The Cleveland Orchestra Presents New Ways to Hear and Experience its Music

In The Cleveland Orchestra's ongoing effort to serve and connect with its community, the Orchestra is reaching out with special new offerings during this difficult time period surrounding the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Through its continuing partnership with ideastream, Northeast Ohio's largest public media organization, the Orchestra is presenting a new series of audio broadcasts, Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra, available on radio and online streaming from WCLV 104.9 ideastream every weekday immediately after BBC News at Noon. Beginning on Monday, April 6 these hour-long daily presentations will include selections from the ensemble's recording and concert history accompanied by a brief overview of the featured music as well as recent interviews with Cleveland Orchestra Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra musicians. The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream, two longtime Northeast Ohio cultural institutions, recognize the value and importance of the arts - especially in helping people across our shared community persevere through trying times. As a result, the Orchestra and ideastream are offering a daily dose of musical nourishment by broadcasting this series of weekday programs featuring highlights from past Cleveland Orchestra concerts and recordings. Programming information is included below for the week of April 6, further weeks of programming through the end of May will be available soon.

"For more than a hundred years, The Cleveland Orchestra has been part of this community, through thick and thin, from wartime to peace, in moments of sadness and triumph," said André Gremillet, President & CEO of The Cleveland Orchestra. "Although much has changed in our daily lives and routines in recent weeks, the Musicians, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, and all of us at The Cleveland Orchestra remain deeply committed to the people of our great community. Music can lift spirits and inspire hope for the future. While we cannot offer live performances at this time, we can and will share our music and do everything we can to help make the world a better place. Through our longtime partnership with ideastream, we're privileged to offer the people of Northeast Ohio - and listeners online - a new musical interlude each day called Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra. Here we will offer listeners the opportunity to turn your focus away from the here and now, and reflect on the wonder and beauty of musical performances from across our great ensemble's history. I invite everyone to listen to our daily broadcasts on WCLV 104.9 ideastream and on ideastream's website. We hope these lunchtime presentations will provide you with some musical nourishment for your soul - and a respite from each day's challenges. In the weeks ahead, we wish you and your family good health - and together we look forward to The Cleveland Orchestra's future live performances."

"I think both the Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts and our recent social media content provide two wonderfully powerful ways for our audiences to connect to the humanity that music expresses, especially today," said Ross Binnie, Cleveland Orchestra Chief Brand Officer. "Our goal is to transport our listeners on a personal, emotional and fascinating journey through the combination of storytelling and music. With our musicians telling their stories in humorous, insightful, and, at times, vulnerable ways, we believe the audience will experience both something new and find fresh meaning in something familiar."

"Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra is a curated collection of some of the best Orchestra performances and most intriguing narratives in our archives," said Kevin E. Martin, ideastream President and CEO. "As social distancing becomes more common, we've come together amidst this crisis to provide something special."

Cleveland Orchestra Musicians on Social Media
With Severance Hall dark during the COVID-19 crisis, many Cleveland Orchestra musicians are recording performances at their homes and posting them on the Orchestra's social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube). These intimate performances offer music-lovers a comforting distraction during these difficult days. In addition, the Orchestra has adapted its school-based Mindful Music Moments program to reach community members of all ages across all of its social media platforms and website. This daily online initiative combines classical music with mindfulness prompts in an attempt to help reduce stress and anxiety, providing an accessible tool to boost social and emotional well-being. In recent weeks, Mindful Music Moments has reached more than 300,000 people across The Cleveland Orchestra's social media channels.

Saturday and Sunday WCLV 104.9 ideastream Cleveland Orchestra Broadcasts
In addition to weekday Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts, WCLV will continue running Cleveland Orchestra concerts on Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4:00 p.m. on the radio and online. Details of the existing broadcast schedule of previously recorded and on-demand concerts are available through these links: ideastream.org/wclv/cleveland-orchestra and ideastream.org/wclv/cleveland-orchestra-broadcasts.

Long-term Partnership: The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream
The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream enjoy a long and growing partnership, dedicated to collaborating on projects that can transform lives through the power of music. Cleveland classical radio station WCLV 104.9 ideastream has worked for more than half a century in producing and recording the Orchestra's weekly radio broadcasts, while more recent projects have included the involvement of ideastream in recording productions for the Orchestra's video recordings of Bruckner and Brahms symphonies (available on DVD through Clasart), online video and audio streaming of live community concerts, producing an episode of PBS's Great Performances that featured the Orchestra's 100th anniversary gala concert, and a new initiative at the Orchestra's summer home, Blossom Music Center, to offer live image magnification (IMAG) for Blossom Music Festival concerts.

The Cleveland Orchestra and ideastream are committed to expanding and extending their collaborative partnership to reach new audiences through affordable and accessible avenues. Collaborative projects enhance musical performances and learning experiences through engaging storytelling, quality education programs, and state-of-the-art technology.

WCLV 104.9 ideastream Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra schedule week of April 6, 2020

All Recordings: The Cleveland Orchestra with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst

Monday, April 6, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 28 in C major, K. 200

Tuesday, April 7, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Johann Strauss Jr: Artist's Life (Waltzes), Op. 316
Dmitri Shostakovich: Finale from Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453, with soloist Leif Ove Andsnes

Wednesday, April 8, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Richard Wagner: Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
Anton Bruckner: Scherzo from Symphony No. 8 in C minor
Ludwig van Beethoven: "Ode to Joy" from Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus

Thursday, April 9, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Richard Wagner: Overture from Tannhäuser
Johannes Brahms: Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, with soloist Yefim Bronfman
Maurice Ravel: Boléro
Johann Strauss Jr: Express Polka, Op. 311

Friday, April 10, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Johann Strauss Jr: Overture from Die Fledermaus
Ludwig van Beethoven: Presto from String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

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