The Cleveland Orchestra Announces Select Performances For BLOSSOM MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a lineup of movies and special presentations as part of its 2023 Blossom Music Festival on Sunday. The full list of programming for the 54th Blossom Music Festival, including classical concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra, will be announced in early 2023.

The concerts will take place at Blossom Music Center, The Orchestra's summer home in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, from July 3 to September 3, 2023.

The just-announced performances include Beethoven's triumphant Symphony No. 9 ("Choral"), Broadway classics sung by six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, and celebrated pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Michael Feinstein joining forces for the first time in a program celebrating the Great American Songbook. The Orchestra's popular series of films with live accompaniment continues with a 30th anniversary performance of Jurassic Park, featuring the iconic score by legendary composer John Williams, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second in the trilogy of movies based on the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien with the epic score by Howard Shore. During Labor Day weekend, the Orchestra performs Disney: The Sound of Magic, which looks back on 100 years of Disney's most beloved films.

Another gem of the season is The Cleveland Orchestra's Blossom Summer Soirée, a special event to benefit the Blossom Music Festival. This magical evening on Sunday, July 23 includes an elegant dinner under the stars, followed by the concert.

Lawn Ticket Books are available now for $160. That is $20 off the regular book price and more than $100 off individually priced tickets. This special offer ends December 31, 2022.

Individual tickets for all Blossom Pops subscription concerts and special events, including Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Disney: The Sound of Magic, go on sale for Cleveland Orchestra donors and subscribers on Monday, November 7. General public ticket sales start Thursday, November 10. Single tickets range from $25 to $121.

Under 18s Free helps make attending Blossom Music Festival concerts more affordable for families. With each regular-priced adult ticket purchased, a family can get two free lawn vouchers for children 17 and under.

Under 18s Free is a program of The Cleveland Orchestra's Center for Future Audiences. The Center, created with a lead endowment gift from the Maltz Family Foundation, was established to fund programs to develop new generations of audiences for Cleveland Orchestra concerts in Northeast Ohio.

About Blossom Music Center, Summer Home of The Cleveland Orchestra

Blossom Music Center was created as the summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra and opened in July 1968 with performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by George Szell. The 200-acre music park features the award-winning and acoustically-acclaimed Blossom Pavilion, designed by renowned Cleveland architect Peter van Dijk and seating more than 5,000 people under cover. The adjoining Blossom Lawn accommodates as many as 15,000 more outside on an expansive natural-bowl amphitheater of grass surrounded by bucolic woods.

In the more than half-century since Blossom's opening, headline makers and yet-to-be-discovered young artists across all genres have created unforgettable musical experiences for more than 21 million visitors. In a typical summer, Blossom serves more than 400,000 visitors, who attend concerts ranging from rock, country, and pop to classical. Live Nation operates Blossom under a long-term contract with The Cleveland Orchestra, dividing each year between the Orchestra's Blossom Music Festival of orchestral performances, and a series of presentations from across many genres.

Located 25 miles south of Cleveland and just north of Akron, Blossom is situated in the rolling hills of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which preserves 33,000 acres of natural parkland along the Cuyahoga River. Blossom Music Center was named to honor the Dudley S. Blossom family, who have been major supporters of The Cleveland Orchestra throughout its history. Blossom lies within the city limits of Cuyahoga Falls, an Ohio community first settled in the early 1800s, at 1145 West Steels Corners Road in Summit County. For more information visit clevelandorchestra.com/discover/blossom-music-center/.

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2023 Blossom Music Festival Pops and Special Performances Calendar

All performances at Blossom Music Center, summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Beethoven's Ode to Joy

Saturday, July 1 at 8:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Jahja Ling, conductor
Blossom Festival Chorus

WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 ("Choral")

An Ode to Joy. An anthem for humanity. Experience one of history's most powerful and inspiring artistic works. A masterpiece whose staggering influence is felt across cultures everywhere, it culminates with the famous Ode to Joy, a rallying cry for hope, humanity, and universal fellowship.

Special performance-not on subscription series.

