DAPHNE, Bach's Bass in B Minor & More Set for Cleveland Orchestra's 2014-15 Season

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2014-15 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst's programs include Bach's Mass in B minor, and Brahms's Piano Concertos with Yefim Bronfman as soloist. Mr. Welser-Möst continues his long-standing tradition of opera performances at Severance Hall with concert performances of Richard Strauss's rarely heard opera Daphne. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Lang Lang, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Mitsuko Uchida, and conductors Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Fabio Luisi. The Orchestra celebrates the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez in three programs conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.

FRANZ WELSER-MÖST CONDUCTS BACH, BEETHOVEN, DVO?ÁK, MAHLER, RAVEL, AND STRAUSS

In his thirteenth season as Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst will conduct major works including Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") in the opening concerts of the season, Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World"), Mahler's Symphony No. 6 ("Tragic"), and Strauss's Symphonia domestica.

Franz Welser-Möst continues a focus on operatic and choral repertoire in the 2014-15 season, with performances of Richard Strauss's opera Daphne featuring soprano Regine Hangler as Daphne and tenor Andreas Schager as Apollo, in their United States debuts, mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby as Gaea, tenor Norbert Ernst as Leukippos, and bass Ain Anger as Peneios. He will also conduct Ravel's complete Daphnis and Chloé.

A two-week focus on the music of J.S. Bach begins with Franz Welser-Möst leading Bach's Mass in B minor with soprano Joélle Harvey, countertenor Iestyn Davies, tenor Nicholas Phan, bass Hanno Müller-Brachmann, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus. On the following weekend, James Gaffigan will conduct a program including Bach's Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, with Hilary Hahn as soloist. Mr. Gaffigan, chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of both the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne, served as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 2003 to 2006.

PIERRE BOULEZ 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Three programs comprise a celebration of the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez (March 26), the preeminent conductor/composer of the 20th and 21st centuries, who, over the course of nearly 50 years, has led The Cleveland Orchestra in more than 220 performances at home and on tour. Mr. Boulez made his American professional conducting debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in 1965, at the invitation of music director George Szell. He was appointed the Orchestra's first principal guest conductor in 1969, and served as musical advisor during the two seasons following Szell's death in 1970. Mr. Boulez is the recipient of the Orchestra's 2013-14 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing extraordinary service to The Cleveland Orchestra. The 90th birthday concerts, under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, include a performance of Mr. Boulez's sur Incises.

BRAHMS AND HAYDN

The music of Brahms will be featured in two programs conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. The first program begins with the Piano Concerto No. 2 with Yefim Bronfman as soloist, followed by Haydn's Symphony No. 40 and a selection of Hungarian Dances by Brahms. The second program features Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Mr. Bronfman as soloist, Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and Haydn's Symphony No. 39. Brahms's Schicksalslied ("Song of Destiny") will be performed in concerts conducted by James Gaffigan.

Concerts conducted by Bernard Labadie feature Haydn's Symphony No. 101 ("The Clock"), the Piano Concerto in D major with soloist Marc-André Hamelin in his Cleveland Orchestra debut, and a Concerto for Two Horns with Cleveland Orchestra musicians Richard King and Jesse McCormick as soloists.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO

Principal Guest Conductor of Cleveland Orchestra Miami Giancarlo Guerrero will conduct concerts at Severance Hall featuring guest artist Alisa Weilerstein in the Elgar Cello Concerto. The program begins with Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten and concludes with John Adams's Harmonielehre.

DUTOIT AND FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS

Charles Dutoit, principal conductor and artistic director of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who last conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of Severance Hall, tour, and Blossom Festival performances in 1985, returns to lead performances of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, chief conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, who last appeared with the Orchestra in 1983, returns to conduct programs featuring Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain with pianist Jorge Federico Osorio as soloist in his Cleveland Orchestra debut.

DANIEL R. LEWIS YOUNG COMPOSER FELLOW

Ryan Wigglesworth, in his second year as The Cleveland Orchestra's eighth Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow, has been commissioned to create a new work to be premiered by the Orchestra during the 2014-15 season. The United States premiere of Mr. Wigglesworth's Locke's Theatre was performed by The Cleveland Orchestra in March 2014. Mr. Wigglesworth also participates in rehearsals and in educational activities serving the Northeast Ohio community. The Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow program began in 1998. Works by the composers are commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra through the Young Composers Endowment Fund, which was established in 1997 by a $1 million gift from Jan R. and Daniel R. Lewis, who reside in Florida. Mr. Lewis is the Chairman of the Miami Music Association, which supports Cleveland Orchestra Miami.

