koelz
James Koerner
Mr. & Mrs. John C. Komperda
Mr. Michael Komperda
Keisi Kotobelli
Allison Kreiner
Robert Sebulsky & Margaret H. Kreiner, Esq.
David & Jarrett Krizan
Mrs. Kristi Krueger
Megan Krutsch
Thomas* & Barbara Kuby
Bill & Sue Kuczinski
Drs. Steven & Carolyn Kuerbitz
Tracy Kuhn
Susan Kuilder
Christopher & Chelsea Kulhanek
Robert & Brenda Kunkel
Ms. Leslie Lahr
Rachel Lamb
Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Landgraf
Dr. Richard S. Lang
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Lavelle
William & Lynn Lavezzi
Dr. William Lavigna
Mr. & Mrs. Brian A. Lawler
Ms. Cynthia D. Leach
SeungHee Lee & EunGyoung Song
Joshua Harris & Yun-Ting Lee
Stephen Leiby
Don & Jane Lennon
Jasmine Lepir
Melissa Lewis
Shien Liao
Michael & Valerie Libman
Ms. Kim E. Lindsey
Mrs. Kay B. Lingafelter
Mr. Jeff Litwiller
Janice Liu
Gina Lloyd
Hannah Long
Nikki Long
Susana Lorenzo-Giguere
Robert Lovicz & Kimberly Johnson
Phillip & Louise Luschek
Judith Lyon
Ms. Pamela MacWilliams
Diana Maher
Audra Mahon
Margaret Mahoney
Iryna Maitta
Olietunja Mann
Elena Manoli
Jennifer Manthey
Dr. Kandice Marchant
Ashley Marchetta
Jeanette Marks
Gerald & Marilyn Martau
Douglas Martin
Kathleen Masis
Robert & Gail Mastrangelo
Ms. Judith E. Matsko
Dr. Lee Maxwell &
Mr. Michael M. Prunty
Marilyn Mazzei
John McBratney
Judge Alison McCarty
Mr. David L. McCombs
Mrs. Pamela J. McConnell
Linda McCorkle
Daniel McCroskey
Tim McDonnell
Dr. Scott & Sonia McDonough
Ms. Tara McElroy
Melissa McGregor
Mary Ellen McLaughlin
Terese McLeod
Ms. Luellen McMahon
Susan McMaster
Nancy McMillin
Paul & Elizabeth Meeker
Ms. Karen D. Melton
Matthew Menger
Ian Mercer
Dr. Susan M. Merzweiler
Dr. Michelle Messner
Mr. Dave Metlicka
Dr. Richard & Mrs. Judith Meyer
Mr. Gene Milford
Amy Miller & Nikhil Rao
Deborah Miller
Michael & Evelyn Miller
Sally Miller
Taylor Mills Logan
Samuel Milner
Paula Mindes & George A. Gilliam
Mr. Timothy Minnis
Ioana Missits
Michael Monter
Derek Moore
Julieanne Moore
Elizabeth Morris
Barbara Morrison
Angela Mortellaro & Michael Davies
Ms. Joanne Mortimer
Ronald & Mary Mortus
Anna Maria Motta
Ken & Sharon Mountcastle
Hannah Muzzi
John Myers
Joan Katz Napoli & August Napoli
Melissa Nautiyal
Dr. Anne & Mr. Peter Neff
Ronald Neill & Ann Harlan
Joyce & Jay Nesbit
MaryAnne Nestor
David & Karen Nevergall
Sunny Nixon
Margaret Noll
Jeffrey & Beverly Norris
Jessica Norris
Greg Nosan & Brandon Ruud
Matt & Valerie Nousak
Andres Nunez
Caitlin O’Brien
David & Mary Jo Ockenga
Kathleen O’Connor
Mr. Karl E. Odenweller
Andrew O’Donnell
Christopher O’Donnell
Ms. Mary M. Ogden
Tonia Oglesby
Dr. Cara Ogren
Vicki Ohl
Thomas Okoben
Moira ONeill
Mia O’Riordan
Mrs. Krysia Orlowski & Dr. Brian Harte
Douglas Orr & Kimberley Barton
Richard* & Elizabeth Osborne
David Ottney
Randall & Ann Over
Robert Owen
Robert & Marian Page
Allison Paine
Clayton Papenfus
Ian Park
Jacqueline Pasek
Steven Pastor
Hilary Patriok
David Pavlich & Cherie Arnold
Victoria Peacock
Jim & Barbara Pearce
Dan Pedrotty
Daniel Pendergast
Tamara & Alec Pendleton
Donald & Judith Penn
John Perko
Dr. & Mrs. Bernard Perla
Delores Perry
Charles & Sharon Pervo
Ms. Catherine Peters
Jennifer Petruzzi
Mitchell Phillips
Craig Piper
Jonathan Pittman
Jane Pollis
Greg Polyak &
Marcia Snavely Polyak
Richard Popelmayer
Carol Porter
Sangeeta Prakash
Rich Pranzarone & Karen Lincicome
William & Millie Prebel
Joshua Prest
Christopher Przybycin
Katherine Rademacher
Rika Rall
Jeannine Ramsey
Mrs. Amy Raubenolt
Mrs. Bridget Rechin
Mr. Todd J. Reese
Judy & Clifford Reeves Jr.
