Cleveland Orchestra Cuts Its 2018 Arsht Center Concerts in Half

The Cleveland Orchestra is cutting its Arsht Center concerts in half, now only playing two programs in the 2018 season.

No explanation has been given as to the shortened program; however, rumors have been surfacing that the Cleveland Orchestra may shut its Arsht residency due to the expense and a decline in Miami financial support. The orchestra announced a $2.4 million budget deficit last December, and has also lost the support of big financial donors.

Concerts will take place in January and February led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst featuring symphonies by Beethoven and Mahler. Two-concert packages start at $70 and will become available on Monday, April 17.

In the first concert Franz Welser-Möst conducts Mahler's Ninth Symphony, the composer's breathtaking, last completed symphony that is considered to be a meditation on the beauty of life. The second concert, an all-Beethoven program, explores the composer's iconic Symphony No. 5, his joyful Symphony No. 8 and the tragic and dramatic Overture to Coriolan.

Cleveland Orchestra Miami was launched in January 2007 during the inaugural season of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Cleveland Orchestra Miami serves Miami-Dade with an array of musical presentations including a series of subscription concerts, education programs, and community engagement activities - touching the lives of more than 20,000 children, students, and adults each year. Under the leadership of a Miami-based not-for-profit board of directors, Cleveland Orchestra Miami is supported through the generosity of music-lovers from across South Florida who believe in the power of great orchestral music for adults and young people alike. Each season of Cleveland Orchestra Miami concerts is presented in partnership with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Founded in 1918, The Cleveland Orchestra is acknowledged among the world's handful of best orchestras, with The New York Times declaring it the "best in America" in 2015. Under its current music director, Franz Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra continues to set standards of performing excellence and imaginative programming that serve as models for audiences and performers alike. In concerts and education programs in Cleveland, on tour, and in Miami, the ensemble is forging the path forward for symphonic music in the 21st century - attracting young audiences, building new partnerships with the communities it serves, and continuing its long tradition of excellence and musical inspiration.