British composer Ryan Wigglesworth is currently Composer in Residence at the English National Opera. His orchestral song cycle Augenlieder was awarded the vocal prize at the 2010 British Composer Awards. Mr. Wigglesworth's compositions include three works for the BBC Symphony Orchestra: Sternenfall (2007); The Genesis of Secrecy, commissioned for the 2009 BBC Proms and premiered by Sir Andrew Davis; and Augenlieder, first performed by soprano Claire Booth under the composer's direction at the Barbican in 2009. A First Book of Inventions was premiered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010, and his recent Violin Concerto, written for Gordan Nikolic and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, was premiered in Amsterdam in 2012. Other recent or current projects include the orchestral work Locke's Theatre, which marked the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth when it was premiered at the Aldeburgh Music festival in 2013, and a song cycle for tenor Mark Padmore scheduled to receive its first performance in spring 2014. His first opera, written for the English National Opera, will be premiered at the Coliseum in 2017. Ryan Wigglesworth can also be seen on the conductor's podium, recently at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Birtwistle's The Minotaur), and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting Tippett's A Child of Our Time at Royal Festival Hall.

Born in Yorkshire, Mr. Wigglesworth studied at New College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. From 2007 to 2009 he was a Lecturer at Cambridge University, where he was also a Fellow of Corpus Christi College.

WORLD PREMIERES AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS

The Cleveland Orchestra will perform the world premiere of Matthias Pintscher's idyl, for orchestra in October 2014 under Franz Welser-Möst's direction. The work was co-commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester, and the Melbourne Symphony. The Orchestra will perform the world premiere of a new work by Ryan Wigglesworth, as part of the concerts celebrating the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez.

Matthias Pintscher was The Cleveland Orchestra's second Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow, for 2000-02. During that period, the Orchestra commissioned and performed the world premiere of his with lilies white (May 2002) and subsequently performed the United States premieres of his CHOC (Monumento IV), his violin concerto en sourdine (both in May 2003), and his Five Orchestral Pieces (September 2007). Mr. Pintscher made his Cleveland Orchestra conducting debut with CHOC (Monumento IV). The Cleveland Orchestra gave the world premiere performance of Pintscher's Chute d'Etoiles ["Falling Stars"] at the Lucerne Festival in August 2012, followed by the U.S. premiere at Severance Hall in November 2012.

In addition to the premieres of the Pintscher and Wigglesworth works, other contemporary works to be performed during the 2014-15 season include John Adams's Harmonielehre, Luca Francesconi's Cobalt, Scarlet: Two Colors of Dawn, Toshio Hosokawa's Meditation, dedicated to the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, and Jörg Widmann's Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff as soloist.

Jörg Widmann was The Cleveland Orchestra's sixth Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow, for 2009 to 2011. The Orchestra premiered his work titled Flûte en suite with Cleveland Orchestra Principal Flute Joshua Smith as soloist in 2011. The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst gave the U.S. premiere performances of Widmann's Teufel Amor - Sinfonischer Hymnos nach Schiller in January 2014.

TCHAIKOVSKY'S THE NUTCRACKER

The Joffrey Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra continue their long-term collaboration with seven holiday performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker conducted by Tito Muñoz at the State Theater at PlayhouseSquare in downtown Cleveland from November 26-30. Mr. Muñoz, recently appointed music director of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2014-15 season, previously served a three-year tenure as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (2007-10), and has regularly led Joffrey Ballet-Cleveland Orchestra performances at Blossom Music Center since 2009, most recently in 100th anniversary performances of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in August 2013. In 2012, he conducted Joffrey Ballet-Cleveland Orchestra performances of The Nutcracker at the State Theater in PlayhouseSquare.

Conceived and originally directed in 1987 by Robert Joffrey, with contribution from Gerald Arpino, this production of The Nutcracker includes more than 40 company dancers, 200 brilliant costumes, and larger-than-life scenery. The Chicago Sun-Times called the Joffrey's Nutcracker "a grand showcase of classical technique that spotlights the particular talents of many of the company's ensemble dancers," the Chicagoist called it "a first-class celebration of one of the greatest holiday productions ever," and the Washington Post praised it as "a theatrical event of irresistible power."

