Part of the
100 Points
May 22
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Now firmly in its second century, 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 opera 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.
Principal Harp
Trina Struble was appointed principal harp of The Cleveland Orchestra in October 2007. She joined the Orchestra as assistant principal harp in 1992, after graduating from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in both harp and violin. She subsequently earned master of music degrees in harp and violin from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). At Oberlin and CIM, her harp teacher was Alice Chalifoux, former principal harp of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Before joining the Orchestra, Ms. Struble toured with the American-Soviet Youth Orchestra, serving as a violinist and as principal harp. She also performed as principal harp, violinist, and soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, as well as with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, and Houston Symphony. Ms. Struble joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in September 2011. She taught previously at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. She also teaches privately and presents masterclasses upon request. Ms. Struble performs regularly as a harpist and violinist in both classical and non-classical settings, and is a Colorado Grand Champion Fiddler.
Composer
The fourth annual Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival wraps up as Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Dvořák’s Hero’s Song, a symphony in miniature that bears the composer’s distinctive style and irrepressible Bohemian spirit. Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra receives its world premiere with virtuoso violinist Leila Josefowicz and TCO’s own Principal Harp Trina Struble alongside Bacewicz’s stormy Fourth Symphony and Adolphus Hailstork’s moving elegy for Martin Luther King, Jr.
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