THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES 2016 BLOSSOM MUSIC FESTIVAL, PRESENTED BY THE J.M. Smucker Company

Blossom Summer Season Presents Musical Weekends of Family-Friendly Programming from Fourth-of-July through Labor Day Weekend

July 9 Concert with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)

July 17 Concert commemorates Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Celebration of the Centennial of the National Park Service

“Under 18s Free” continues for every Blossom Music Festival concert

Subscription Renewals currently underway; premier subscriptions and Create-Your-Own now available for purchase

Popular Lawn Ticket Books available now: $160 for a book of ten Lawn passes, with two FREE Pavilion upgrade coupons in each book

Blossom Pre-sale single tickets for current Cleveland Orchestra subscribers go on sale on April 25 and individual tickets for the general public go on sale May 9

Release Date: February 7, 2016

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Orchestra has announced the 2016 Blossom Music Festival season. Festival highlights include Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) as well as works by Adès and Strauss (July 9); Blossom’s traditional, star-spangled celebration with the Blossom Festival Band, A Salute to America (July 4); Michael Feinstein with The Cleveland Orchestra performing Broadway hits and classic songs by Ellington, Berlin, and Gershwin (July 31); The Silk Road Ensemble with cellist Yo-Yo Ma (August 13); the Blossom Festival Orchestra in a concert featuring The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony (August 20); and the Blossom Music Festival debut of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 6 (August 27) – all at Blossom Music Center from Fourth of July weekend through Labor Day Weekend (July 2 – September 4, 2016).

Details of the 2016 Blossom Music Festival season, including Festival as well as Cleveland Orchestra soloist and conductor debuts, are available in the Calendar section below and online at clevelandorchestra.com. Concert schedules and series renewals are being mailed to subscribers of last year’s Festival, and new series packages are available for purchase now. Lawn Ticket Books are also on sale now. Individual tickets for the entire season go on sale to the general public on Monday, May 9, 2016.

Franz Welser-Möst Conducts

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Orchestra on July 9 in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) alongside Thomas Adès’s Overture, Waltz, and Finale fromthe provocative opera Powder Her Face. Strauss’s vivid tone poem, depicting the reflections of an artist’s life as he lies dying, Tod und Verklärung [Death and Transfiguration] completes the program.

Orchestral Masterworks

The Orchestra takes the spotlight with performances of great orchestral masterpieces from the classical, romantic, and twentieth-century periods. Highlights include: Johannes Debus returns to the Blossom Festival to lead performances of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade on July 2 and 3 in a program that also features Shostakovich’s Suite for Variety Orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture. Conductor Michael Francis and pianist David Fung make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts in a July 16 concert that features Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and Orchestra, and Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 2 (“A London Symphony”). On July 23, former Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Jahja Ling leads the Orchestra and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in a program of Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Stravinsky’s Four Norwegian Moods and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1. Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Principal Oboist, Jeffrey Rathbun, makes his Blossom Festival solo debut with Benjamin’s Divertimento on Themes by Gluck in an August 7 program led by conductor Nicholas McGegan featuring Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.3 (“Scottish”).

National Park Service Centennial Celebration

The July 17 Cleveland Orchestra concert commemorates Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s celebration of the National Park Service Centennial. Blossom Music Center was planned and built by The Cleveland Orchestra on 800 acres of rolling hills now surrounded by Cuyahoga Valley National Park. In 2011, with the final purchase of land surrounding Blossom, the Trust for Public Land and National Park Service completed the Blossom Music Center conservation project ensuring the future of the Blossom Music Center. The July 17 performance, led by conductor Bramwell Tovey and featuring pianist Javier Perianes (who makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut) will include Aaron Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring alongside works by Gershwin and Ravel. This performance will coincide with the opening of the 2016 Republican National Convention, which takes place in Cleveland July 18-21.

Popular Music

A popular Northeast Ohio tradition for more than four decades, the July 4 concert features the Blossom Festival Band, conducted by Loras John Schissel, celebrating Independence Day with A Salute to America. The program includes a mix of patriotic Sousa marches, Broadway favorites, an Armed Forces salute, and Tchaikovsky’s explosive “1812” Overture, followed by fireworks.

Michael Krajewski conducts The Cleveland Orchestra and soprano Capathia Jenkins on July 24 in a tribute to the music of Hollywood, featuring familiar melodies from Titanic, Back to the Future, Goldfinger, and Star Wars.

The Blossom Festival Orchestra perform The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony which features Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones’s brilliant and innovative music, now heard with the vivid colors and sheer power of a symphony orchestra on August 20 with conductor Brent Havens, who makes his Blossom Music Festival debut.

To close the 2016 Blossom Music Festival season, Raiders of the Lost Ark is shown on the big screen to a live orchestral accompaniment by The Cleveland Orchestra with Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell at the helm on September 3 and 4.