The Cleveland cast of The Nutcracker will include 60 young dancers from Northeast Ohio who will be selected by audition, dancing side-by-side with the Joffrey company. (Audition details will be announced at a later date.) The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, comprised of 50 members directed by Ann Usher, joins the performances to sing in the beautiful "Snow Scene."

GALA CONCERT

The Cleveland Orchestra's Gala Concert for the 2014-15 season will take place on Saturday, October 11. The all-Tchaikovsky concert will feature Lang Lang as soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 1, along with Act II of The Nutcracker. The evening includes the gala concert and a post-concert dinner, raising funds toward The Cleveland Orchestra's Education and Community Programs. Further information about the Gala will be made available as the season approaches.

GUEST CONDUCTORS

The 2014-15 season's repertoire also includes Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 led by Fabio Luisi, Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust under the direction of Charles Dutoit, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation") conducted by James Gaffigan, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition led by Jakub Hr?ša, Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Jahja Ling, Schoenberg's Pelleas and Melisande conducted by Juanjo Mena in his Cleveland Orchestra debut, Schumann's Symphony No. 3 ("Rhenish") led by Robin Ticciati, Stravinsky's Pétrouchka conducted by Susanna Mälkki in her Cleveland Orchestra debut, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 conducted by Tugan Sokhiev in his Cleveland Orchestra debut.

CONDUCTOR AND SOLOIST DEBUTS

Guest conductors making their Cleveland Orchestra debuts in the 2014-15 season are Susanna Mälkki, Juanjo Mena, and Tugan Sokhiev. Other artists debuting this season include pianists Jeremy Denk, Marc-André Hamelin, and Jorge Federico Osorio; violinists Vadim Gluzman and Alina Ibragimova; cellist Gautier Capuçon; sopranos Regine Hangler and Joélle Harvey; mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, countertenor Iestyn Davies, tenors Andreas Schager and Norbert Ernst, and bass Hanno-Müller-Brachmann. Pianist Daniil Trifonov will make his Severance Hall debut. (He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center in August 2012.)

RETURNING ARTISTS

Several conductors make return appearances this season: Lionel Bringuier, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hr?ša, Bernard Labadie, Fabio Luisi, and Robin Ticciati. Returning soloists are Ain Anger, Yefim Bronfman, Ruxandra Donose, Paul Groves, Christopher Feigum, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, Nancy Maultsby, Nicholas Phan, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Mitsuko Uchida, Alisa Weilerstein, Willard White, and Nicolaj Znaider.

The season features four members of the Orchestra as soloists: William Preucil, Concertmaster, in Dvo?ák's Violin Concerto; Michael Sachs, Principal Trumpet, in Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 (with pianist Daniil Trifonov); and Richard King, Principal Horn, along with horn player Jesse McCormick (in his Cleveland Orchestra solo debut) in Haydn's Concerto for Two Horns in E-flat major.

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY IN SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT APPEARANCE

The San Francisco Symphony will perform a concert in The Cleveland Orchestra's subscription series on November 15, 2014. The concert is part of a national tour by the San Francisco Symphony, whose 2014-15 season celebrates the 20th year of Michael Tilson Thomas's music directorship as well as the conductor's 70th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his debut with the orchestra. The program features Gil Shaham as soloist in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 ("Turkish"), music by Liszt and Ravel, and a recent work by Samuel Carl Adams titled Drift and Providence.

SUBSCRIPTION AND TICKET INFORMATION

Subscriptions for the 2014-15 Season are on sale now and start at just $87 for a three-concert package. Subscribers receive seating priority over individual-ticket buyers, ticket exchange privileges, and other benefits. Tickets to individual performances go on sale in late summer. For more information about the variety of subscription packages offered or for other questions, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141 or visit us online at clevelandorchestra.com.

The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located on street level in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along the west side of the building, on East Boulevard. Severance Hall Ticket Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and, from September through May, Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed Sundays and holidays except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office will be open three hours prior to each performance).

FRIDAY MORNING BUS SERVICE

Free bus service is available to Friday Morning Concert patrons, departing from Akron, Beachwood, Brecksville, and Westlake. Subscribers can sign up for bus service when renewing their season package. Now offered for the fifth consecutive season, bus service is sponsored by the Women's Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra.

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