The Cleveland Orchestra Announces 99th season for 2016-17

The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst have announced details of the Orchestra's 2016-17 season. The year marks the Orchestra's 99th season and the 15th season of the acclaimed partnership with its Music Director. Recent praise of the Orchestra under the artistic leadership of Franz Welser-Möst includes The New York Times calling the ensemble "...American's most brilliant orchestra," and The Wall Street Journal stating that the Orchestra is "...magnificent."

As it nears the centennial of its founding in 2018, The Cleveland Orchestra's commitment to artistic and musical excellence is demonstrated during the 2016-17 season with programs that juxtapose old and new masterpieces in meaningful context with 20th- and 21st-century masterworks. The 2016-17 season includes presentations of opera, ballet, Education and Family concerts, community engagement programs, Fridays@7, Summers@Severance, film scores performed live, and collaborations with pop and jazz singers during the Orchestra's summer season at Blossom Music Center.

"There is no greater joy for me than collaborating with the wonderful group of artists onstage," says Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. "With the confidence and support of the community we serve, the members of The Cleveland Orchestra and I are able to challenge each other to ever greater heights of excellence and achievement in our art with each passing season. With constant and focused effort, we work to maintain and enhance the excellence of this Orchestra to stay relevant in a changing society."

PROGRAMS LED BY FRANZ WELSER-MÖST

September 29 and 30: In celebration of the beginning of his 15th season with The Cleveland Orchestra, Welser-Möst opens with Ives's Symphony No. 3, Sibelius's Symphony No. 2, and Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra featuring the debut of organist Paul Jacobs performing with The Cleveland Orchestra.

October 6 -9: Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 and three of Respighi's evocative tone poems: Roman Festivals, The Fountains of Rome, and The Pines of Rome.

January 12 and 14: Frequent Cleveland Orchestra collaborator Yefim Bronfman joins Welser- Möst for the first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Jörg Widmann's Trauermarsch for piano and orchestra (the composer's first piano concerto) alongside Bruckner's Symphony No. 7.

March 9-12: Bach's St. John Passion with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and soloists Maximilian Schmitt (tenor / Evangelist), Andrew Foster-Williams (bass-baritone / Christus), Lauren Snouffer (soprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), and Nicholas Phan (tenor).

March 16 and 18: An all-Stravinsky program that includes the first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Threni, Lamentations of Jeremiah with the vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire making their Severance Hall debut. Also on the program are Fireworks, Apollon Musagète, and the Symphonies of Wind Instruments.

May 2, 4 and 6: This season's annual opera production features Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with baritone Stéphane Degout (Pelléas), soprano Martina Janková (Mélisande), bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Golaud), bass Peter Rose (Arkel), and mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby (Geneviève.)

May 11, 13, 14: Violinist Julia Fischer is featured in the first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Henze's Il Vitalino raddoppiato alongside Mendelssohn's complete Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream with actor Itay Tiran.

May 18, 20: The world premiere of a new work by Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow Anthony Cheung and Ligeti's Piano Concerto with pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, as well as two Haydn Symphonies, No. 39 and No. 96 ("The Miracle").

May 25, 26, 27: Pianist Murray Perahia performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. Also on the program is Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured Night] and Varèse's Amériques.

WORKS PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY THE ORCHESTRA

The 2016-17 season will introduce 11 works into The Cleveland Orchestra's extensive repertoire: Handel's Concerto Grosso Opus 6, No. 11, Henze's Il Vitalino raddoppiato, Herrmann's Suite from Psycho, Martin?'s Parables, Matthias Pintscher's Ex Nihilio, Purcell's Suite from King Arthur, Rameau's Suite from Les Boréades, Stravinsky's Threni, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Augusta Read Thomas's Violin Concerto No. 3 ("Juggler in Paradise"), Jörg Widmann's Trauermarsch for piano and orchestra, and Vaughan Williams's Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra.

MEMBERS OF THE ORCHESTRA PERFORM AS SOLOIST

Three Cleveland Orchestra principal players are featured as soloists this season. Concertmaster William Preucil will perform Augusta Read Thomas's Violin Concerto No. 3. Principal cellist Mark Kosower performs as soloist in Strauss's Don Quixote and principal oboist Frank Rosenwein will perform Vaughan Williams's Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra.

