Cleveland Orchestra management and musicians reach agreement

CLEVELAND, January 19, 2010 ��� The Musicians��� Union and Management of The Cleveland Orchestra reached an agreement early this morning for a new three-year contract through September 2, 2012.  

The agreement calls for a two-year wage freeze through August 2011, followed by semi-annual wage increases of 3% and 2% in the subsequent year.  In addition, the Musicians will donate up to 10 services, which will provide cost relief and additional revenue for the Musical Arts Association.  Musicians will increase their medical premium contribution beginning in July 2011. 

The agreement was announced by the Musicians��� Committee Chairman, Jeffrey Rathbun, and the Orchestra���s Executive Director, Gary Hanson. 

Mr. Rathbun said, ���We are very happy that management has heard our message and agreed not to further erode our base compensation allowing us to stay as competitive as possible with the marketplace.  We look forward to working together to build our base of support and continue our tradition of excellence.���

Mr. Hanson said, ���Both sides worked effectively through a difficult process to reach an unprecedented agreement that will do much to help the Association���s finances going forward.  I am very grateful for the Musicians��� passion and abiding concern for the Orchestra���s artistic excellence.��� 

The agreement was ratified by the musicians on Tuesday afternoon at Severance Hall.  The agreement brings an end to a strike by the Union representing the musicians, Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians, which began at midnight on January 18.  The short strike caused the postponement of a scheduled Residency by the Orchestra at Indiana University.  The Orchestra���s Miami Residency performances will proceed as scheduled.

The Orchestra Committee negotiating on behalf of the Musicians also included Mary Kay Fink, Eli Matthews, Jonathan Sherwin, and Paul Yancich, represented by attorney Bruce Simon.  The negotiating team for Management included Gary Ginstling, James Menger, and Karen Tucholski, represented by attorney Frank Buck.

Negotiations were assisted by FMCS Mediators Jack Buettner and Laura Shepard, who provided tireless and invaluable service in helping the parties reach agreement. 

The Cleveland Orchestra presents ���The Fancy Flute��� Musical Rainbow concerts on February 12 and 13 in Severance Hall���s Reinberger Chamber Hall

Cleveland Orchestra flute and piccolo player Mary Kay Fink will be featured in program

PNC is new sponsor of the Musical Rainbow Series

 

CLEVELAND, January 14, 2010 ��� Cleveland Orchestra flutist Mary Kay Fink will introduce children ages 3-6 to ���The Fancy Flute��� in the February 12 and 13 PNC Musical Rainbow concerts, held in Severance Hall���s Reinberger Chamber Hall.  Local actress and singer Maryann Nagel hosts the 30-minute, age-appropriate programs, which include narration, demonstration, short solo selections, and audience participation.  Biographical information on Ms. Fink follows at the end of this release.

This season, as part of its Grow Up Great initiative in Cleveland, PNC is sponsoring the Musical Rainbows Series for preschoolers as well as a wide range of other activities and programs designed to give very young children ���A Great Early Start in the Arts.���  PNC Musical Rainbow programs introduce very young children to the instruments of the orchestra, one at a time. 

           

Friday, February 12, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.   SOLD OUT

Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall

PNC Musical Rainbow:  ���The Fancy Flute��� (ages 3-6)

MARY KAY FINK, flute

MARYANN NAGEL, host

NICHOLAS UNDERHILL, piano

The PNC Musical Rainbow Series is endowed by the Pysht Fund.

TICKETS:  $7 for adults and children; general admission

To order tickets by phone, call (216) 231-1111.  Tickets are also available online at clevelandorchestra.com.

PARKING ��� For PNC Musical Rainbow concerts at Severance Hall, Standard Parking provides parking in the underground garage adjacent to Severance Hall at a special Rainbow Concert rate of $4.50 per vehicle.  Clearly marked school buses and vans may park for free on the west side of East Boulevard.  Metered parking is also available on some side streets near Severance Hall.

The Cleveland Orchestra���s PNC Musical Rainbow Series is part of a broad array of educational programs designed to foster a love of music and a lifetime of participation in the musical arts. Other programs include Cleveland Orchestra Family Concerts for ages 7 and up, Cleveland Orchestra Education Concerts (which bring more than 25,000 school children to Severance Hall each year), the Learning Through Music school partnership program, Concert Previews and Music Study Groups for adults, and several programs to nurture aspiring young musicians (Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Youth Chorus, and Children���s Chorus). For more information, call the Orchestra���s Educational and Community Programs Department at (216) 231-7355.

Pierre Boulez leads The Cleveland Orchestra in all-French program featuring music by Debussy, Messiaen, and Ravel at Severance Hall on February 4, 6, and 7

Pierre Boulez 

Concerts are part of international celebrations of Boulez���s 85^th birthday
   
Pierre-Laurent Aimard is soloist in Ravel���s Piano Concerto  in G major and Concerto for the Left Hand

CLEVELAND, January 12, 2010 ��� In the first week of Cleveland concerts marking the 85^th birthday year and the 45^th anniversary year of Pierre Boulez���s American professional orchestra debut with The Cleveland Orchestra, the conductor/composer will lead the Orchestra in a program of French music including Debussy���s ���Ib��ria��� from Images and Messiaen���s L���Ascension at Severance Hall on Thursday, February 4, at 8 p.m., Saturday, February 6, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, February 7, at 3:00 p.m.  Mr. Boulez will also conduct the Orchestra in concerts on February 11, 12, and 13, featuring music by Mahler.  (A separate concert announcement will follow.) 

The program for February 4, 6, and 7 begins with Olivier Messiaen���s L���Ascension (Four Symphonic Meditations). Next is Maurice Ravel���s Piano Concerto in G major.  After intermission, the program continues with Ravel���s Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand.  The program concludes with Claude Debussy���s ���Ib��ria��� from Images.

