The Cleveland Orchestra, one of the world’s most sought-after performing ensembles, makes its Nebraska debut at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
The 100-member powerhouse will be led by internationally renowned conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. Audience members will experience the magnificence and virtuosity of the Cleveland Orchestra performing pieces by Dvorak and Wagner as well as Tchaikovsky’s triumphant Symphony No. 5.
“Our efforts to schedule a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra at the Lied Center began years ago,” said Bill Stephan, executive director of the Lied Center. “We are so proud to bring this incredible group of musicians to Nebraska and to have this truly historical event taking place on our stage.”
Tickets start at $45 for adults, $22.50 for students and are available at http://www.liedcenter.org, at the Lied Center Box Office, 301 N. 12th St., or by phone at 402-472-4747.
The Cleveland Orchestra is included in the exclusive “Big Five” of American orchestras, the others being the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra. The international authority on classical music, top industry publication Gramophone Magazine ranked the Cleveland Orchestra among the top American orchestras agreed upon by classical music critics worldwide.
In addition to their Lied performance, musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra have signed on for a residency with UNL music students. Master classes will be instructed by Paul Yancich (principal timpani), Jesse McCormick (horn), Barrick Stees (assistant principal bassoon) and Stephen Rose (principal second violin).
“This residency will provide UNL students with an unforgettable opportunity to work with the masters in their fields of study,” Stephan said.
Under the leadership of music director Franz Welser-Most, the Cleveland Orchestra has become one of the most respected performing ensembles in the world. In concerts at its winter home at Severance Hall and at each summer’s Blossom Music Festival, in ongoing residencies from Miami to Vienna, and on tour around the world, the orchestra sets the highest standards of artistic excellence, creative programming and community engagement.
The Cleveland Orchestra has a long and distinguished recording and broadcast history. A series of DVD and CD recordings under the direction of Welser-Most has recently been added to an extensive and widely praised catalog of audio recordings made during the tenures of the ensemble’s former music directors. In addition, Cleveland Orchestra concerts are heard in syndication each season on radio stations throughout North America and Europe.
The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918 by a group of local citizens intent on creating an ensemble worthy of joining America’s top rank of symphony orchestras. Over the next decades, the orchestra grew from a fine regional organization to one of the most admired symphonic ensembles in the world. Seven music directors (Nikolai Sokoloff, 1918-33; Artur Rodzinski, 1933-43; Erich Leinsdorf, 1943-46; George Szell, 1946-70; Lorin Maazel, 1972-82; Christoph von Dohnanyi, 1984-2002; and Welser-Most, 2002-present) have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Year-round performances became a reality with the first Blossom Festival in 1968, presented at an award-winning, purpose-built outdoor facility located just south of the Cleveland metropolitan area near Akron, Ohio. Today, touring, residencies, radio broadcasts and recordings provide access to the orchestra’s music making to a broad and loyal constituency around the world.