Guest Ensembles

The Silk Road Ensemble and cellist Yo-Yo Ma bring together innovative performers and compositions representing traditions from around the worldon August 13.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra makes its Blossom Music Festival debut on August 27 performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Family-friendly “Under 18s Free” tickets continue at every Blossom Music Festival concert

“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 every Blossom Music Festival concert again this season. Over 90,000 young people have attended Blossom Music Festival concerts since the Center for Future Audiences was inaugurated.

Kent/Blossom Music Festival (June - July) / Blossom Music Festival Performance July 30

Celebrating its 49th season in 2016, the Kent/Blossom Music Festival began when The Cleveland Orchestra and Kent State University launched a partnership in 1968, the year the Blossom Music Center opened. For five weeks in June and July, Kent/Blossom Music Festival’s advanced training program brings musicians from around the world to Ohio for professional training in chamber music and orchestral studies with members of The Cleveland Orchestra and other elite faculty. On July 30, participants will come together, under the direction of Brett Mitchell, as the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra to present a pre-concert program prior to The Cleveland Orchestra’s evening performance. Conductor Hans Graf leads the evening program, which features Hindemith’s Overture to Cupid and Psyche, Pinchas Zukerman playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (“Turkish”), and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique.” The Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra will join The Cleveland Orchestra in a side-by-side performance of the Tchaikovsky Symphony.

2016 TICKET, SERIES, AND SPONSOR INFORMATION

Subscription Renewals are currently underway with premier subscriptions and Create-Your-Own series now available for purchase. Blossom Pre-sale single tickets for current Cleveland Orchestra subscribers go on sale on Monday, April 25 and individual tickets for the general public go on sale Monday, May 9.

Tickets start at $24. Individual tickets go on sale by telephone, in person at the Severance Hall Ticket Office, and online at clevelandorchestra.com on Monday, May 9. The Blossom Box Office opens for the season beginning on Saturday, June 4, and will be open throughout the summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m. through intermission on concert days.

PREMIER SUBSCRIPTION SERIES

The 2016 Blossom Music Festival features two four-concert “Classics” series, a four-concert “Celebrations” series, and a four-concert “Pops” series. Ticket packages, on sale now, offer approximately 20% savings off individual-ticket prices. Ticket package prices start at $84, which includes free Lot B parking and access to Kulas Plaza. Box-seat ticket packages include complimentary parking in First Energy Lot A behind the main Box Office in addition to access to Kulas Plaza.

CREATE-YOUR-OWN SERIES

A Create-Your-Own Series package is being offered again this season. When purchasing 4 or more concerts, there is a savings of approximately 10% off the individual ticket prices. There is no limit to the number of Create-Your-Own Series purchases. All subscribers receive free parking in Lot B.

LAWN TICKET BOOKS INCLUDE TWO PAVILION UPGRADES AND QUALIFY FOR THE “UNDER 18S FREE” PROGRAM

Lawn Ticket Books of ten vouchers are now available for $160 (a savings of up to $100). Lawn vouchers qualify for youth admission as part of the “Under18s Free” program. Youth admission tickets can be requested after individual tickets go on sale. Contact the Box Office or visit clevelandorchestra.com for information about this program.

GROUP TICKET SALES

Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Call the Cleveland Orchestra Group Sales Office at Severance Hall at 216-231-7463 for more information.

Blossom Music Festival Presented by the J.M. Smucker Company

The J.M. Smucker Company is in the second season of a three-year sponsorship as the Season Sponsor of the Blossom Music Festival, extending through the 2017 Festival. The J.M. Smucker Company has supported The Cleveland Orchestra for decades with annual contributions as well as capital gifts for improvements at Blossom Music Center. The company’s ongoing, generous support has been recognized through concert sponsorship at Blossom for the past decade, and has earned them recognition as a member of the Orchestra’s John L. Severance Society — a group of the Orchestra’s most dedicated and generous corporate, foundation, and individual supporters.

The Cleveland Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following generous organizations whose support is recognized in connection with the Blossom Music Festival:



The J.M. Smucker Company Blossom Music Festival Presenting Sponsor

BakerHostetler

Blossom Women’s Committee

The William Bingham Foundation

The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation

Mary and Dr. George L. Demetros Charitable Trust

Eaton

FirstEnergy Foundation

Forest City

GAR Foundation

Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

NACCO Industries, Inc.

KeyBank

The Lehner Family Foundation

Littler Mendelson, P.C.

The Lubrizol Corporation

The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation

M.G. O’Neil Foundation

Medical Mutual of Ohio

PNC Bank

Polsky Fund of Akron Community Foundation

The Charles E. and Mabel M. Ritchie Memorial Foundation

The Sisler McFawn Foundation

Lloyd L. and Louise K. Smith Memorial Foundation

Timken Foundation of Canton

The Welty Family Foundation

2016 Blossom Music Festival Calendar

(listing as of May 3, 2016)





SCHEHERAZADE



Saturday, July 2, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.*

Sunday, July 3, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.*

The Cleveland Orchestra

Johannes Debus, conductor

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade

SHOSTAKOVICH Suite for Variety Orchestra, No. 1

TCHAIKOVSKY “1812” Overture

* Denotes fireworks following the concert, weather permitting.