Mr. Boulez, who from 1970-72 served as musical advisor of The Cleveland Orchestra, turns 85 on March 26.   He has been a regular and favorite guest conductor of the Orchestra, leading more than 200 concerts. Among his many recordings with the Orchestra, five have won Grammy Awards, including the 1969 award in the ���Best Classical Performance, Orchestra��� category, for their album including Debussy���s Images.

When Pierre Boulez turned 80, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, ����Ķ how many enfants terribles of the music world have lived to see their work, their contributions as composers, conductors and advocates celebrated around the world as they mark their 80^th birthdays? The category is unique, and the sole designate is Pierre Boulez.���  

  Pierre-Laurent Aimard will be soloist in both of the Ravel piano concertos, which will be recorded live for future release on the Deutsche Gramophone label.  Mr. Boulez and Mr. Aimard have worked together as colleagues over many years, since Pierre Boulez appointed Mr. Aimard (then age 19) as the first solo pianist of the Ensemble Inter��Contemporain ��� the Paris-based contemporary music ensemble Mr. Boulez founded in 1976.

GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

            French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez is regarded as one of the world���s most distinguished musicians.  His 2009 Kyoto Prize affirms the importance of his compositions and activities as author, teacher, and advocate of contemporary music. 

Mr. Boulez made his American professional orchestra debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in March 1965.  In 1969, he became the Orchestra���s first principal guest conductor.  Following the death of Music Director George Szell in July 1970, he served as musical advisor through the 1971-72 season.  Since then, he has been a frequent guest conductor with the Orchestra, most recently in February 2008. 

Pierre Boulez was born in 1925 in Montbrison, France.  After initial training in mathematics, he studied piano, composition, and choral conducting at the Paris Conservatory, where his teachers included Olivier Messiaen and Ren�� Leibowitz.  In 1953, Mr. Boulez founded a modern music concert series that later became the Domaine Musical.  Throughout the next decade, he taught at Basel University and in Darmstadt, and was a visiting professor at Harvard University.  He later joined the faculty at the Coll��ge de France.

In 1971, Pierre Boulez became music director of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic; he held the posts until 1975 and 1977, respectively.  In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou invited Mr. Boulez to establish and direct a music research center ��� the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM).  He also founded the Ensemble InterContemporain, and now holds honorary positions with both organizations.

Pierre Boulez has fostered close relationships with the world���s major orchestras and opera companies.  His conducting highlights include the inaugural concert of the Cit�� de la musique in Paris; a four-orchestra festival of his compositions in Tokyo; tours with the London Symphony Orchestra celebrating his 70th, 75th, and 80th birthdays; and new productions of Bart��k���s Bluebeard���s Castle, Schoenberg���s Moses and Aron, and Wagner���s Parsifal.  More recently, Mr. Boulez has led Jan����ek���s From the House of the Dead in Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam, and Vienna; served as composer-in-residence at Salzburg���s Mozartwoche; and conducted Mahler���s complete symphonies at Carnegie Hall.

            An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 1992, Pierre Boulez has focused his discography on 20^th-century works.  His recordings have garnered Gramophone, Echo, and Deutscher Schallplatten awards and more than 25 Grammys.  Mr. Boulez also has received the Glenn Gould Prize and Wolf Prize, numerous honorary doctorates, and many other awards.

            French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is acclaimed as a key figure in both the music of our time and the standard piano repertoire.  He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in February 1996.  Mr. Aimard appeared with the Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival in August 2008, in the world premiere of George Benjamin���s Duet for piano and orchestra, and in subsequent performances of the work at Severance Hall in September 2008 and at Carnegie Hall in February 2009.  He served as artist-in-residence with the Orchestra for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

          Born in Lyon, France, in 1957, Pierre-Laurent Aimard studied at the Paris Conservatory with Yvonne Loriod, and in London with Maria Curcio.  He received first prize in the 1973 Messiaen Competition and was appointed at age 19 by Pierre Boulez as the Ensemble Inter��Contemporain���s first solo pianist.  For nearly 20 years, Mr. Aimard collaborated with Gy��rgy Ligeti, and he has recorded Ligeti���s complete works.  Pierre-Laurent Aimard received the Royal Philharmonic Society���s Instrumentalist Award in 2005 and 2006, and was named Musical America���s Instrumentalist of the Year in 2007. 

Mr. Aimard performs with the world���s leading orchestras and conductors.  He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2001 and maintains a regular relationship there, as well as with the Berlin Philharmonic, Konzerthaus Vienna, Lucerne Festival, Mozarteum Salzburg, Philharmonie Cologne, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.  His teaching activities include professorships in Paris and Cologne, as well as concert lectures and workshops worldwide.  Mr. Aimard served as inaugural artist-in-residence at the Salle de Concerts Grande-Duchesse Josephine-Charlotte in Luxembourg in 2005 to 2006, became an artistic partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2006, and in 2008 was artistic director of the Southbank Centre���s Messiaen centenary festival in London.  In 2009, he became artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival in England.    

           Pierre-Laurent Aimard has an extensive discography with Sony Classical and Teldec, and now records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon.  His first DG release, ���Bach���s Art of the Fugue,��� won the Diapason d���Or award and the prize for the Choc du Monde de la Musique.  Mr. Aimard also has received two ECHO Classic Awards:  in 2003 for his recording of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, and in 2004 for Debussy���s Images and Etudes.  His recording of Ives���s ���Concord��� Sonata and Songs with Susan Graham garnered a 2005 Grammy Award.  Mr. Aimard���s recent releases include solo works by Carter, Messiaen, and Ravel, and the Mozart piano concertos, which he conducted from the keyboard.

Cleveland Orchestra musicians��� union negotiations stalled

CLEVELAND, January 6, 2010 - The negotiations between The Cleveland Orchestra and the union representing its musician employees (Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians) ended today without a settlement, and no future meetings are scheduled.  The Orchestra���s musicians had been working under a month-to-month contract extension since September.  Last month, the union formally terminated the extension agreement, and has now indicated that the musicians could strike as early as January 18.  

