News Release
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
to make its first international tour in June 2012
Ensemble’s European tour includes performances in Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg
Release date: December 2, 2011
James Feddeck conducting the Cleveland Orchestra
Youth Orchestra in Severance Hall
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra will make its first international tour in June 2012, a European Tour that includes concerts in Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. The tour will run from June 13-21, 2012.
The Youth Orchestra’s concerts will take place in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague (June 15); the Minoritenkirche, a famous church in the heart of Vienna (June 18); and the Grosse Saal of the Mozarteum in Salzburg (June 20). The tour repertoire includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, and Wagner’s Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan and Isolde.
The Youth Orchestra will be conducted by its music director, James Feddeck, who is in his third and final season in that post and as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Feddeck received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, followed by further conducting studies at the University of Michigan. The tour marks Mr. Feddeck’s final performances with the Youth Orchestra, which he has led since September 2009.
In addition to performing three concerts during the tour, activities for the Youth Orchestra members include guided sightseeing tours of Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. Among places to be visited are the Old Town, Prague Castle, and Wenceslas Square in Prague; the Vienna State Opera, the Musikverein, and the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery, where numerous famous composers are buried, including Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss Jr.) in Vienna; and Mozart’s birthplace, the Hohensalzburg Fortress (the largest medieval castle in Europe), and many of the original Sound of Music locations in Salzburg.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra tour is made possible in part through the generosity of the Vinney family. In April 2011 the Jules and Ruth Vinney Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra Touring Fund was established to help cover costs of the Youth Orchestra tour and to provide scholarships to eligible Youth Orchestra members.
Jules and Ruth Vinney were long-time supporters of The Cleveland Orchestra. A gift from the Jules and Ruth Vinney Philanthropic Fund, advised by their children Les Vinney, Margo Vinney, and Karen Jacobs, established this generous Touring Fund. As young adults, Jules Vinney was a violinist who performed with The Cleveland Orchestra in the 1930s, and Ruth Vinney was a school teacher. The creation of this endowment fund is a fitting tribute to their life-long interests in music and education and will provide perpetual support for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra’s touring program.
Members of the Youth Orchestra are participating in various fundraisers throughout the 2011-12 season to raise funds to help cover the cost of the tour. The second and final weekend of the Youth Orchestra’s Christmas Tree Sale takes place from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, and from 1-6 p.m. on Sunday, December 4, at two Cleveland-area locations: Royalton Music Center (10167 Royalton Road in North Royalton) and Landerwood Plaza South (30650 Pinetree Road in Pepper Pike). The trees for sale are Fraser Firs shipped fresh from North Carolina. In addition, baked goods and hot chocolate will be available for purchase at the Royalton location.
Members of the Youth Orchestra are also available for solo and chamber music performances, in order to earn funds to support their trip to Europe. Contact the Youth Orchestra manager at 216-231-7352 or coyo@clevelandorchestra.com for more details.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is supported by grants from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and Surdna Foundation, and by gifts from many other generous donors. Endowment support is provided by The George Gund Foundation and Christine Gitlin Miles.
The 2012 European Tour performances mark the Youth Orchestra’s fourth tour in its 26-year history. In June of 1998, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra was one of five youth orchestras chosen from around the nation to participate in a National Youth Orchestra Festival at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. In March 2001, the Youth Orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the Hall’s Family Concert Series, and also performed at Penn State University’s Eisenhower Auditorium. In June 2009, the Youth Orchestra performed four concerts in Boston and neighboring cities.
Calendar Listing
Friday, June 15, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA YOUTH ORCHESTRA
JAMES FEDDECK, conductor
WAGNER: Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan and Isolde
ELGAR: “Enigma” Variations
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8
Monday, June 18, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Minoritenkirche, Vienna, Austria
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA YOUTH ORCHESTRA
JAMES FEDDECK, conductor
WAGNER: Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan and Isolde
ELGAR: “Enigma” Variations
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8
Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.
Grosse Saal of the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA YOUTH ORCHESTRA
JAMES FEDDECK, conductor
WAGNER: Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan and Isolde
ELGAR: “Enigma” Variations
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8
All artists and programs are subject to change.
* * *
Press Contact
Ana Papakhian, 216-231-7476; Email