A SALUTE TO AMERICA

Monday, July 4, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.*

Blossom Festival Band

Loras John Schissel, conductor

Great music, fireworks, and fun for the whole family! Blossom’s traditional, star-spangled celebration with the Blossom Festival Band, featuring a mix of patriotic Sousa marches, Broadway favorites, an Armed Forces Salute, and more – ending with the “1812” Overture and fireworks!

* Denotes fireworks following the concert, weather permitting.

BEETHOVEN’S HEROIC SYMPHONY

Saturday, July 9, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.*

The Cleveland Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

ADÈS Overture, Waltz, and Finale from Powder Her Face

STRAUSS Death and Transfiguration

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)

* Denotes fireworks following the concert, weather permitting.

LONDON SYMPHONY

Saturday, July 16, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Michael Francis, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut

David Fung, piano – Cleveland Orchestra debut

ELGAR Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and Orchestra

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 2 (“A London Symphony”)

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

Sunday, July 17, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Javier Perianes, piano – Cleveland Orchestra debut

RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole

COPLAND Suite from Appalachian Spring

RAVEL Piano Concerto in G major

GERSHWIN An American in Paris

Celebrating the National Park Service Centennial

THIBAUDET PLAYS GRIEG

Saturday, July 23, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Jahja Ling, conductor

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

STRAVINSKY Four Norwegian Moods

GRIEG Piano Concerto

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1

MAGIC OF THE MOVIES

Sunday, July 24, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Michael Krajewski, conductor

Capathia Jenkins, soprano

The greatest film scores live!

A blockbuster tribute to the most memorable music of the movies. Enjoy your favorites from Titanic, Back to the Future, Goldfinger, Star Wars, and more.

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN PLAYS MOZART

Saturday, July 30, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.*

The Cleveland Orchestra

Hans Graf, conductor

Pinchas Zukerman, violin

with the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra

HINDEMITH Overture to Cupid and Psyche

MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 (“Turkish”)

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)^

* Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Brett Mitchell performs at 7:00 p.m. The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert (program listed above) begins at 8:00 p.m.

^ The Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra will join The Cleveland Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of the Tchaikovsky Symphony.

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN’S BROADWAY

Sunday, July 31, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Jack Everly, conductor

Michael Feinstein, vocalist

Back by popular demand!

Michael Feinstein on the Blossom stage for an unforgettable evening of Broadway hits and classic songs by artists such as Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and many more.

MENDELSSOHN’S SCOTTISH

Sunday, August 7, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Jeffrey Rathbun, oboe

HAYDN Symphony No. 99

BENJAMIN Divertimento on Themes by Gluck

MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”)

SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE WITH YO-YO MA

Saturday, August 13, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.

Silk Road Ensemble

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Embark on a musical journey around the world with the Silk Road Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma.

This eclectic group brings together distinguished musicians, composers, and performing artists from more than 20 countries around the world to celebrate, explore, and experiment with a wide variety of cultural approaches to musical performances.

THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN: A ROCK SYMPHONY

Saturday, August 20, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.

Blossom Festival Orchestra

Windborne’s Music of Led Zeppelin

Brent Havens, conductor

Randy Jackson, vocalist

The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony

performed live by the Blossom Festival Orchestra

The mega hits of one of rock’s most legendary supergroups—like you’ve never heard them before! Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones’s brilliant and innovative music now heard with the vivid colors and sheer power of a full symphony orchestra. Featuring 16 classic Zeppelin tunes, including “Good Times Bad Times,” “All My Love,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and “Kashmir.”

ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PLAYS BACH

Saturday, August 27, 2016, at 8:00 p.m.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra – Blossom Music Festival debut

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 6

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 2

MOVIE NIGHT: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Special 35th Anniversary Celebration

Saturday, September 3, 2016, at 8:30 p.m.*

Sunday, September 4, 2016, at 8:30 p.m.*

The Cleveland Orchestra

Brett Mitchell, conductor

See this classic movie shown on the big screen at Blossom – with the score performed live by The Cleveland Orchestra!

It’s the film that introduced one of the greatest movie heroes of all time. Now, relive the magic, as Indiana Jones, armed with only his hat, whip, and wits, travels the world to recover the lost Ark of the Covenant – before it falls into the wrong hands.

Raiders of the Lost Ark licensed by Lucasfilm Ltd and Paramount Pictures. Motion Picture, Artwork, Photos © 1981 Lucasfilm

* Denotes fireworks following the concert, weather permitting.

All programs, artists, and prices are subject to change.