Management is seeking short-term concessions in the negotiations.  The union has been offered a three-year contract in which the base scale portion of their compensation would be reduced by 5% in the first year, with a restoration in the second year, and a 2.5% increase in the third year.  The union���s proposal is for an eight-month contract at their current levels of compensation and benefits.

In 2009, the average compensation for a member of The Cleveland Orchestra was $152,000 in wages, seniority, overtime, media rights, and other payments.  Median compensation was $140,200.  The proposal made today would reduce the median compensation to $134,100 in the first year.  Benefits include 10 weeks paid vacation and 26 weeks paid sick leave.  The official work week is 20 hours.  Among the cities with the top ten orchestras, Cleveland has the lowest cost of living.

To address the current recession, The Cleveland Orchestra was the first major Cleveland arts institution to launch across-the-board cost reductions.  Establishing a principle of shared sacrifice, Music Director Franz Welser-M��st and Executive Director Gary Hanson volunteered reductions in compensation of 20% and 15% respectively, followed by reductions of up to 10% for all other employees.

Cleveland Orchestra Executive Director Gary Hanson stated, ���We need the union to recognize the shared sacrifice throughout the institution and respond in kind.���

 

In 2009, Trustees increased their donations over the previous year by 8%, while guest artists, suppliers, and professional service providers also voluntarily reduced their fees.  The budget for the current fiscal year 2009-10 has been reduced to $42.3 million, including annual cost-cutting of more than $2 million overall.

Cleveland Orchestra ticket sales and other locally earned revenues fell by 5% in the 2008-09 fiscal year to $11.9 million from $12.5 million in the previous year.  Corporate and foundation contributions to the Orchestra declined by more than 20% from $4.9 million to $3.8 million.  In 2009, the Orchestra���s endowment investments fell to their lowest value in more than a decade, to $97.2 million from $124.4 million the previous year. The unfunded liability in the institution���s defined-benefit pension plan increased to $18.6 million, up from $4.3 million the previous year.  

Franz Welser-M��st leads The Cleveland Orchestra in concerts featuring Brahms���s Symphony No. 2 at Severance Hall on January 14, 15, and 16

Leila Josefowicz (Photo by J. Henry Fair)

Program for Thursday and Saturday includes Cleveland Orchestra premiere of Thomas Ad��s���s Violin Concerto with Leila Josefowicz as soloist

CLEVELAND, December 18, 2009 ��� Music Director Franz Welser-M��st will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in a program featuring Brahms���s Symphony No. 2 at Severance Hall on Thursday, January 14, at 8:00 p.m.; Friday, January 15, at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, January 16, at 8:00 p.m.

The program for Thursday and Saturday evenings begins with Richard Strauss���s Don Juan, Opus 20, followed by the first Cleveland Orchestra performances of Thomas Ad��s���s Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths, Opus 23, with Leila Josefowicz as soloist. After intermission, the program concludes with Johannes Brahms���s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73. The Friday morning concert, performed without intermission, consists of the works by Strauss and Brahms.

About Thomas Ad��s���s Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths ���

British composer Thomas Ad��s���s Violin Concerto was written in 2004-05 and given its world premiere in September 2005. Born in London in 1971, Ad��s is widely regarded as the outstanding composer of his generation. In 2000, he became the youngest composer ever to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, often described as ���the Nobel Prize of music.��� Program annotator Paul Schiavo has written that the Violin Concerto ���bears the title Concentric Paths, an allusion that carries possible poetic and certainly formal connotations. Circular patterns, both large and small, permeate the work. The music unfolds in a traditional concerto format of three movements [titled ���Rings,��� ���Paths,��� and ���Rounds���] �Ķ arranged in a familiar fast-slow-fast pattern�Ķ.���

Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz attracts audiences around the world with her fresh approach to repertoire and dynamic virtuosity. She came to national attention with her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, at the age of 16. In recognition of her advocacy and commitment to contemporary music, Ms. Josefowicz was awarded a 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She has collaborated with contemporary composers including John Adams and Oliver Knussen, and last season she premiered concertos written for her by Steve Mackey, Colin Matthews, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Ms. Josefowicz first performed with The Cleveland Orchestra in July 1991 and most recently appeared with the Orchestra in October 2005.

Cleveland Orchestra to perform 30th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert on January 17

Music Director Franz Welser-M��st to lead free program at Severance Hall featuring the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus, the Central State University Chorus, and Sphinx Competition prizewinner Tony Rymer

Mayor Frank G. Jackson to participate in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Community Service Award presentation

Pre-concert talk with James Rose to begin at 6:00 p.m.

Concert to be broadcast live on WCLV, WCPN, and WNWV radio stations

CLEVELAND, December 17, 2009 ��� The Musical Arts Association and Mayor Frank G. Jackson today announced The Cleveland Orchestra���s 30th annual concert in celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. The concert will take place at Severance Hall on Sunday, January 17, 2010, at 7:00 p.m., under the direction of Franz Welser-M��st. The program will feature selections by Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton��n Dvo��k, and Aaron Copland, as well as spirituals and gospel songs. Performing as cello soloist in this year���s celebration concert is Sphinx Competition prizewinner Tony Rymer. The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus and the Central State University Chorus, prepared by William Henry Caldwell, also will participate.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus is a 125-member volunteer chorus from the greater Cleveland community, and the internationally acclaimed Central State University Chorus (directed by William Henry Caldwell) is the official choir of Central State University, located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Cellist Tony Rymer, first-prize winner from the 2009 Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players, Senior Division, will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut as soloist in a performance of Dvo��k���s Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104 (First Movement). The Orchestra���s performance of Bernstein���s ���One Hand, One Heart��� from West Side Story features two students from John Hay High School: soprano Imaris Rivera and tenor Martin Parries.


