Cleveland Orchestra Announces Summers@Severance Concerts

Following the success of last year's inaugural offering, The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a second year of Summers@Severance concerts on Friday nights at Severance Hall in July and August 2015. The series of orchestra concerts, sponsored by Thompson Hine LLP takes place July 10, and August 7 and 21. A special bonus concert, of a one-night-only performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis takes place on Friday, August 28 at Severance Hall.

The Summers@Severance series was created to expand The Cleveland Orchestra's summertime offerings and showcase the ensemble as an integral part of its home neighborhood all year round. The series presents concerts of popular classical works, with an early start time surrounded by friendly and convenient pre- and post-concert opportunities to socialize with friends or family in the outdoor beauty of University Circle.

"We launched Summers@Severance last year with great success," said Gary Hanson, executive director of The Cleveland Orchestra. "Each performance attracted an enthusiastic audience who stayed late for the party on the Front Terrace at Severance Hall. Summers@Severance has created a new social hotspot in University Circle."

"We are delighted to extend our support of The Cleveland Orchestra's ongoing work in building new audiences and providing opportunities for younger audiences to connect with the Orchestra," said Deborah Read, managing partner of Cleveland-based law firm Thompson Hine LLP, the corporate sponsor for the Summers@Severance series. "The Orchestra's significant success in developing new programming has great appeal, and we are pleased to be supporting the Orchestra's efforts."

Series tickets (all three concerts as a package) for the Summers@Severance series are now on sale through the Ticket Office or online at clevelandorchestra.com. Series subscribers have the first opportunity to purchase tickets for the special Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra presentation. Individual tickets go on sale beginning May 12, 2015.

This year's Summers@Severance begins July 10 when Music Director Franz Welser-Möst leads the Orchestra in a program of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with soloist Igor Levit. Strauss's tone poem, Symphonia domestica, which represents the lyrical and humorous experiences of the composer's daily family life, and a spiritual work by Messiaen complete the program.

The August 7 concert features Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. led by a conductor who personally knew Shostakovich and conducted the Paris premiere of the work in 1948, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. "We are extraordinarily pleased to welcome Mr. Skrowaczewski to Cleveland for this concert," says Mark Williams, director of artistic planning for The Cleveland Orchestra. "As many people know, he was scheduled to conduct this great symphony last summer at Blossom, but was forced to cancel due to illness. We feel very fortunate to have been able to re-schedule him for this work with which he has a special history, and are looking forward to celebrating his return to Cleveland more than a half-century after he made his American debut with us. This is a not-to-be-missed performance."

On August 21 principal cellist Mark Kosower performs as soloist in Haydn's Cello Concerto with early music specialist and conductor Nicholas McGegan on a program which features Handel's Suite No 2 from Water Music and also includes Schubert's Symphony No. 5.

Joining this year's Summers@Severance line-up is a special one-night-only presentation at Severance Hall on Friday, August 28, featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - which is comprised of jazz music's leading soloists - performing contemporary and masterworks of the jazz repertoire. The next evening, on Saturday, August 29, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis join together with The Cleveland Orchestra to make their Blossom Music Festival debut in a program including Marsalis's Symphony No. 3 ("Swing Symphony".)

The Summers@Severance programs on Friday evenings this summer in July and August present popular orchestral programming at a friendly time in the acclaimed acoustics of Severance Hall. The series celebrates and adds to the diversity of summer cultural offerings in the University Circle area, while augmenting the Orchestra's ongoing offerings each summer at Blossom Music Center.

The Front Terrace of Severance Hall will be open before and after each concert, with beverage service and seating areas. Special "happy hour" drink prices will be offered in the hour prior to each concert, with attendees encouraged to arrive early and enjoy the outdoors.

Details of the Summers@Severance series follow.

TICKET INFORMATION
Series tickets (all three concerts as a package) for the Summers@Severance series, start at just $60 and are now on sale through the Ticket Office or online at clevelandorchestra.com. Series subscribers have the first opportunity to purchase tickets for the special Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra presentation. Individual tickets go on sale beginning May 12, 2015 and start at just $25. For more information about purchasing tickets, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit clevelandorchestra.com.

The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located on street level inside the Smith Lobby. The Ticket Office entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are on the west side of the building, along East Boulevard. Severance Hall Ticket Office hours areMonday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and, from September through May, Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.(closed Sundays and holidays except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office is open three hours prior to a performance).

Concert listing details follow on the next page.

2015 Summers@Severance Concerts

The Cleveland Orchestra's Summers@Severance series is sponsored by Thompson Hine LLP.

Summers@Severance:
FRANZ, BEETHOVEN & STRAUSS

Friday, JULY 10, 2015 at 7 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Igor Levit, piano

MESSIAEN Hymne

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
STRAUSS Symphonia domestica

Composed under the influence.

Beethoven wrote his piano concertos under the influence of Mozart, Messiaen was influenced by his belief in God, and Strauss wrote his Symphonia Domestica under the influence of his wife, Pauline. Strauss's tone poem is a partly lyrical, partly humorous portrait of the composer's stormy and steamy domestic life.

Summers@Severance:
SHOSTAKOVICH'S FIFTH

Friday, AUGUST 7, 2015 at 7 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor

Program includes:

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 is a powerful work - written in struggle against the Soviet

In which he faced arrest, torture and even death - a work which at once saved his life and bore testimony to the despair and terror that reigned over the nation.

This performance is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear this masterpiece conducted by one of Shostakovich's greatest living interpreters who knew the composer personally.

Summers@Severance:

HANDEL'S WATER MUSIC

Friday, AUGUST 21, 2015 at 7 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Mark Kosower, cello

HANDEL Suite No. 2 from Water Music

HAYDN Cello Concerto in C major

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5

Music fit for a King (and you too).

In 1717, King George was not doing well in the polls, and his political advisors suggested that he do something big - like a summer party on the Thames - to get the people behind him. Handel, the most popular composer in London, was commissioned to write music for a giant public concert.

The star of the night was his Water Music, however, and it has been beloved by nobility and common folk alike ever since.

Special One-Night-Only Presentation at Severance Hall

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS*

Friday, AUGUST 28, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Hailed as "The finest big band in the world today," by the Daily Telegraph (UK), the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is comprised of jazz music's leading soloists, and is under the leadership of nine-time Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Wynton Marsalis - arguably the most famous jazz trumpeter alive.

This extraordinary ensemble draws on an extensive repertoire that includes original compositions by Mr. Marsalis, Ted Nash, and other members of the orchestra, as well as the masterworks of Ellington, Mingus, Coltrane, and other jazz greats.

*The Cleveland Orchestra does not appear on this program.

All programs, artists and prices are subject to change

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