Caeli Regan
Greg Reichwein
Michael Resnick
Stephanie Resnick
Carmen Rey
Robert Rice
Craig Rich & Victoria Gray
Donna Richardson
Matthew Richardson
Dr. & Mrs. Bradford Richmond
Miss Melissa Richmond
Marin Ridgway
Cynthia Ries
Mr. Kevin Roach
Mr. D. Keith* & Mrs. Margaret B. Robinson
Debra Robinson
Janice & Roger Robinson
Michael & Laura Rogers
Mr. Hans J. Rohr
Dr. Bruce & Mrs. Jan Rose
Douglas H. & Kasia Gustaw Rothenberg
Cristin Roush
Deborah Rowe
Drs. Jordi & David Rowe
Jennifer Rozsa
Marlon Rucker
Roberta W. & Michael J. Rusek
Mrs. Elisa J. Russo
Mrs. Shelley Sabga
Patricia Sadataki
Thomas Safford
Mr. & Mrs. Clinton Samuel
Alexa Sandmann
Robert & Cathie Sankey
Rick Santich & Paula Smith
Erica Savage
Bryan & Jenna Scafidi
Adelaide Schaaf
Charles Schaefer
Floyd Schanbacher
Susan Schapiro
Charles & Susan Schenkelberg
Mr. Matthew Schenz
Henry Schilb
Conner Schliffka
John Schmoll
Ms. Beverly J. Schneider
Mr. Kim Schrock
Edward Schroeder
Dawn Schwartz
Rachel Hersh Schwarz
Deborah Scolaro
Barbara Scott
Paul & Sarah Scott
Tiffany Sedlacek
Dr. W. David Sedwick
June A. Seech
Roslyn Seed
Mr. Robert Sehein
Peter Selover
Caltha Seymour
Ms. Melanie Shakarian & Dr. Peter Kvidera
Ginger & Larry Shane
Ms. Marlene Sharak
Lynn Shaw
Charles & Linda Shearouse
John & Myra Shen
Maredith Sheridan & Norman Graubart
Stuart & Gina Sheridan
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Sherwood
Robert Shields
Erin Shipley
Toni Shreve
Connetta Shringarpurey
Christina Sibilla
Richard Sicha & Marcia Moll
Mrs. Susan M. Simenc
Ms. Barbara Sindyla
Annie & Andrew Singer
Timothy Singer
Robert Sisler
Michal Sittek
Jennifer Skinner
Tom & Eve Sliwinski
Molly Slota
Alex & Elizabeth Smilovich
Lauren Smit
Brad & Leslie Smith
Mr. Joshua Smith
Barb & Bill Snyder
Mr. Frank & Mrs. Nancy* Sobol
John Sobolewski
Mr. Scott Soeder & Mr. James Riggs
Patricia King Sommer
Nick Sondag
Mary Southards
Stacey Souther
Ms. Kelli Souvey
James & Patricia Spayer
Kate Spector
Lilith Spencer
Mary Spencer
Tom & Cindy Sperl
Brenda J. Spicer
Mr. Michael Sprinker
Deborah Stack
Maribeth & Christopher Stahl
Claire Stair
Barbara J. Stanford & Vincent T. Lombardo
Mr. Michael Star
Philip Star & Jane Peterson
Mr. & Mrs. Kent O. Starrett
Carol Stephens
Dr. William H. Stigelman, Jr.