PRE-CONCERT TALK WITH JAMES ROSE
James Rose, vice president, sales and national accounts for OEConnections, will give the pre-concert talk, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The talk is free to ticket holders for the evening���s concert. A native of Detroit, Mr. Rose has served as mentor for Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra musicians for more than 16 years, played horn with the Detroit Metropolitan Orchestra, and has been involved with the national Sphinx Competition.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED AT CONCERT
In cooperation with the City of Cleveland, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Greater Cleveland Partnership will present the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Community Service Awards at the Orchestra���s 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert. Awards will be presented in recognition of the services and achievements of an individual, a business or organization, and a youth who have positively impacted Cleveland in the spirit of the teachings and example of Dr. King.

The Cleveland Orchestra presents second ���Musically Speaking��� concert of the season, focusing on Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4, at Severance Hall on Jan

Narrator Gerard McBurney

Beyond the Score^�� program narrated by Gerard McBurney illuminates music through multimedia approach

Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut with week of subscription concerts

CLEVELAND, December 10, 2009 ��� The Cleveland Orchestra will perform the second concert in its ���Musically Speaking��� series of Sunday afternoon concerts on January 10, at 3:00 p.m. Jaap van Zweden (pronounced YAP van ZVAY-den), music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the program, which focuses on a single work: Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36. Mr. van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut with concerts on January 7, 8, 9, and 10.

This Musically Speaking concert will be a Beyond the Score^�� event, a series launched by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the 2005-06 season. As written and created by the CSO���s creative director, Gerard McBurney, Beyond the Score^�� shares the illuminating stories found ���inside��� the music, through narrative and video, calling on the orchestra to provide live musical examples that illustrate the structure of each composition. Mr. McBurney has commented, ���Above all else, I want to give listeners a sense that this music is there for them and that there are thousands of different ways to listen to it.���

The first half of the January 10 program will feature a multi-media presentation of Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4, allowing the audience to learn the work���s rich context in history, how it fits into the composer���s output of works, and the details of the composer���s life that influenced its creation. When Gerard McBurney presented this program in Chicago one year ago, The Chicago Tribune wrote that his exploration ���took apart Tchaikovsky���s music movement by movement, theme by theme, examining it in light of the composer���s melancholy personality, his repressed homosexuality, his brief and disastrous marriage and, above all, his deeply rooted belief in fate���s implacable hold over human existence.���

Gerard McBurney will appear as narrator at this concert, in his Cleveland Orchestra debut. Actor Terence Cranendonk will read from Tchaikovsky���s letters. Mr. Cranendonk made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in the first Musically Speaking concert of the season, on November 29. He has appeared with the Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, and New World Performance Lab. After intermission, the Orchestra will perform the Symphony No. 4 in its entirety, straight through. Listeners are invited to stay after the concert for a question-and-answer session with guest artists and musicians. Click here to watch or download Beyond the Score^�� on Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4.

The third and final ���Musically Speaking��� concert of the 2009-10 season will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010 (���Wolfgang ��� Mozart the Man���).

FREE PRELUDE CONCERT

Another aspect of the ���Musically Speaking��� series, which The Cleveland Orchestra inaugurated during its 2005-06 season, is the Prelude Concert of chamber music performances given by members of the Orchestra in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 2:00 p.m. These extremely popular programs highlight interesting connections with the music on the program for that afternoon���s Orchestra concert. The January 10 Prelude Concert features Chul-In Park, Sae Shiragami, Patrick Connolly, Joanna Patterson, Paul Kushious, and David Alan Harrell performing the first movement (Allegro con spirito) from Tchaikovsky���s Souvenir de Florence, Opus 70 (for two violins, two violas, and two cellos), and Peter Otto and Eli Matthews performing Eug��ne Ysa��e���s Sonata for Two Violins, Opus posthumous.

Cleveland Orchestra performs third concert in Fridays@7 series at Severance Hall on January 8

Polygraph Lounge (from left) Mark Stewart, Rob Schwimmer, Melissa Fathman

Jaap van Zweden leads program featuring

Tchaikovsky���s Fourth Symphony

Polygraph Lounge to perform post-concert

CLEVELAND, December 10, 2009 ��� Jaap van Zweden (pronounced YAP van ZVAY-den), music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in its third Fridays@7 concert, at Severance Hall on Friday, January 8, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. van Zweden will be making his Cleveland Orchestra debut with concerts on January 7, 8, 9, and 10. The January 8 program, titled Tragedy to Triumph, features Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36, which was written during a time of great personal crisis for the composer that was also one of the greatest periods in his artistic career, culminating with his Fourth Symphony. The opening work on the program is Johan Wagenaar���s Cyrano de Bergerac Overture, Opus 23.

The new Fridays@7 series offers early-evening programs that are about 75 minutes long, performed straight through, followed by informal performances of music curated by Cleveland percussionist Jamey Haddad. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with bars open to serve drinks and light food. Each concert begins at 7 p.m. and runs without intermission. After the concert, audience members can move to the Bogomolny-Kozerefski Grand Foyer just outside the Concert Hall and sample interesting cuisine, enjoy cocktails, and mingle with musicians while listening to world music. The first two concerts in the series drew large, enthusiastic audiences.

On January 8, the featured post-concert performers will be the New York duo Polygraph Lounge, called ���zany, musically tight, and lyrically brilliant��� by New York magazine. The members of Polygraph Lounge, Mark Stewart and Rob Schwimmer, will be joined by vocalist Melissa Fathman and an ensemble of Cleveland Orchestra members to introduce ���inspired lunacy from an arsenal of musical instruments plundering the cultural currency of our times.��� Audience participation will be highly encouraged.

