The Cleveland Orchestra Announces Education and Community Programs

By: Oct. 10, 2017
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The Cleveland Orchestra announced details of the Around the Region Celebration, a special series of performances throughout Northeast Ohio to celebrate its 100th season and to thank citizens for supporting the Orchestra for the past century. Around the Region events are in addition to the Orchestra's robust yearly slate of Education and Community programs that inspire future generations with high-quality music, unite communities, and reach more than 60,000 people annually. The Around the Region Celebration allows the Orchestra to share the power and passion of music with even more communities and touch the lives of more people in our region.

The performances, which are part of the Around the Region Celebration, will be presented by the organization's resident ensembles - The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (COC), Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO), Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus (COYC), and Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus and Preparatory Chorus (COCC & COCPC).

"This is an opportunity to share classical music with citizens around the region during our centennial season as a thank you for 100 years of support and a celebration of community," said Joan Katz, Senior Director of Education & Community Programs.

"I believe very strongly that this relationship between the citizens of Cleveland and The Cleveland Orchestra has to be as close as possible," said Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. "Young people want to be challenged. Take them seriously. Every kid should be touched by music."

Around the Region Kick-Off - Prometheus Project for Students
Preparations for the Around the Region Celebration began in spring 2017 with the development of the "Prometheus Project for Students." This collaborative education project with Cleveland Orchestra musicians, Cleveland School of the Arts (CSA) students, and arts-integration experts Fifth House Ensemble, centered around the music of Beethoven, a titan of classical music, and Prometheus, a Titan of Greek mythology-and their heroes' journeys. Examining Beethoven's music through the lens of the Prometheus story is an important theme throughout the Orchestra's 100th Anniversary Season.

The groundbreaking Education Concert, "Beethoven & Prometheus: A Hero's Journey," was performed on September 22, 2017 at Severance Hall for more than 1,800 students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). Several CSA student projects in photography, dance, painting, and English/Language Arts inspired by the interdisciplinary curriculum were integrated into this concert conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. Nine CSA musicians also performed on the first piece of the concert (Beethoven's Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus), sitting side-by-side with their Cleveland Orchestra mentors. This concert will be repeated for thousands of local students at Severance Hall on November 6-8, 2017led by Assistant Conductor Vinay Parameswaran.

For more information about this project and the concert, please read the "Prometheus Project for Students" press release, viewphotos from the concert, or watch this teaser video that includes CSA student work.

Around the Region Highlights

On November 9, 2017, The Cleveland Orchestra and Mr. Parameswaran will travel to Lake County to present its "Beethoven and Prometheus: A Hero's Journey" Education Concert at Lakeland Community College for approximately 1,000 students from Lake County middle and high schools. The concert will be performed in Lakeland Community College's gymnasium in order to accommodate as many Lake County students as possible. Prior to the concert, participating schools will receive preparation materials and a Spotify playlist of the music featured.

The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra will perform a free community concert in Lorain County on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., led by COYO Music Director Vinay Parameswaran. COYO will perform works by Beethoven, Barber, and Prokofiev-giving Lorain County residents an opportunity to enjoy the power of classical music, free in their community, performed by outstanding young people from around the region.

The Cleveland Orchestra travels to Akron to perform for Akron Public Schools students on Thursday, February 8, 2018. The Orchestra's In-School Performance of the Education Concert "Civil Rights: Remembering DR. Martin Luther King Jr.," combines music and drama to trace the life journey of DR. Martin Luther King Jr. For many students, concerts like these are their first experience with classical music and provide an unforgettable experience that can shape their lives for years to come.

On March 6, 2018, at 12:30 p.m., during Cleveland Orchestra Advocacy Day in Columbus, nearly 200 youth musicians from around the region who make up the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus will perform for state legislators and staff in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse. This performance by some of the region's most talented young people will help to illustrate the importance of music as part of a well-rounded education for all students, during March, Music in Our Schools month. COYO and COYC will be joined in their advocacy efforts by Cleveland Orchestra Executive Director André Gremillet and a host of other advocates, volunteers, and Cleveland Orchestra staff.

To celebrate The Cleveland Orchestra's 100th Season and the launch of its Second Century, a free community birthday party will be held as part of the annual Star-Spangled Spectacular concert in Downtown Cleveland, brought to you by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and sponsored by KeyBank. This beloved annual tradition provides free access to live classical music for thousands of Cuyahoga County residents each year, and the 2018 concert will serve as a very special "thank you" to the Northeast Ohio community for its support of the Orchestra over the past 100 years. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will lead this special concert on July 6, 2018, on Mall B in Downtown Cleveland. In addition to a concert of patriotic favorites, the evening will include food trucks, birthday surprises, and a spectacular fireworks display (weather permitting).

Mindful Music Moments

Launched during this Centennial season, Mindful Music Moments is a new Cleveland Orchestra initiative to increase access and exposure to classical music in schools. In a collaboration that uses technology to marry classical music with mindfulness techniques, students in schools across Northeast Ohio take part in a daily 4-minute routine to calm and focus before the school day begins. Students are exposed to a classical music piece coupled with mindfulness prompts delivered over the morning announcements. City Silence piloted Mindful Music Moments in Cincinnati in 2016 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and other music organizations with great success. Now in Northeast Ohio, Mindful Music Moments features highlights from programs from The Cleveland Orchestra's 100th anniversary season in more than a dozen schools around the region.

Education and Community Programs for 2017-18

The Cleveland Orchestra has a long and proud history of sharing the value and joy of music with people throughout Northeast Ohio. Education and community programs date to the Orchestra's founding in 1918 and have remained a central focus of the ensemble's activities in serving its hometown. The Orchestra has introduced more than 4 million young people to symphonic music through live concert experiences and performances over the past ten decades.

The Cleveland Orchestra's annual Education and Community programs include:

· Concerts for children and families, including the American Greetings Family Concerts and PNC Musical Rainbows at Severance Hall, as well as Musical Rainbows on the Road throughout the region.

· Education Concerts for elementary, middle and high school students, presented at Severance Hall.

· In-school programs, such as the PNC Grow Up Great Musical Neighborhoods program in Cleveland Metropolitan School District pre-K classrooms, using music to teach important school readiness skills and immersing young children in the joy of music.

· Performances by The Cleveland Orchestra's youth ensembles, including COYO, COYC, COCC, and COCPC.

· Music Study Groups and Free Concert Previews for adults which inspire lifelong learning and a deeper connection to symphonic music.

· Free events for families and the community, such as the annuAl Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert and Community Open House as well as the Star-Spangled Spectacular community concert in Downtown Cleveland, which bring people together and provide free access to high-quality music and arts.

More information about all of these programs can be found in the Education and Community section of clevelandorchestra.com.

Photo: In-school Cleveland Orchestra performance at Patrick Henry School in Cleveland, 2016. Photo by Roger Mastroianni



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