Roger & Donna Stiller
Mr. & Mrs. Gary V. Stolcals
Bethany Stone & Nicholas Campagna
Elinore Marsh Stormer
Mr. James D. Storry* & Mrs. Sidney Storry
Mr. & Mrs. Michael C. Strasser
Fritz & Alison Streiff
Mr. & Mrs. Martin Striegl
Trina Struble & John Bourne
Bobbi Sundman
Christopher Switzer
David Szabo
Cameron Taylor
Dr. Harris C. Taylor
Jill & Jim Taylor
Kathryn Teng & Derek Abbott
Kevin Tennant
Sharon Tesar
Dr. Roland Thomas
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald G. Thomas
Dr. Stefanie Thomas
Dustin Thompson
Matt Thompson
Jerry Thornburg
Brian Thornton, Jennifer Woda, Maddi Woda & Maya Thornton
Andrew Tian
Dr. Jane Timmons-Mitchell & Mr. Robert Mitchell
Isabel Trautwein
Andrew Grace & Robert Troy
Peter Turkson
Susan Tyler
Kevin Ubert
Dr. Veronica Garcia & Dr. Ken Uchino
Anne Unverzagt
Dave Vacca
Kenneth Vail
Karen Valenti
Dorothy Valerian
Anthony & Connie Van Gilder
George Vanderbilt
Leah VanLear
Ann VerWiebe
David Viglione
Adele Viguera
Kathryn Vine
David S. & Rebecca Vineyard
Mr. Gary & Mrs. Sandra Vinicky
Wendy Voelker
Dr. Vincenzo G. Volpe
Erika Wagner
Tom Wagner & Melinda Smyth
David Waldron
Karen A. Waldron
Iva L. Walker
Leslie & Mark Walker
Veronika Walter
Jake Wang
Jessica Ward
Ginger & Bryan Ware
John & Deborah Warner
Kent Warner
Mr. & Mrs.* Joseph F. Wasserbauer
Tim & Jo Watson
Jeffrey Webb
Teagan Webb
Dr. Leslie T. Webster, III, MD
Martha Webster
Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Weil
Mr. & Mrs. Chris Weinkamer
Kenneth & Celine Weiss
Kathleen Weppelman
Dennis & Vicki Wert
Elizabeth Wertz
Julie West
Aaron & Vera Wester
Suzanne Westlake
Margaret Wetzler
Sarah Whalen-Cohen
Amy Wheeler
Patricia Whitson
Sharon & Michael Widenmeyer
Mary Pat Wiegand
Pete Wieneke
Martha Wiersma
David & Janet Williams
Patricia Willkomm
Mr. Ronald Willner
John & Tory Willoughby
Benjamin Winters
Nancy Wittig
Nancy L. Wolpe
Lisa Wong
Shari Wong
Mr. Philip Woodcock & Ms. Virginia Benjamin
Gayle Woodrow
Anita Woodward
Sandra Woolley
Christina Woskobojnik
Mr. David & Mrs. Mary Alice Wyatt
Ryan Xie Peijun Xu
Dr. Charles & Mrs. Jennifer Young
Ms. Libby M. Yunger
Mrs. Valerie Zahirsky
John Zanghi
Gareth Zehngut
Mr. Jeffrey A. Zehngut
Kristina Zerbe
Rick Zhang
Sandra Zieve
John & Jane Zuzek
Anonymous (19)
To learn more about monthly giving and becoming a Stand Partner, visit clevelandorchestra.com/standpartner or call us at 216-456-8400.
The Cleveland Orchestra Board of Trustees
OFFICERS
Richard K. Smucker Chair
Richard J. Kramer
Vice Chair & Treasurer
André Gremillet
President & CEO
Dennis W. LaBarre
Immediate Past Chair
Richard J. Bogomolny Chair Emeritus
Norma Lerner
Honorary Chair
David J. Hooker
Secretary
RESIDENT TRUSTEES
Victor Alexander
Robin Dunn Blossom
Yuval Brisker
Helen Rankin Butler
Irad Carmi
Matthew V. Crawford
Michael Frank, MD JD
Hiroyuki Fujita
Robert Glick
Arthur C. Hall III
Iris A. Harvie
Dee Haslam
Stephen H. Hoffman
David J. Hooker
Michelle Shan Jeschelnig
Sarah Liotta Johnston
Elizabeth B. Juliano
Nancy F. Keithley
Douglas A. Kern
John D. Koch
Richard J. Kramer
Dennis W. LaBarre
Heather Lennox
Cathy Lincoln
Robert W. Malone
Ben Mathews
Nancy W. McCann
Stephen McHale
Beth E. Mooney
Christine Myeroff
Katherine T. O’Neill
Hyun Park
Alfred M. Rankin, Jr.