Upcoming Fridays@7 programs:

February 19, 2010: Musical Obsession, with Music Director Franz Welser-M��st conducting orchestral music by Richard Wagner

April 30, 2010: Royal Drums & Trumpets, with baroque specialist Bernard Labadie guest-conducting Handel���s Water Music

Jaap van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut in concerts featuring Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall on January 7 and 9

Jaap van Zweden

Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil

is soloist in Marc Neikrug���s Violin Concerto at the

January 7 and 9 concerts

CLEVELAND, December 10, 2009 ��� Jaap van Zweden (pronounced YAP van ZVAY-den), music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will make his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra conducting a program featuring Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall on Thursday, January 7, and Saturday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m. (He will also conduct the Orchestra���s Fridays@7 concert on January 8 at 7:00 p.m. and the Musically Speaking concert on Sunday, January 10, at 3:00 p.m., both of which also feature Tchaikovsky���s Fourth Symphony.) The January 7 and 9 concerts present Marc Neikrug���s Violin Concerto, with Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil as soloist. The program for January 7 and 9 begins with Johan Wagenaar���s ���Cyrano de Bergerac��� Overture, Opus 23, and continues with the Neikrug concerto. After intermission, the program concludes with Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky���s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36.

About Johan Wagenaar���s ���Cyrano de Bergerac��� Overture:

This concert overture, the most successful work composed by Johan Wagenaar, a Dutch composer who lived from 1862-1941, is based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In addition to the success of Cyrano de Bergerac onstage, it has been adapted as a film, most recently for the 1987 movie Roxanne, starring Steve Martin. Wagenaar���s overture is written in the Late Romantic style, and is reminiscent of the tone poems of Richard Strauss. This is the first piece by Wagenaar to be performed by The Cleveland Orchestra.

About Marc Neikrug���s Violin Concerto:

American composer Marc Neikrug���s Violin Concerto was written in 1982 and given its world premiere in 1984 by violinist Shlomo Mintz with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, which had commissioned the work, under the direction of Sergiu Comissiona. Program annotator Richard Rodda has written that the Violin Concerto contains ���music of decidedly modernist harmony, melody, and texture, yet at its core lies a deeply expressive, almost Romantic expression.���

Soloist William Preucil served as first violinist of the Grammy-winning Cleveland Quartet and as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra before being named as concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra in April 1995. He has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Orchestra in concerto performances at both Severance Hall and the annual Blossom Festival. Mr. Preucil���s most recent solo appearances with the Orchestra were in November 2008.

Cleveland Orchestra, C.G. Conn to hold Hornapalooza on January 18

Clinics, workshops open to French horn players of all skill levels, culminating with performance on Severance Hall main stage

CLEVELAND, December 9, 2009 ��� On January 18, 2010, The Cleveland Orchestra, in partnership with C.G. Conn, invites French horn players of all skill levels to participate in Hornapalooza, a day of clinic sessions, and a culminating performance on Severance Hall���s main stage. The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. ��� 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 18, 2010, at Severance Hall.

The event includes clinic sessions teaching fundamental horn skills led by members of The Cleveland Orchestra���s horn section, and a group performance under conductor Loras John Schissel on the main stage of Severance Hall. Participants can also visit with experts from C.G. Conn to learn about horn care and maintenance.

Hornapalooza will culminate in a main stage group performance at 1:00 p.m. The performance is part of the free 2010 Martin Luther King Day Community Open House, which runs from noon to 5:15 p.m. that day. The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra concert at 2:00 p.m. will feature members of The Cleveland Orchestra���s horn section.

Registration forms for Hornapalooza are due by December 18 and are available at clevelandorchestra.com or by emailing education@clevelandorchestra.com or calling The Cleveland Orchestra���s Office of Education and Community Programs at (216) 231-7355. There is a registration fee of $15.

Hornapalooza is part of The Cleveland Orchestra���s Community Music Initiative, a series of artistic initiatives and new programs aimed at diversifying the Orchestra���s offerings and reaching more children, adults, teachers, students, musicians, and families than ever before. These diverse programs offer everyone, from preschool children to adults, the opportunity to experience music in a variety of ways, throughout their lives, and throughout the community.

C.G. Conn brass instruments are manufactured and distributed by Conn-Selmer, Inc. The largest manufacturer of band and orchestral instruments and accessories in the United States, Conn-Selmer, Inc. is a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. To contact Conn-Selmer, write to P.O. Box 310 Elkhart, IN 46515-0310 U.S.A. or visit www.conn-selmer.com.

Robert Porco conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in Handel's Messiah at Severance Hall on December 10 and 12

Vocal soloists are soprano Mary Wilson, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Alek Shrader, and bass-baritone John Relyea

CLEVELAND, November 10, 2009 ��� Robert Porco, The Cleveland Orchestra���s director of choruses, will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in performances of Handel���s Messiah at Severance Hall on Thursday, December 10, and Saturday, December 12, at 8:00 p.m. The performances will be given in observance of the 250th anniversary of Handel���s death (April 14, 1759). Vocal soloists for Messiah will be soprano Mary Wilson, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Alek Shrader, and bass-baritone John Relyea. With these performances, Ms. Wilson makes her Severance Hall debut and Mr. Costanzo makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut. The Cleveland Orchestra Chamber Chorus, prepared by Robert Porco, will also perform.

