Introducing a Monumental Season

Welcome to The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2026–27 Season!

On behalf of the musicians, board, staff, and volunteers, we are so glad to start of this exciting season. This year marks a pivotal moment for The Cleveland Orchestra as we celebrate Franz Welser-Möst’s 25th and final season as Music Director. Franz’s concerts this year include a stunning variety of music featuring some of his favorite works. One of these is Richard Strauss’s monumental opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, which will be fully staged as the centerpiece of our fifth annual Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival. There’s lots to look forward to as we toast Franz and his partnership with your Cleveland Orchestra. (I also invite you to read about Franz’s season-opening programs in his own words: Strauss & Shostakovich, Brahms’s Second Symphony)

The rest of the season is full of treasured masterpieces alongside fresh new works, including the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s Distant Lands, composed for Principal Oboe Frank Rosenwein. We also welcome a dazzling roster of guest artists this season, from familiar faces like soprano Golda Schultz, violinist Augustin Hadelich, and composer-conductor John Adams, to Cleveland Orchestra–debuts for soprano Julia Bullock and pianist Alexandre Kantorow.

In addition to honoring Franz as our longest-serving Music Director, I hope you will join us in celebrating other important anniversaries this season. After the Orchestra tours Europe in October, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus with Eric Whitacre leading the US premiere of his evening-length work, Eternity in an Hour. In January, we mark 20 years of our South Florida Residency with expanded programming at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. Meanwhile, The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra rings in 40 years of nurturing the next generation of young musicians.

Even as their historic partnership begins its final chapter, Franz and the Orchestra continue to refine their unmistakable sound, share Cleveland’s artistry with the world, and build a community of inspired fans and music lovers.

Whether you are a lifetime subscriber or attending your first concert, whether you join us in person or virtually on Adella, thank you for being a vital member of our Cleveland Orchestra family. I hope you will join us often in the coming months to celebrate this historic season together.

André Gremillet
President & CEO | The Richard K. Smucker Chair
The Cleveland Orchestra