Charles A. Ratner
Zoya Reyzis
Richard K. Smucker
James C. Spira
R. Thomas Stanton
Richard Stovsky
Russell A. Trusso
Daniel P. Walsh
Thomas A. Waltermire
Jeffery J. Weaver
Anya Weaving
Meredith Smith Weil
Paul E. Westlake Jr.
David A. Wolfort
Anthony Wynshaw-Boris
NATIONAL TRUSTEES
Virginia Nord Barbato (NY)
Mary Jo Eaton (FL)
Michael J. Horvitz (FL)
Thomas E Lauria (FL)
Loretta Mester (PA)
Benjamin N. Pyne (NY)
Geraldine B. Warner (OH)
Tony White (OH)
INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEES
Wolfgang C. Berndt (Austria)
Herbert Kloiber (Germany)
EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES
André Gremillet (President & CEO, The Cleveland Orchestra)
Todd Diacon
Lisa Fedorovich
Eric Kaler
Judith E. Matsko
Beverly J. Schneider
TRUSTEE EMERITI
Thomas F. McKee
HONORARY TRUSTEES FOR LIFE
Richard J. Bogomolny
Charles P. Bolton
Jeanette Grasselli Brown
Robert D. Conrad
Alexander M. Cutler
Robert W. Gillespie
Richard C. Gridley
S. Lee Kohrman
Norma Lerner
Virginia “Ginny” Lindseth
Alex Machaskee
Robert P. Madison
Milton S. Maltz
John D. Ong
Clara T. Rankin
Audrey Gilbert Ratner
Hewitt B. Shaw
Luci Schey Spring
Whatever greatness The Cleveland Orchestra has achieved is because of all the people here in this community, who believe in what the power of music can do.
— Franz Welser-Möst
YOUR VISIT
LATE SEATING
As a courtesy to the audience members and musicians in the hall, late-arriving patrons are asked to wait quietly until the first convenient break in the program. These seating breaks are at the discretion of the House Manager in consultation with the performing artists.
CELL PHONES, WATCHES & OTHER DEVICES
As a courtesy to others, please silence all electronic devices prior to the start of the concert.
PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEOGRAPHY & RECORDING
Audio recording, photography, and videography are prohibited during performances at Severance. Photographs can only be taken when the performance is not in progress.
HEARING AIDS & OTHER HEALTH-ASSISTIVE DEVICES
For the comfort of those around you, please reduce the volume on hearing aids and other devices that may produce a noise that would detract from the program. For Infrared Assistive-Listening Devices, please see the House Manager or Head Usher for more details.
IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY
Contact an usher or a member of house staff if you require medical assistance. Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the building. Ushers and house staff will provide instructions in the event of an emergency.
AGE RESTRICTIONS
Regardless of age, each person must have a ticket and be able to sit quietly in a seat throughout the performance. Classical Season sub-
FREE MOBILE APP TICKET WALLET
Download today for instant, secure, and paperless access to your concert tickets.
For more information and direct links to download, visit clevelandorchestra.com/ticketwallet or scan the code with your smartphone camera to download the app for iPhone or Android.
Available for iOS and Android on Google Play and at the Apple App Store.
Cleveland Orchestra performances are broadcast as part of regular programming on ideastream/WCLV Classical 90.3 FM, Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 4 PM.
scription concerts are not recommended for children under the age of 8. However, there are several age-appropriate series designed specifically for children and youth, including Music Explorers (for 3 to 6 years old) and Family Concerts (for ages 7 and older).
FOOD & MERCHANDISE
Beverages and snacks are available at bars throughout Severance Music Center. For Cleveland Orchestra apparel, recordings, and gift items, visit the Welcome Desk in Lerner Lobby.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE
We are so glad you joined us! Want to share about your time at Severance? Send your feedback to cx@clevelandorchestra.com Hearing directly from you about what we are doing right and where we can improve will help us create the best experience possible.
The Cleveland Orchestra is grateful to the following organizations for their ongoing generous support of The Cleveland Orchestra: the State of Ohio and Ohio Arts Council and to the residents of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
The Cleveland Orchestra is proud of its long-term partnership with Kent State University, made possible in part through generous funding from the State of Ohio.
The Cleveland Orchestra is proud to have its home, Severance Music Center, located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, with whom it has a long history of collaboration and partnership.
© 2025 The Cleveland Orchestra and the Musical Arts Association Program books for Cleveland Orchestra concerts are produced by The Cleveland Orchestra and are distributed free to attending audience members.
EDITORIAL
Kevin McBrien, Publications Manager The Cleveland Orchestra kmcbrien@clevelandorchestra.com
DESIGN
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ADVERTISING
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