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA DEBUTS

Three guest artists make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts during the 2016-17 season: organist Paul Jacobs, baritone Stéphane Degout, and actor Itay Tiran. Guest conductors Alain Altinoglu and Harry Bicket, also make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts.

SEVERANCE HALL DEBUTS

In the 2016-17 season, the following guest artists and ensembles perform for the first time at Severance Hall: violinists Baiba Skride and James Ehnes, pianist Cédric Tiberghien, and the vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire.

GUEST CONDUCTORS

Seven distinguished guest conductors return to Severance Hall this season: Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Laureate Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov, Andrew Davis, James Gaffigan, Matthew Halls, Jakub Hr?ša, and Jaap van Zweden. Brett Mitchell makes his Severance Hall subscription debut as a guest conductor.

DANIEL R. LEWIS YOUNG COMPOSER FELLOW

In May 2017, the Orchestra and Welser-Möst will give the world premiere of a new work by Anthony Cheung that was commissioned as part of his Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellowship. With the 2015-16 season, Cheung began his first year as The Cleveland Orchestra's ninth Young Composer Fellow. In March and April 2016 the Orchestra will give the first Cleveland performances of Cheung's Lyra. Also during 2016 as part of his fellowship, Cheung will participate in rehearsals and educational activities serving the Northeast Ohio community.

FRIDAYS@7

Inaugurated in October 2009 with Franz Welser-Möst, Fridays@7 continue with three concerts in the 2016-17 season on October 21, January 6, and March 3 - each with a 7:00 p.m. start time, no intermission, and an after-party following each Orchestra concert.

WEST SIDE STORY

In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein, the complete version of the film West Side Story will be screened with the Orchestra playing the film score live in June.

GALA CONCERT OCTOBER 2016

The Cleveland Orchestra's Gala Concert for the 2016-17 season will feature multi-Grammy Award- winning pianist Emanuel Ax. The gala evening, which takes place on October 1, includes a pre-concert cocktail reception, gala performance, and post-concert dinner. Proceeds benefit The Cleveland Orchestra's Education and Community Programs. Additional gala details will be announced as the season approaches.

2016 HOLIDAY FESTIVAL

Announced in February, the 2016 Holiday Festival will include seven performances of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker with Pennsylvania Ballet at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. Conducted by Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell, the performances will be presented at the State Theatre November 30 through December 4. The 2016 Holiday Festival also features The Cleveland Orchestra's annual Christmas Concerts exploring the music of Christmas with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, and guest choruses as well as PNC Holiday Musical Rainbows concerts for young people and their families.

"UNDER 18s FREE"

"Under 18s Free" is a program of The Cleveland Orchestra's Center for Future Audiences. The Center, created with a lead endowment gift from the Maltz family Foundation, was established to fund programs to develop new generations of audiences for Cleveland Orchestra concerts in Northeast Ohio. "Under 18s Free" continues to develop young audiences by making attending Orchestra concerts affordable for families, offering free tickets to young people, 17 and under, for select Severance Hall concerts again this season.

CONCERT PREVIEWS AT SEVERANCE HALL

Free Concert Previews are presented beginning one hour prior to most Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Severance Hall. Designed to enrich the concert-going experience, previews feature a variety of speakers, interviews, and performance presentations. For details about topics and scheduled speakers or artists, visit clevelandorchestra.com throughout the season. The Concert Preview series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY RESIDENCY

Inaugurated in 2010, the biennial residency at Indiana University continues in January 2017 with Franz Welser-Möst and the Orchestra returning for a series of orchestral repertoire and masterclasses, as well as side-by-side rehearsals. A highlight of the residency is a January 19 performance of Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Yefim Bronfman.

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA MIAMI RESIDENCY

Later in March 2016, details of Cleveland Orchestra Miami's 11th annual residency, which features four weeks of performances at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, including education and community programs, will be announced.

SUBSCRIPTION AND TICKET INFORMATION

Subscriptions for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and start at just $87 for a three-concert package. Subscribers receive seating priority over individual-ticket buyers, ticket exchange privileges, and other benefits, including savings of up to 30% off individual-ticket prices. Tickets to individual performances go on sale in late summer. For more information about the variety of subscription packages offered, or for other questions, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit us online at clevelandorchestra.com.

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