The program consists of a single work, Handel���s Messiah, with an intermission between Parts I and II.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Soprano Mary Wilson is cultivating a wide-ranging career performing chamber music, oratorio, and operatic repertoire. As an interpreter of Baroque repertoire, especially works by Handel, she has appeared with American Bach Soloists, Bach Society of St. Louis, Baltimore Handel Choir, Boston Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Florida Bach Festival, and Musica Angelica. Her engagements this season include the role of Oriana in Handel���s Amadigi di Gaula with Boston Baroque, Mahler���s Symphony No. 4 with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Bach���s Mass in B minor and the Mozart Requiem with Florida Baroque, Monteverdi���s Vespers of 1610 with Boston Baroque, and Bach���s St. John Passion with Musica Angelica. Ms. Wilson made her Cleveland Orchestra debut as a soloist in Mendelssohn���s A Midsummer Night���s Dream at the Blossom Festival in July 2008.
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 when he appeared in the Broadway touring production of Falsettos. In 2009, he was a Grand Finals Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. During the 2009-10 season, Mr. Costanzo makes his New York City Opera debut as Armindo in Handel���s Partenope and his New York Philharmonic debut as Prince Go-Go in Ligeti���s Le Grand Macabre. In the summer of 2010, he will sing the title role in Glimmerglass Opera���s new production of Handel���s Tolomeo. Following his debut performances with The Cleveland Orchestra at these concerts, he travels to Carnegie Hall for performances of Messiah with Musica Sacra.
Tenor Alek Shrader, a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, made his San Francisco Opera mainstage debut during the 2008-09 season as Nemorino in L���Elisir d���amore. In March and April 2009, he sang the role of Count Almaviva in Opera Cleveland���s production of The Barber of Seville. He was a featured soloist in the 2009 Metropolitan Opera Concert in the Park series. During the 2009-10 season, he makes his European debut as Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Grand Th����tre de Bordeaux and appears in the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the season, he will make his Santa Fe Opera debut in the title role of Albert Herring. Mr. Shrader made his Cleveland Orchestra debut as a soloist in performances of Bach���s Magnificat and excerpts from Handel���s Messiah in December 2006.
Bass-baritone John Relyea has appeared in many of the world���s most celebrated opera houses and remains in high demand throughout the concert world, performing with leading orchestras across the United States and in Europe. This season, he makes his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Mephistopheles in The Damnation of Faust and returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of The Marriage of Figaro. He also appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Dresden Staatskapelle. Mr. Relyea made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in January 1998 as a soloist in Bach���s Mass in B minor and most recently appeared with the Orchestra at the Blossom Festival in July 2004.

TICKET PRICES (Add $5 for Saturday): Orchestra: $66, $44; Dress Circle: $87, $51; Balcony: $66, $51, $31.
TICKET SERVICES:
The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along East Boulevard. Single tickets for all concerts in the 2009-10 season are now on sale.
Severance Hall Ticket Office Hours:
M-F 9-6
Sat. 10-6
Closed Sundays and major holidays, except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office opens three hours before the concert.
To charge tickets by telephone on American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard, and Visa, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at (216) 231-1111 (Cleveland) or 800-686-1141 during the regular ticket office hours listed above. Subscriptions and single tickets are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra���s website at clevelandorchestra.com. The website offers secure ticket transactions with any major credit card and provides complete concert listings.

FREE CONCERT PREVIEWS:
Concert Previews will be given prior to the December 10 and 12 concerts, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the Concert Hall. Hugh Floyd, director of choral activities at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, will give the Preview. Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

PARKING:
For evening subscription concerts at Severance Hall, parking can be purchased for $10 per vehicle, when space permits, in the Campus Center Garage (the underground garage located directly behind Severance Hall). Pre-paid parking for the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance through the Ticket Office at the cost of $14 per concert (this includes City of Cleveland parking tax and handling fee). The pre-paid parking ensures patrons a parking space. Availability of these pre-paid parking passes is limited.
For further information, or to order pre-paid parking, patrons should call the Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Office during regular office hours at (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141. Pre-paid parking passes are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra���s website at clevelandorchestra.com.

Iv��n Fischer conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in program featuring Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 at Severance Hall on December 3, 4, and 5

Richard Goode is soloist in Beethoven���s Piano Concerto No. 3

CLEVELAND, November 3, 2009 ��� Guest conductor Iv��n Fischer will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program featuring Rachmaninoff���s Symphony No. 2 at Severance Hall on Thursday, December 3; Friday, December 4; and Saturday, December 5, at 8:00 p.m. Richard Goode will be soloist in Beethoven���s Piano Concerto No. 3.
The program begins with Carl Maria von Weber���s Overture to Der Freisch��tz, followed by Ludwig van Beethoven���s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Opus 37. After intermission, the program concludes with Sergei Rachmaninoff���s Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Opus 27.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Hungarian conductor Iv��n Fischer has been music director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra since he founded the ensemble in 1983. He also currently serves as principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. and as principal artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (along with Vladimir Jurowski and Sir Simon Rattle). Mr. Fischer has led Mozart productions at the Vienna State Opera and has also conducted the major opera companies of Brussels, Budapest, Frankfurt, London, Paris, and Zurich. He appears regularly with the leading orchestras of Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, and Paris, among other cities, and also has a close relationship with the Munich Philharmonic, with whom he has been conducting a three-year Mahler project that began in December 2007. Mr. Fischer made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the 1998 Blossom Festival and made his Severance Hall debut in October 1999. His most recent engagement with the Orchestra was in February 2007.
American pianist Richard Goode is acknowledged world-wide for his interpretations of Classical and Romantic repertoire, and for music-making of tremendous emotional power, depth, and expressiveness. His recording of the five Beethoven piano concertos with Iv��n Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, released on the Nonesuch label in May 2009, was nominated for a Gramophone Magazine ���Concerto of the Year��� award. During the 2007-08 season, Mr. Goode performed at and curated a multi-event residency at the South Bank Centre in London as artist-in-residence. He also was a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist. This season, he collaborates with Jonathan Biss to perform piano duos by Beethoven, Debussy, Schubert, Schumann, and Stravinsky in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Mr. Goode currently serves with Mitsuko Uchida as co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in March 1992 and most recently performed with the Orchestra in March 2004.

TICKET PRICES (Add $5 for Saturday): Orchestra: $71, $47; Dress Circle: $93, $55; Balcony: $71, $55, $31.

FREE CONCERT PREVIEWS:

Concert Previews will be given prior to the December 3, 4, and 5 concerts, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in Reinberger Chamber Hall. Robert Cassidy, a member of the piano faculty at Cleveland State University, will give the Preview. Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

CALENDAR LISTINGS:

Thursday, December 3, at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, December 4, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 5, at 8:00 p.m.

