The Cleveland Orchestra In Partnership With WCLV Classical Extends Weekday Broadcasts

In The Cleveland Orchestra's continuing effort to serve and connect with its community, the Orchestra is reaching out with special offerings during this difficult time period surrounding the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Through its ongoing partnership with ideastream, Northeast Ohio's largest public media organization, the Orchestra is extending its new series of audio broadcasts (which started the week of April 6, 2020) Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra, for the foreseeable future on radio and online streaming from WCLV Classical 104.9 ideastream every weekday immediately after BBC News at Noon.

These hour-long daily presentations include selections from the ensemble's recording and concert history accompanied by a brief overview of the featured music as well as recent interviews with Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and Orchestra musicians. The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream, two longtime Northeast Ohio cultural institutions, recognize the value and importance of the arts - especially in helping people across our shared community persevere through trying times. As a result, the Orchestra and ideastream will continue offering a daily dose of musical nourishment by broadcasting this series of weekday programs throughout the coming months. Programming information is included below for the week of May 18, with further weeks of programming available soon.

"For more than a hundred years, The Cleveland Orchestra has been part of this community, through thick and thin, from wartime to peace, in moments of sadness and triumph," said André Gremillet, President and CEO of The Cleveland Orchestra. "Although much has changed in our daily lives and routines in recent weeks, the musicians, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, and all of us at The Cleveland Orchestra remain deeply committed to the people of our great community. Music can lift spirits and inspire hope for the future. While we cannot offer live performances at this time, we can and will share our music and do everything we can to help make the world a better place. Through our longtime partnership with ideastream, we're privileged to offer the people of Northeast Ohio - and listeners online - a new musical interlude each day called Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra. We will offer listeners the opportunity to turn your focus away from the here and now, and reflect on the wonder and beauty of musical performances from across our great ensemble's history. I invite everyone to listen to our daily broadcasts on WCLV Classical 104.9 ideastream and on ideastream's website. We hope these lunchtime presentations will provide you with some musical nourishment for your soul - and a respite from each day's challenges. In the weeks ahead, we wish you and your family good health - and together we look forward to The Cleveland Orchestra's future live performances."

"I think both the Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts and our recent social media content provide two wonderfully powerful ways for our audiences to connect to the humanity that music expresses, especially today," said Ross Binnie, Cleveland Orchestra Chief Brand Officer. "Our goal is to transport our listeners on a personal, emotional, and fascinating journey through the combination of storytelling and music. With our musicians telling their stories in humorous, insightful, and, at times, vulnerable ways, we believe the audience will experience something new and find fresh meaning in something familiar."

"Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra is a curated collection of some of the best Orchestra performances and most intriguing narratives in our archives," said Kevin E. Martin, ideastream President and CEO. "As social distancing becomes more common, we've come together amidst this crisis to provide something special."

With Severance Hall dark during the COVID-19 crisis, many Cleveland Orchestra musicians are recording performances at their homes and posting them on the Orchestra's social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube). These intimate performances offer music-lovers a comforting distraction during these difficult days. In addition, the Orchestra has adapted its school-based Mindful Music Moments program to reach community members of all ages across all of its social media platforms and website. This daily online initiative combines classical music with mindfulness prompts in an attempt to help reduce stress and anxiety, providing an accessible tool to boost social and emotional well-being. In recent weeks, Mindful Music Moments has reached more than 300,000 people across The Cleveland Orchestra's social media channels.

Saturday and Sunday WCLV 104.9 ideastream Cleveland Orchestra Broadcasts
In addition to weekday Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts, WCLV will continue running Cleveland Orchestra concerts on Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4:00 p.m. on the radio and online. Details of the existing broadcast schedule of previously recorded and on-demand concerts are available through these links: ideastream.org/wclv/cleveland-orchestra, wclv.ideastream.org/topics/lunchtime-with-the-cleveland-orchestra, and ideastream.org/wclv/cleveland-orchestra-broadcasts.

The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream enjoy a long and growing partnership, dedicated to collaborating on projects that can transform lives through the power of music. Cleveland classical radio station WCLV 104.9 ideastream has worked for more than half a century in producing and recording the Orchestra's weekly radio broadcasts, while more recent projects have included the involvement of ideastream in recording productions for the Orchestra's video recordings of Bruckner and Brahms symphonies (available on DVD through Clasart), online video and audio streaming of live community concerts, producing an episode of PBS's Great Performances that featured the Orchestra's 100th anniversary gala concert, and a new initiative at the Orchestra's summer home, Blossom Music Center, to offer live image magnification (IMAG) for Blossom Music Festival concerts.

The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream are committed to expanding and extending their collaborative partnership to reach new audiences through affordable and accessible avenues. Collaborative projects enhance musical performances and learning experiences through engaging storytelling, quality education programs, and state-of-the-art technology.

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