2024 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival: Power An Evening with Kai Bird
Event Information
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Dates: May 15, 2024 Tickets Available
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Who: Kai Bird, speaker
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Venue: Mandel Concert Hall Severance Music Center
Event Dates and Tickets
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 7:00PM
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Event Sponsors
Presented in Partnership with Chautauqua Institution
Ticket Purchases:
This is a general admission and open seating event. Reserve your tickets by clicking here, select your ticket quantity, and press “quick checkout” to reserve.
About the Event
Biographer Kai Bird kicks off the 2024 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival with an exploration of the festival’s theme of Power. This exciting keynote event in Mandel Concert Hall also includes a panel with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, President & CEO André Gremillet, and Festival Curator Elena Dubinets, as well as musical performances of works by Sarasate and John Adams.
Keynote speaker Kai Bird is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer, journalist, and co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, on which the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer was based. He is the executive director and distinguished lecturer of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.
His most recent books include The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter and The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames, which was a New York Times best-seller. He chronicled his childhood in the Middle East in his memoir, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis. He is the author of biographies of John J. McCloy, McGeorge Bundy, and William Bundy. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2006 for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (co-authored with Martin J. Sherwin). His work includes critical writings on the Vietnam War, Hiroshima, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the CIA.
He won the National Books Critics Circle Award and the Duff Cooper Prize for History and is the recipient of numerous fellowships. He is an elected member of the prestigious Society of American Historians.
The event will be live-streamed on The Cleveland Orchestra’s digital home, adella.live and made available on-demand by Chautauqua Institution in June on CHQ Assembly
*A book signing with Bird will immediately follow the event.
Ticket holders for Mozart's Magic Flute (May 16, 18, 24, & 26) and Mozart’s Gran Partita (May 23 & 25) qualify for and can claim complimentary tickets for the festival’s keynote event.
Guest Speakers
Kai Bird, speaker
Michael E. Hill, EdD, President of Chautauqua Institution, moderator
Franz Welser-Möst, music director
André Gremillet, president & CEO
Elena Dubinets, festival curator
About the Performances
Jung-Min Amy Lee, violin
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Christina Dahl, piano
Miloš Repický, piano
SARASATE Fantasy on The Magic Flute
JOHN ADAMS "Batter my heart" from Doctor Atomic
This event is generously supported by:
About the Festival
Since its premiere in 1791, Mozart’s The Magic Flute has charmed audiences with its enchanting story and entrancing score. But beneath its magic bells, ominous serpents, vengeful queens, and mystical quests lies a carefully attuned study of power.
Reason, embodied by Enlightenment ideals that the Freemasons embraced, duals with superstition; science and wisdom vie with ignorance; and light combats darkness. Rising above them all, the power of love — for a companion, a child, a community, or humankind — has the unique ability to transcend these divides.
The second Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival delves into these competing forces — as they play out in Mozart’s beloved opera, as well as across nature, society, and within the state of humanity itself. Anchored by a new staged production of The Magic Flute featuring The Cleveland Orchestra, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, and a cast of renowned singers, the festival will include a fascinating array of performances, conversations, and exhibitions. Over the course of two extended weekends from May 15 to May 26, 2024, community partners from across the Greater Cleveland area and luminaries from around the globe will come together to examine and debate many of the power structures embedded in our world today.
Severance Music Center
Severance Music Center is Cleveland’s home for symphonic music and other presentations, including Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall and Reinberger Chamber Hall. We are strongly committed to making everyone feel welcome. The doors to Severance open three hours prior to most performances.
Food & Beverage Services at Cleveland Orchestra Concerts
Severance Restaurant is temporarily closed.
Concessions* are available at the following times:
- 2 hours prior to concert start: Opus Lounge, and Smith Lobby
- 1 hour prior to concert start: Grand Foyer, Dress Circle, Box Lobby, and Ginn Suite
- Intermission: Grand Foyer, Dress Circle, Box, Ginn Suite
- Post Concert: Opus Lounge
The Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival - May 13: Ginn Suite will be open 1 hour prior to concert start. There is no intermission for this event.
- May 18-19: Lotus Club and Ginn Suite will be closed
*Please note: Lotus Club will be closed for all May performances. Lotus Club guests are invited to the Ginn Suite for pre-show and intermission. All concessions are cashless.
Parking
The most convenient parking option is Case Western Reserve University's (CWRU) Lot 29 Campus Center Garage. The garage is located directly adjacent to Severance Music Center off East Boulevard, and provides stair and elevator access to the hall.
Availability is limited, and pre-paid parking passes for the garage can be added for select performances during checkout.
For more information about getting to Severance Music Center and where to park, please visit our Directions & Parking page.
Accessibility Services
Below is a list of the features and services that The Cleveland Orchestra has made available in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance for this concert.
Wheelchair Access & Seating
Our venue’s seating has reserved special areas for those attending with the use of a wheelchair. These seating options are available during your seat selection across seating price levels. Ushers are available to assist, especially in the event of a General Admission concert.
There is barrier-free entry to Severance Music Center with automatic sliding doors at our garage entrance on Lower Level One in the CWRU Campus Center Garage. There is an elevator for wheelchair access in the center of the garage for traveling from Lower Level Two (the lowest level) to Lower Level One (the level of our arrival entrance). The Euclid Avenue entrance to Severance is best suited for wheelchair entry, with a convenient drop-off area designated at the curb.
Companion Wheelchair Seating
Wheelchair companion seating is available for purchase online and through Severance Ticket Services. Look for a "C" shape on the seating map when making your selection.
Assistance for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Infrared Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are available without charge for most performances in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall. Please request one in advance online or by calling the House Manager’s office. You will be asked to provide a driver’s license or ID card upon arrival, which will be held until the return of the device. Head Ushers can explain how to use the ALD.
Interpretive services may be available for certain events at Severance. Prior arrangements should be made four weeks in advance. Appropriate seat locations may be necessary. TTY line access is available at the public pay phone in the Security Office located at the garage entrance.
Assistance for the Blind or Persons with Low Vision
Large Print Programs are available for most Cleveland Orchestra performances in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall. These are available at the Coat Room locations or from Head Ushers on each level of the Concert Hall, and at Concert Previews.
For select vocal performances, Braille texts may be available on request with 2 weeks’ notice.
Service Animals
Trained guide dogs and service animals are welcome at Severance. If you have any questions, please contact the Ticket Office or the House Manager.
Restrooms
All Smith Lobby restrooms are fully accessible. In addition, private family-accessible restrooms are located in the Smith Lobby and off the Dress Circle Lobby.
Additional Information
The Cleveland Orchestra is strongly committed to making our facilities and performances accessible to all patrons. For more information regarding all of our accessibility services, please visit our Accessibility page.