Severance Hall

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
IV��N FISCHER, conductor
RICHARD GOODE, piano

WEBER Overture to Der Freisch��tz
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

Ticket Prices: $31-$98 ��� Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online at clevelandorchestra.com

Season Sponsor: UBS
Guest Artist Fund: The Hershey Foundation

Concert Preview, in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Preview Speaker: Robert Cassidy, member of the piano faculty, Cleveland State University

The Cleveland Orchestra and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, in cooperation with the City of Cleveland, seek nominations for the seventh annual Dr.

Awards to recognize an adult, a business or organization, and a youth who have positively impacted Cleveland in the spirit of the teachings and example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Presentation to take place at The Cleveland Orchestra���s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert on January 17, 2010

CLEVELAND, November 3, 2009 ��� In cooperation with the City of Cleveland, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Greater Cleveland Partnership are currently accepting nominations for the seventh annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award, which will be presented at the Orchestra���s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert at Severance Hall on Sunday, January 17, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. Awards will be presented in three categories in recognition of the services and achievements of an adult, a youth, and a business or organization that have positively impacted Cleveland in the spirit of the teachings and example of Dr. King.

Nomination and Selection Process

Members of the community may submit nominations for award consideration. Nomination forms are available through the websites of The Cleveland Orchestra (clevelandorchestra.com), the Greater Cleveland Partnership (gcpartnership.com), the City of Cleveland (city.cleveland.oh.us), or by calling The Cleveland Orchestra���s Department of Education and Community Programs, (216) 231-7355. Nomination forms are due by Thursday, December 17, 2009, and should be mailed to MLK Community Service Award, Attention: Education and Community Programs, The Cleveland Orchestra, 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, or emailed to sjones@clevelandorchestra.com with Subject Line: MLK Community Service Award Nomination.

A six-person panel composed of community leaders will select award recipients. The Nomination Committee will be chaired by Robert P. Madison, CEO, Robert P. Madison International, Inc. and a member of the Musical Arts Association Board of Trustees.

Award Presentation and Concert

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award will be presented to the outstanding adult, youth, and outstanding business or organization at The Cleveland Orchestra���s 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert on January 17, 2010. The concert will take place at Severance Hall at 7:00 p.m., under the direction of Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-M��st. Cellist Tony Rymer, first prize winner from the 2009 Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players, Senior Division, will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut as soloist in a performance of Dvo��k���s Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104 (First Movement). The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus and the Central State University Chorus, with conductor William Henry Caldwell, will also participate in the concert.

Admission to the concert is free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning December 26, 2009, through the Severance Hall Ticket Office. Patrons can stop by the Ticket Office Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., or Saturdays between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., or call the Ticket Office at (216) 231-1111 or 1-800-686-1141. A limited number of tickets will also be available via the Cleveland Orchestra website at clevelandorchestra.com. There is a limit of 2 tickets per person.

This concert is sponsored by KeyBank, a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence, with additional support from The Cleveland Foundation. The musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra donate their services for this concert as a benefit to the Musical Arts Association sustaining fund.

For more information about award nominations and the MLK Celebration Concert on January 17, 2010, please contact The Cleveland Orchestra���s Department of Education and Community Programs at (216) 231-7355.

Bertrand de Billy makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut in program featuring Dvo��k���s ���New World��� Symphony at Severance Hall on November 27 and 28

Jonathan Biss is soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 ("Jeunehomme")

CLEVELAND, October 28, 2009 ��� French conductor Bertrand de Billy (pronounced Bear-TRAN de Bee-YEE), music director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, will make his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra conducting a program featuring Dvo��k's Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World") in Thanksgiving weekend concerts at Severance Hall on Friday, November 27, and Saturday, November 28, at 8:00 p.m. (He will also conduct the Orchestra's Musically Speaking concert on Sunday, November 29, at 3:00 p.m.) For the November 27 and 28 concerts, Jonathan Biss will return to Severance Hall to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 ("Jeunehomme"), K. 271, with the Orchestra.

The program for November 27 and 28 begins with Ludwig van Beethoven's Overture to Egmont, Opus 84, followed by Wolfgang Amad�� Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major ("Jeunehomme"), K. 271. After intermission, the program concludes with Anton��n Dvo��k's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Opus 95 ("From the New World").

FREE CONCERT PREVIEWS:

Concert Previews will be given prior to the November 27 and 28 concerts, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in Reinberger Chamber Hall. James Feddeck, Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor, will give the Preview, titled "New Worlds and New Sounds." Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.

CALENDAR LISTINGS:

Friday, November 27, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 28, at 8:00 p.m.

Severance Hall

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
BERTRAND de BILLY, conductor
JONATHAN BISS, piano

BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9 ("Jeunehomme"), K. 271
DVO���K Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World")

Ticket Prices: $31-$92 ��� Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online at clevelandorchestra.com

Season Sponsor: UBS
Guest Artist Fund: The Payne Fund

Concert Preview, in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.: "New Worlds and New Sounds," given by James Feddeck, Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor

Bertrand de Billy

French conductor Bertrand de Billy, music director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut with the concerts of November 27, 28, and 29, 2009. Born in Paris in 1965, Bertrand de Billy studied violin and viola, sang in a boys' choir, and began his professional career as an orchestra member. In 1986, he began a four-season tenure as conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunesse en Ile de France. He subsequently became conductor and deputy music director of the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany, and in 1996, the Volksoper Vienna. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. de Billy was music director of the newly re-opened Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona.

Bertrand de Billy has conducted at the state opera houses in Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich; London's Royal Opera; National Opera in Paris; Th����tre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels; and Vienna State Opera; and at the Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Washington Opera in this country. At the Vienna State Opera, he was responsible for several new productions, including the complete French version of Verdi's Don Carlos. In 2002, Mr. de Billy made his debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting Mozart's The Magic Flute. That year he also became principal conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he has performed many operas at Vienna's Theater an der Wien.
Mr. de Billy's extensive discography includes the symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler; French orchestral music; Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and The Marriage of Figaro; the tone poems of Richard Strauss; and Wagner's Ring cycle. His recording of Puccini's La Boh��me with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was used as the soundtrack for the film of the same name.

