The Cleveland Orchestra to Present 2025 Blossom Music Festival

The Cleveland Orchestra will present its 2025 Blossom Music Festival, promising an unforgettable summer of performances at Blossom Music Center. 

The festival runs July 3 through September 7 at the Orchestra’s scenic home in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This exciting lineup features timeless classics, Blockbuster film scores, Broadway hits, and performances by some of today’s biggest stars.  

The festival kicks off on July 3 and 4 with the beloved Salute to America concerts featuring the Blossom Festival Band. These family-favorite patriotic performances include stirring marches and a salute to the Armed Forces, culminating in a spectacular fireworks display that marks the official start of the 2025 Blossom season. 

The Cleveland Orchestra presents Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on July 5 and 6. Audiences can experience the magic of the film as the Orchestra performs John Williams’s enchanting score live, immersing fans in the wizarding world like never before. 

July 12 features a grand performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana, conducted by Osmo Vänskä who is joined by the Blossom Festival Chorus, The Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus, and vocalists Shelén Hughes, Reginald Mobley, and John Brancy. The evening also includes Sibelius’s bittersweet tone poem En Saga. 

The Orchestra brings Schumann’s youthful “Spring” Symphony to life with conductor Petr Popelka on July 19. The work is paired with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, featuring violinist Veronika Eberle in her Cleveland Orchestra debut. 

Conductor Jonathon Heyward also makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut the following week with Beethoven’s countryside-inspired “Pastoral” Symphony in a joyous program including the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra on July 26. He’ll also lead Jess Gillam in a performance of Anna Clyne’s Glasslands, a new saxophone concerto. 

The incomparable Cynthia Erivo takes the Blossom Music Center stage on July 27 with conductor Edwin Outwater. During An Evening with Cynthia Erivo, the Oscar-nominated and Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award–winning performer joins the Orchestra for both original and legendary hits. The concert follows the annual Blossom Summer Soirée, a special event to benefit the Orchestra’s summer home. 

Conductor Daniele Rustioni and pianist Alessio Bax both make their Cleveland Orchestra debuts on August 2 in a program featuring Liszt’s demanding Piano Concerto No. 1 and Brahms’s rich and powerful Symphony No. 1. 

Elim Chan returns to Blossom on August 9 to lead a performance of Maher’s turbulent and triumphant Symphony No. 1, often nicknamed “Titan.” The program also includes Ravel’s Arabian Nights-inspired Shéhérazade with soprano Christiane Karg in her Cleveland Orchestra debut.  

The Billy Joel Songbook with vocalist and pianist Tony DeSare on August 10 pays tribute to the Piano Man. The Cleveland Orchestra performs symphonic orchestrations with DeSare’s unique take on some of Billy Joel’s biggest hits, including “Only the Good Die Young,” “Just the Way You Are,” and “New York State of Mind.” 

August 16 offers a captivating evening led by Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Daniel Reith. It starts with a new work by Gabriella Smith, co-commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, followed by Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Concertmaster Stephen Tavani. The evening concludes with Elgar’s Enigma Variations, a heartfelt tribute to friendship.  

Blossom favorite Andy Einhorn returns on August 17 to conduct A Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration. Vocalists Hugh Panaro, Scarlett Strallen, and Ben Davis join the Orchestra to bring the golden age of musical theater to Blossom Music Center.  

The classical experience continues on August 23 with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, inspired by the moors of Scotland and conducted by Stephanie Childress in her Blossom Festival debut. The program also includes Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1, performed by acclaimed cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. 

Over Labor Day weekend, The Cleveland Orchestra presents Disney’s The Lion King on August 29, 30, and 31. The Orchestra performs Hans Zimmer’s unforgettable score alongside the 1994 original animated film, conducted by Sarah Hicks and featuring the Blossom Festival Chorus. 

The 2025 Blossom Music Festival concludes on September 7 with Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony, an innovative multimedia experience featuring Dolly on screen, leading audiences on a journey through her songs, life, and stories. Accompanied by guest vocalists and musicians, Threads highlights new and innovative orchestrations of Dolly’s hit songs woven together into an evening of symphonic storytelling with The Cleveland Orchestra. 

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