News Release
Release date: August 5, 2011
Jahja Ling leads The Cleveland Orchestra
in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
at the Blossom Festival on September 10
Saturday, September 10, at 8 p.m
Jahja Ling
Jahja Ling (now in his seventh season as music director of the San Diego Symphony) returns for his second Blossom Festival engagement of the season to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program that features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125.
Vocal soloists are soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, tenor Sean Panikkar, and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny. At this concert, Mr. Panikkar and Mr. McKinny will make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts and Ms. O’Connor will make her Blossom Festival debut. The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, prepared by Cleveland Orchestra Director of Choruses Robert Porco and Assistant Director of Choruses Lisa Wong, joins the Orchestra for the performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst recorded Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 live during Severance Hall concerts in January 2007. The recording was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label later that year.
The September 10 program opens with the Orchestra’s first performance of Cleveland native James Oliverio’s DYNASTY: Double Timpani Concerto, with brothers Paul Yancich and Mark Yancich as soloists. The Yancich brothers, who commissioned the work, were soloists in the world premiere performances of the Concerto with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting, on June 2 and 4, 2011.
In a program note for those performances of the Concerto, James Oliverio wrote that his “overarching esthetic consideration was to evoke and honor the rich legacy of the Brothers and their ancestors, whose love and passion for music continues on across multiple generations The musical metaphor for DYNASTY was conceived and developed on several levels: the personal, the ancestral, the political and, in the case of the only two timpanist brothers currently holding simultaneous posts with major American orchestras, as a professional analogy as well. The energy and naïve optimism of a person or organization in its youth, the character evidenced in meeting challenges faced in times of transition, the fulfillment and meaning derived from a long period of accomplishment; these are all notions that influenced and inspired me as I undertook the composition of this work.”
Read a preview article about the world premiere of DYNASTY: Double Timpani Concerto
with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Paul and Mark Yancich come from a musical family whose history as professional musicians goes back four generations. Their father, Milan, was a member of The Cleveland Orchestra’s horn section in the 1950s.
Paul Yancich began his musical studies on snare drum with William Street, renowned timpanist and teacher at the Eastman School of Music, and later worked with William Cahn, a member of the Rochester Philharmonic. In high school, Paul began playing timpani. Following high school, he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) with Cloyd Duff, then principal timpani of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Richard Weiner, then and now the Orchestra’s principal percussionist. After graduation from CIM, Paul became timpanist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1975. After six years in Atlanta, he joined The Cleveland Orchestra as principal timpanist in 1981, following the retirement of Cloyd Duff. Paul Yancich was the soloist in the May 1990 world premiere performances of James Oliverio’s Timpani Concerto No. 1 with The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi conducting. The work was written for and dedicated to Mr. Yancich. Paul Yancich serves as co-head of the Timpani and Percussion Department at CIM.
Mark Yancich began his musical studies on the French horn in grade school and switched to percussion at the age of 14. He studied with William Cahn and Ruth Cahn, of the Rochester Philharmonic, and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Cloyd Duff and Richard Weiner. Mark served as timpanist and principal percussionist with orchestras in Venezuela before succeeding his brother, Paul, as timpanist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1981. Paul and Mark Yancich have performed in recital together, playing Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. Subsequent to Paul’s world premiere performances of Oliverio’s Timpani Concerto No. 1, Mark performed the work in Atlanta.
Jahja Ling joined the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1984 and served as resident conductor from 1985 to 2002 and as Blossom Festival Director for six seasons, from 2000 to 2005. Since 2005, he has continued to appear with the Orchestra each season, making a continuous relationship with the Orchestra of 27 years.
Concert ticket prices range from $21 to $88.
All concerts at Blossom Music Center, 1145 Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls. Free parking for all performances; upgrades available for purchase.
For more information or to order tickets, call 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit online.
Concert Sponsor: Eaton Corporation
Kelley O’Connor’s appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra is made possible by a gift to the Orchestra’s Guest Artist Fund from The Hershey Foundation.
Calendar Listing
Saturday, September 10, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Jahja Ling, conductor
Paul Yancich, timpani
Mark Yancich, timpani
Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Sean Panikkar, tenor
Ryan McKinny, bass-baritone
Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
Robert Porco, director
Beethoven’s Ninth
Oliverio: DYNASTY: Double Timpani Concerto (2011)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)
Pavilion Tickets: $32, $37, $48; Box Seats: $88.
Lawn Tickets: $21
Two young people under 18 will be admitted free to the Lawn with each adult ticket purchased; they must be accompanied by an adult. Lawn Passes for “Under 18s” are available online, at the Severance Hall Ticket Office, or at the Blossom Box Office the day of the concert.
All concerts at Blossom Music Center, 1145 Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls.
Free parking for all performances; upgrades available for purchase.
For more information or to order tickets, call 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit online.
Blossom Music Center opened in 1968 as the summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra. It is located 25 miles south of Cleveland in Summit County, just north of Akron, Ohio.
All artists and programs are subject to change.
Press Contact
Jennifer Schlosser, Media Relations Manager, 216-231-7518, Email