Bertrand de Billy has conducted nearly all the orchestral works of Dutilleux and Messiaen, as well as world premieres of pieces by Friedrich Cerha and Johannes Maria Staud. Mr. de Billy also regularly leads performances of music by Luciano Berio, HK Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, Gy��rgy Kurt��g, Wolfgang Rihm, J��rg Widmann, and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

For more information, visit www.debilly.com.

Jonathan Biss

American pianist Jonathan Biss is known for his prodigious technique, diverse repertoire, artistic maturity, and versatility. He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in November 2007.
Jonathan Biss represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians that includes his grandmother, the cellist Raya Garbousova, and his parents, violinist Miriam Fried and violist/violinist Paul Biss. Jonathan Biss began studying piano at age six, and his first musical collaborations were with his parents. He studied at Indiana University with Evelyne Brancart and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher. In 2000-2001, Mr. Biss made both his New York recital debut and his New York Philharmonic debut.

Mr. Biss has received many honors, including the 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award, Wolf Trap's Shouse Debut Artist Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2003 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, and the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2005 Schleswig-Holstein Festival.
In repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Schoenberg, as well as new music including commissions from Leon Kirchner and Lewis Spratlan, Jonathan Biss has performed with the orchestras of Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and on a European tour with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In recent seasons, he made his debuts with the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Hamburg, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. This past summer, he toured Japan with the NHK Orchestra and performed with the Melbourne Symphony.

In the 80th birthday celebrations of Leon Fleisher in October 2008, Mr. Biss joined pianists Yefim Bronfman, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, and Mr. Fleisher in concerts in New York, Boston, and Baltimore. The pianists played both individually and in piano four-hand combinations.

Mr. Biss has been a member of Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center, a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, and a collaborator with such ensembles as the Borromeo and Mendelssohn quartets as well as with violinist Midori and cellist Johannes Moser.
Mr. Biss's recordings for EMI Classics include works by Mozart and Schumann. He received an Edison Award for his disc of Beethoven's piano sonatas and a Diapason d'Or de l'ann��e for a CD of music by Schumann.

For more information, visit www.jonathanbiss.com.

The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-M��st���s live recording of Bruckner���s Symphony No. 7 to be released on DVD

Recorded at Severance Hall in September 2008

Release is third Bruckner DVD by Franz Welser-M��st and The Cleveland Orchestra

CLEVELAND, October 26, 2009 ��� The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-M��st���s live recording of Bruckner���s Symphony No. 7 will be available on DVD on October 27 in the United States. The DVD release coincides with the Orchestra���s European tour and its return appearance on November 3 to the Brucknerhaus in Linz, which is named for the Austrian composer. Recorded by WVIZ/PBS ideastream�� at the Orchestra���s home, Severance Hall in Cleveland, during subscription concerts on September 25 and 26, 2008, the Bruckner 7 recording is the third Bruckner DVD featuring the Orchestra and Franz Welser-M��st.
Clasart produced the recording, which will be distributed by Arthaus. The Cleveland Orchestra and Clasart have had a long-term partnership resulting in all three Bruckner DVDs. The Cleveland Orchestra acknowledges both Raiffeisenlandesbank Ober��sterreich and Clasart for their generous support of the DVD release.

The new DVD represents an ongoing collaboration with WVIZ/PBS ideastream. On June 11, 2008, PBS broadcast ���The Cleveland Orchestra in Performance: Bruckner Symphony No. 5,��� recorded in the Abbey of St. Florian in Linz, Austria, by Clasart and produced for U.S. broadcast by WVIZ/PBS. For 15 years, WVIZ/PBS has been the video production partner for The Cleveland Orchestra���s annual ���Star-Spangled Spectacular Concert and Festival��� at Public Square in downtown Cleveland.

Born in Linz, Austria, Franz Welser-M��st often performs and records the music of Austrian composer Anton Bruckner ��� who famously served as organist at the Abbey of St. Florian, just outside Linz. Mr. Welser-M��st has led The Cleveland Orchestra in video recordings of live performances of Bruckner symphonies made in other historic concert venues in addition to Severance Hall: Symphony No. 5 in the Abbey of St. Florian, and Symphony No. 9 in Vienna���s Musikverein. During the 2009-10 season, The Cleveland Orchestra will perform Bruckner���s Symphony No. 8 under the direction of Mr. Welser-M��st.

The release of the Bruckner DVD continues The Cleveland Orchestra���s expanded electronic media presence under Franz Welser-M��st���s music directorship. In September, Decca released a recording featuring Mitsuko Uchida and the Orchestra performing Mozart. This season, the Orchestra is making an all-Wagner recording for Deutsche Grammophon as part of a multi-disc recording project.

* * *

The Cleveland Orchestra has received eight Grammy Awards and 31 Grammy nominations. In addition to recordings released on commercial labels, The Cleveland Orchestra has itself produced five sets of archival recordings: the 75th Anniversary Compact Disc Edition, the George Szell Centennial Compact Disc Edition, the Christoph von Dohn��nyi Compact Disc Edition, George Szell ��� Live in Tokyo 1970 (Szell���s last recorded concert), and the Robert Shaw Legacy Compact Disc Edition.

Throughout his career, Franz Welser-M��st has made numerous critically acclaimed recordings. His recording of Franz Schmidt���s Symphony No. 4 won a Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording. More recent releases include HK Gruber���s Frankenstein!!, Schmidt���s The Book of the Seven Seals, and the world-premiere recording of Johann Strauss Jr.���s Simplicius with the Zurich Opera Orchestra, which won the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis. In addition to audio recordings, Mr. Welser-M��st has an extensive number of DVD releases with the Zurich Opera. His DVD recording of Richard Strauss���s Der Rosenkavalier with the Zurich Opera won a 2005 Diapason d���Or award.

Bruckner Symphony No. 7
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-M��st, Conductor
Recorded live at Severance Hall, Cleveland, September 25 and 26, 2008

ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony No. 7