Conductor Franz Welser-Möst has announced that he will not sign an extension to continue as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra. His contract is set to expire in 2027 following 25 years of collaboration. “I am immensely grateful for the extraordinary journey that I have had with The Cleveland Orchestra since I first came to Severance more than 30 years {…}
The Vienna Philharmonic has announced a conductor change for its Asian tour. The orchestra said, “We are pleased to announce that during our upcoming 2023 Asian Tour, the musical direction of the concerts in Japan from November 10 – 19, 2023, originally planned for Franz Welser-Möst, will be taken over by Tugan Sokhiev.” Additionally, “Chairman Daniel Froschauer has expressed his {…}
Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst has withdrawn from all engagements from late October until the end of the year The orchestra released a statement noting that the famed conductor “had a cancerous tumor removed and will need to undergo treatment between his conducting engagements for the next 12 to 16 months.” The statement added that his first period of treatment {…}
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced updates to its musician personnel. First up, the organization announced that Charles Paul, who has been a member of the bass section since 2022, has taken over duties as first assistant principal bass. Additionally, the orchestra welcomed Meghan Guegold Hege as assistant/utility horn, Tanner Tanyeri as a percussionist, Youngji Kim and Genevieve Smelser as first {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Metropolitan Opera) One hundred and nineteen artists and conductors are signing a petition to end the war and end the boycott against boycotting Russian artists. The petition, which is signed by such prominent artists as Antonio Pappano, Mark Elder, Simon Rattle, Franz Welser-Möst, Cornelius Meister, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Barrie Kosky, Matthew Rose, Fabio Luisi, Barbara Hannigan, and {…}
(© Julia Wesely) Conductor Franz Welser-Möst has been awarded a Cleveland Arts Prize. The Cleveland Orchestra music director was one of several honorees who will be celebrated on Oct. 13, 2021 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Welser-Möst, winner of the Special Citation presented by Cleveland Arts Prize Trustees, will be entering his 20th season as the music director of {…}
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purposes of this performance, our focus will be mainly on operatic and vocal performances. It all starts with Andrea Carroll’s Severance Hall debut alongside bass-baritone Dashon Burton as the two perform a two-piano arrangement of Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem.” Lisa Wong conducts the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Performance Date: Oct. 28, {…}
The Cleveland Orchestra announced the immediate promotion of Vinay Parameswaran to Associate Conductor, continuing his three-and-a-half-year tenure with the Orchestra through the 2021-22 season. Parameswaran, who served as the Orchestra’s Assistant Conductor since 2017, will continue to hold the Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Assistant Conductor Endowed Chair, despite his new title. Parameswaran will remain The Cleveland Orchestra Youth {…}
(Credit: Jennifer Taylor) On Thursday, August 20, 2020, The Cleveland Orchestra launched its third collection of full-length concerts on TCO Classics, showcasing some of the orchestra’s most memorable performances across its first half-century at the Blossom Music Center. The collection spotlights performances by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, clarinetist Benny Goodman, pianist Van Cliburn, violinist Itzhak Perlman, soprano Roberta Peters, and {…}
(Credit: Julia Wesely) After a performance of “Elektra” on August 17, 2020, conductor Franz Welser-Möst was awarded with the Ruby Festival Brooch at the Salzburg Festival. The award was presented to the conductor on his 60th birthday by Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler. Welser-Möst made his debut with the Festival back on August 29, 1985 in a concert featuring works by {…}
(Credit: Paladino Music official website) Austrian tenor Kurt Azesberger has died at the age of 60, after suffering from heart failure while on vacation in South Tyrol, Austria. Azesberger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Music Conservatory of Vienna. Kurt Azesberger had performed worldwide, including Germany, Austria, UK, Italy, France, and Spain, among others. He had {…}