NEWS RELEASE

Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra
in concerts featuring Brahms’s Symphony No. 2
at Severance Hall on January 14, 15, and 16

Program for Thursday and Saturday includes Cleveland Orchestra premiere of Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto with Leila Josefowicz as soloist

CLEVELAND, December 18, 2009 – Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in a program featuring Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 at Severance Hall on Thursday, January 14, at 8:00 p.m.; Friday, January 15, at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, January 16, at 8:00 p.m.

The program for Thursday and Saturday evenings begins with Richard Strauss’s Don Juan, Opus 20, followed by the first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths, Opus 23, with Leila Josefowicz as soloist. After intermission, the program concludes with Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73. The Friday morning concert, performed without intermission, consists of the works by Strauss and Brahms.

About Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths

British composer Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto was written in 2004-05 and given its world premiere in September 2005. Born in London in 1971, Adès is widely regarded as the outstanding composer of his generation. In 2000, he became the youngest composer ever to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, often described as “the Nobel Prize of music.” Program annotator Paul Schiavo has written that the Violin Concerto “bears the title Concentric Paths, an allusion that carries possible poetic and certainly formal connotations. Circular patterns, both large and small, permeate the work. The music unfolds in a traditional concerto format of three movements [titled ‘Rings,’ ‘Paths,’ and ‘Rounds’] … arranged in a familiar fast-slow-fast pattern….”

Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz attracts audiences around the world with her fresh approach to repertoire and dynamic virtuosity. She came to national attention with her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, at the age of 16. In recognition of her advocacy and commitment to contemporary music, Ms. Josefowicz was awarded a 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She has collaborated with contemporary composers including John Adams and Oliver Knussen, and last season she premiered concertos written for her by Steve Mackey, Colin Matthews, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Ms. Josefowicz first performed with The Cleveland Orchestra in July 1991 and most recently appeared with the Orchestra in October 2005.

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These concerts are sponsored by Eaton Corporation, a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence.

Leila Josefowicz’s appearance as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra is made possible by a gift to the Orchestra’s Guest Artist Fund from The Julia Severance Millikin Fund.

The Cleveland Orchestra’s Friday Morning Concert Series is endowed by the Mary E. and F. Joseph Callahan Foundation. Pre-concert lectures for the Friday Morning Concert Series are funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

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The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2009-10 season at Severance Hall is sponsored by UBS. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS is a global firm providing services to private, corporate and institutional clients. Its strategy is to focus on international wealth management and the Swiss banking business alongside its global expertise in investment banking and asset management. In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.

UBS is a significant supporter of orchestral music globally. In addition to its season sponsorship of The Cleveland Orchestra, the firm currently sponsors several other outstanding symphony orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. These partnerships reflect UBS’s dedication to supporting the communities where it operates, as well as a philosophy of working collaboratively with its clients to deliver the customized solutions that help them pursue their goals.

Biographical information on Franz Welser-Möst follows at the end of this release. Additional biographical information on Leila Josefowicz is available on request.

EVENING TICKET PRICES (Add $5 for Saturday): Orchestra: $66, $44; Dress Circle: $87, $51; Balcony: $66, $51, $31. FRIDAY MORNING TICKET PRICES: Orchestra: $45, $35; Dress Circle: $55, $35; Balcony: $45, $35, $25.

TICKET SERVICES: The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along East Boulevard. Single tickets for all concerts in the 2009-10 season are now on sale.

Severance Hall Ticket Office Hours: M-F 9-6; Sat. 10-6. Closed Sundays and major holidays, except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office opens three hours prior to the performance start time.

To charge tickets by telephone on American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard, and Visa, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at (216) 231-1111 (Cleveland) or 800-686-1141 during the regular ticket office hours listed above. Subscriptions and single tickets are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra’s website at clevelandorchestra.com. The website offers secure ticket transactions with any major credit card and provides complete concert listings.

FREE CONCERT PREVIEWS: Concert Previews will be given prior to the January 14, 15, and 16 concerts, beginning one hour before concert time. The Previews, titled “New Music, Old Music” will be given by Rose Breckenridge, Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups administrator and lecturer. The Thursday and Saturday Previews will take place in Reinberger Chamber Hall. The Friday morning Preview will be given in the Concert Hall. Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

PARKING: For evening subscription concerts at Severance Hall, parking can be purchased for $10 per vehicle, when space permits, in the Campus Center Garage (the underground garage located directly behind Severance Hall). Pre-paid parking for the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance through the Ticket Office at the cost of $14 per concert (this includes City of Cleveland parking tax and handling fee). The pre-paid parking ensures patrons a parking space, but availability of these pre-paid parking passes is limited.

