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Part of the 2026
100 Points
May 16
May 21
May 24
The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.
Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.
The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella.live and its own recording label. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.
The 2025–26 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 24th year as Music Director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of celebrated opera presentations.
Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
Music Director
Now in his 24th season, Franz Welser-Möst continues to shape an unmistakable sound culture as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. Under his leadership, the Orchestra has earned repeated international acclaim for its musical excellence, reaffirmed its strong commitment to new music, and brought annual opera productions back to the stage of Severance Music Center. In recent years, the Orchestra also launched its own streaming platform, Adella.live, and a recording label. Today, it boasts one of the youngest audiences in the United States.
In addition to residencies in the US and Europe, Welser-Möst and the Orchestra perform regularly at the world’s leading international festivals. Welser-Möst will remain Music Director until 2027, making him the longest-serving music director of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Welser-Möst enjoys a particularly close and productive artistic partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic. He regularly conducts the orchestra in subscription concerts at the Vienna Musikverein, at the Salzburg Festival, and on tour in Europe, Japan, China, and the US, and has appeared three times on the podium for their celebrated New Year’s Concert (2011, 2013, and 2023). At the Salzburg Festival, Welser- Möst has set new standards in interpretation as an opera conductor, with a special focus on the operas of Richard Strauss.
Among Welser-Möst’s many honors and awards, he was named an Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic in 2024, one of the orchestra’s highest distinctions.
bass-baritone
Hailed as an artist “alight with the spirit of the music” (Boston Globe), three-time GRAMMY Award-winning bass-baritone Dashon Burton has built a vibrant career with regular appearances across the United States and Europe.His 2025/2026 season highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Don Fernando in Fidelio with the Cleveland Orchestra led by Franz Welser-Möst; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Mozart’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony under Xian Zhang; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Marcelo Lehninger; Britten’s War Requiem with the Erie Philharmonic and Daniel Meyer; and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with the Cincinnati May Festival.Recent highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl; Brahms/Glanert’s Serious Songs and Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony under Stéphane Denève, Mozart’s Requiem with the Minnesota Orchestra and Thomas Søndergård; and a role as Artist-in-Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony, which included Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Bach’s Ich habe genug, both conducted by Ken-David Masur. He has collaborated regularly with Michael Tilson Thomas , singing including performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Francisco Symphony and Copland’s Old American Songs, and MTT’s own Walt Whitman Songs with the Boston and San Francisco Symphony orchestras. Highly regarded as a Baroque specialist, his performances of Handel’s Messiah have included the National Symphony,the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.A multiple award-winning singer, Burton won a GRAMMY in 2021 for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album with Dame Ethyl Smyth’s The Prison with The Experiential Orchestra (Chandos). As a founding member of the groundbreaking vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, he received his first GRAMMY in 2013 for their debut recording of new commissions, and his third in 2024 for Rough Magic, featuring works by Caroline Shaw, William Brittelle, Peter Shin, and Eve Beglarian.His discography also includes Songs of Struggle & Redemption: We Shall Overcome (Acis), Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road (Naxos), Lori Laitman’s Holocaust 1944 (Acis), and Caroline Shaw’s The Listeners with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. His album of spirituals was praised by The New York Times as “profoundly moving…a beautiful and lovable disc.”Burton holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College and Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music. He is currently Assistant Professor of Voice at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.
Now in its 74th season, The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus is celebrated for its versatility and refined musicianship, appearing regularly with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance and Blossom Music Center. As one of the few all-volunteer, professionally trained choruses affiliated with a major American orchestra, it received the 2019–20 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing extraordinary service to the Orchestra.
Visit cochorus.com for more information on the Chorus and auditions.
Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a German composer and pianist whose works revolutionised classical music, bridging the Classical and Romantic eras. His compositions include nine symphonies, numerous concertos, and chamber music that remain cornerstones of Western classical music.
Franz Welser-Möst lifts The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus and an all-star cast of soloists to the life-affirming heights of Beethoven’s only opera, a testament to courage and human nobility. Motivated by a desire for justice during a time of European turmoil, Fidelio decries corruption and sounds a clarion call for freedom in a riveting story that asks the question: How far would you go to save someone you love?
Malin Byström’s performance is generously sponsored by Ms. Cathy Lincoln
Miloš Repický, Repetituer, is generously sponsored by Dr. Michael Frank and Patricia A.* Snyder
Ashley Emerson's performance is generously sponsored by Jane Haylor and Mel Berger
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