Salute to America

Sunday, July 2 at 8:00pm
Monday, July 3 at 8:00pm
Tuesday, July 4 at 8:00pm

Blossom Festival Band
Loras John Schissel, conductor

Great music, fireworks, and fun for the whole family! Blossom's traditional, star-spangled celebration with the Blossom Festival Band returns with a mix of patriotic marches, Broadway favorites, an Armed Forces Salute and more-concluding with fireworks (weather permitting).

Movie Night Live:

Jurassic Park

Friday, July 7 at 7:00pm
Saturday, July 8 at 7:00pm
Sunday, July 9 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Sarah Hicks, conductor

WILLIAMS Jurassic Park (film with live orchestral underscore)

Welcome... to Jurassic Park! Relive the magic of Jurassic Park on the big screen with a thrilling performance of John Williams's iconic score by The Cleveland Orchestra. The action-packed adventure pits man against prehistoric predators in the ultimate battle for survival. Featuring visually stunning imagery and groundbreaking special effects, this epic film is sheer movie magic 65 million years in the making.

Jurassic Park in Concert is produced by Film Concerts Live!, a joint venture of IMG Artists, LLC and The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.

She's Got Soul

Sunday, July 16 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Lucas Waldin, conductor

Capathia Jenkins, vocals

A wide-ranging revue of R&B classics. The sensational Capathia Jenkins brings her powerhouse voice to soulful hits of Adele, Toni Braxton, The Jackson 5, Earth, Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and other great soul and R&B artists.

Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More

Sunday, July 23 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Keith Lockhart, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Michael Feinstein, piano and vocals

Experience music from Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and more when two of today's most celebrated artists - Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Michael Feinstein - join forces for the first time in an innovative program for two pianos, celebrating the captivating music and world of George Gershwin, including the Rhapsody in Blue. Feinstein, renowned vocalist and pianist, is a leading authority on the Great American Songbook, while Cleveland favorite Thibaudet brings his sparkling virtuosity as one of today's finest pianists.

Summer Soirée: This special fundraising event takes place before the concert. For more information about the Blossom Summer Soirée, as well as ticket and table options, please contact Sean Brewster at specialevents@clevelandorchestra.com.

Movie Night Live:

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Friday, July 28 at 7:00pm
Saturday, July 29 at 7:00pm
Sunday, July 30 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra
Ludwig Wicki, conductor

Blossom Festival Chorus
Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus

SHORE The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film with live orchestral underscore, chorus, and soloists)

A new power is arising ... the Journey continues. Experience the second installment of the epic trilogy on the big screen-with the original score performed live by The Cleveland Orchestra! Composer Howard Shore brings J.R.R. Tolkien's literary imagination to vivid life with his Academy-and Grammy Award-winning scores to the Peter Jackson films. In the saga's second chapter, The Two Towers, the world has darkened, cloaked beneath the advancing shadow of Mordor and the threat of the evil One Ring.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is produced by Columbia Artists Music, LLC.

An Evening with Audra McDonald

Sunday, August 13 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Andy Einhorn, conductor

Audra McDonald, vocals

Named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2015, Emmy, Grammy, and six-time Tony Award--winning Broadway icon Audra McDonald star of CBS's The Good Fight and HBO's The Gilded Age - joins The Cleveland Orchestra for a special evening of Broadway favorites by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin and many others, with songs from her latest album, Sing Happy.

Movie Night Live:

Disney: The Sound of Magic

Friday, September 1 at 7:00pm

Saturday, September 2 at 7:00pm

Sunday, September 3 at 7:00pm

The Cleveland Orchestra

Susie Benchasil Seiter, conductor

Join The Cleveland Orchestra for Disney in Concert: The Sound of Magic, a symphonic celebration of Disney music, animation, and memories -100 years in the making!

Your favorite characters and soundtracks from the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Parks come to life on the concert hall stage and big screen in a live-to-film concert like never before. Performed live by The Cleveland Orchestra, this new concert takes you on a magic carpet ride through the most memorable song, score, and movie moments of the first 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, including Peter Pan, Moana, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Disney Parks classics, and more.

Join the celebration and discover The Sound of Magic.

All programs, artists, and prices are subject to change.

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