For further information, or to order pre-paid parking, patrons should call the Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Office during regular office hours at (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141. Pre-paid parking passes are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra’s website at clevelandorchestra.com.

For Friday morning matinee performances, due to limited parking availability in the Campus Center Garage (the underground garage located directly behind Severance Hall) and in the University Circle area in general, patrons are encouraged to take advantage of off-site parking and round-trip shuttle service available at the Cleveland Play House (8500 Euclid Avenue) and the Cedar Hill Baptist Church (12601 Cedar Road). The fee is $10 per car.

Calendar Listings

Thursday, January 14, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 16, at 8:00 p.m.

Severance Hall

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
FRANZ WELSER-MÖST, conductor
LEILA JOSEFOWICZ, violin

R. STRAUSS – Don Juan
ADÈS – Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths
BRAHMS – Symphony No. 2

Ticket Prices: $31-$92 – Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online at clevelandorchestra.com

Season Sponsor: UBS

Concert Sponsor: Eaton Corporation, a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence

Guest Artist Fund: The Julia Severance Millikin Fund

Concert Preview in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.: “New Music, Old Music” featuring Rose Breckenridge, Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups administrator and lecturer

Friday, January 15, at 11:00 a.m.

Severance Hall

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
FRANZ WELSER-MÖST, conductor

R. STRAUSS – Don Juan
BRAHMS – Symphony No. 2

Ticket Prices: $25-$55 – Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online at clevelandorchestra.com

Season Sponsor: UBS

Concert Sponsor: Eaton Corporation, a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence

Concert Preview: “New Music, Old Music,” in the Concert Hall at 10 a.m., given by Rose Breckenridge, Cleveland Orchestra Music Study Groups administrator and lecturer

Media Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518 / Email: jschlosser@clevelandorchestra.com; or
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595 / Email: anap@clevelandorchestra.com

Franz Welser-Möst

Music Director
Kelvin Smith Family Endowed Chair
The Cleveland Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst is in his eighth year as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. His long-term commitment extends to the Orchestra’s centennial in 2018. Under his direction, the Orchestra holds residencies in the United States and Europe, champions living composers, partners with Northeast Ohio public schools and conservatories, and has re-established itself as an operatic ensemble. Concurrently with his post in Cleveland, Mr. Welser-Möst becomes General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera in the autumn of 2010.

Under Mr. Welser-Möst’s leadership, The Cleveland Orchestra holds ongoing residencies at Vienna’s famed Musikverein hall and Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival, along with an annual Miami Residency. In 2009-10, Mr. Welser-Möst and the Orchestra begin an Indiana University Residency, and in 2011, launch a biennial residency at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival, featuring The Cleveland Orchestra in Vienna State Opera productions.

Under Franz Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra has presented eleven world and fourteen United States premieres. In 2009, Mr. Welser-Möst led a Zurich Opera production of The Marriage of Figaro at Severance Hall. He and The Cleveland Orchestra will continue the Mozart/Da Ponte operas in Cleveland with Mozart’s Così fan tutte in 2009-10 and Don Giovanni in 2010-11.

Recent and upcoming international engagements include a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle with stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Vienna State Opera. During the 2009-10 season, Mr. Welser-Möst leads additional Ring performances, as well as Wagner’s Tannhaüser and Parsifal, with the Vienna State Opera. In the summer of 2009, Franz Welser-Möst appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms, and the Lucerne Festival. He also conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at the 2009 Salzburg Easter Festival.

Following his 1989 American debut and prior to his appointment in Cleveland, Mr. Welser-Möst regularly guest-conducted the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. Mr. Welser-Möst was music director of the London Philharmonic from 1990 to 1996. Across his decade-long tenure with the Zurich Opera, culminating in three seasons as General Music Director (2005-08), Mr. Welser-Möst led more than 40 new productions. In the spring of 2010, he leads Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Zurich.

Mr. Welser-Möst’s recordings and videos have won the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Japanese Record Academy Award, and two Grammy nominations. Mr. Welser-Möst has led The Cleveland Orchestra in video recordings of live performances of the Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 5, 7, and 9. Mr. Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra released a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Deutsche Grammophon in 2007.

Mr. Welser-Möst has been recognized by the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and is an honorary member of the Vienna Singverein. Musical America named him the 2003 Conductor of the Year.