Special Guest Event Keynote Speaker: Isabel Wilkerson
Event Information
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Dates: May 13, 2023 Tickets Available
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Who: The Cleveland Orchestra
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Venue: Mandel Concert Hall Severance Music Center
Event Dates and Tickets
Saturday, May 13, 2023 7:30PM
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Event Sponsors
This event is sponsored by Cathy Lincoln
2023/24 Classical Season Announced! Preview the season here
About the Event
Presented in partnership with the City Club of Cleveland
Keynote speaker Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of critically acclaimed bestsellers, including The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, which was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. Wilkerson's New York Times best-selling book Caste (also an Oprah’s Book Club 2020 selection) is being adapted to film for Netflix by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for her deeply humane narrative writing while serving as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 1994, making her the first Black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first African American to win for individual reporting. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Wilkerson the National Humanities Medal for “championing the stories of an unsung history.”
Ms. Wilkerson’s presentation will include chamber music performances by Cleveland Orchestra musicians of music by composers affected by the American Dream.
This event will be livestreamed on adella.live and by Chautauqua Institution on CHQ Assembly at assembly.chq.org, in partnership with Ideastream Public Media.
*A book signing with Ms. Wilkerson will immediately follow the event
Guest Speakers
Isabel Wilkerson, speaker
Dan Moulthrop, CEO The City Club of Cleveland, moderator
With musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra
About the Performances
Wei-Fang Gu, violin
Isabel Trautwein, violin
Jeffrey Zehngut, violin
Eliesha Nelson, viola
David Alan Harrell, cello
SIMON First Movement from Warmth from Other Suns
WHITE Selections from Blues Dialogues
PRICE Second Movement from String Quartet in G major
About the Festival
The American Dream festival will aspire to engage conversation from different perspectives around timeless questions including: what is the relevance of the American Dream today? what does it mean to the greater Cleveland community?
From what was at first a yearning for self-rule, religious freedom, and democracy, the American Dream evolved to a universal concept that anyone in coming America would be able to succeed through opportunity and hard work — to forge a better life for themselves and their family, to achieve success from your own initiative and efforts.
The American Dream remains an aspirational concept related to the promise of a country that embraces optimism for the future and the ability to shape it, as well as recognition of every person’s potential as a dignified and free human being. However, while achievable for some, for many others the American Dream remains an unattainable dream, a cruel illusion, an unfulfilled promise. The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival: The American Dream will acknowledge and engage these subjects and offer an opportunity to explore and reflect on the American Dream of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Severance Music Center
Severance Music Center is Cleveland’s home for symphonic music and other presentations, including Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall and Reinberger Chamber Hall. We are strongly committed to making everyone feel welcome. The doors to Severance open three hours prior to most performances.
Food & Beverage Services at Cleveland Orchestra Concerts
Severance Restaurant is temporarily closed.
Concessions* are available at the following times:
- 2 hours prior to concert start: Opus Lounge, and Smith Lobby
- 1 hour prior to concert start: Grand Foyer, Dress Circle, Box Lobby, and Ginn Suite
- Intermission: Grand Foyer, Dress Circle, Box, Ginn Suite
- Post Concert: Opus Lounge
The Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival - May 13: Ginn Suite will be open 1 hour prior to concert start. There is no intermission for this event.
- May 18-19: Lotus Club and Ginn Suite will be closed
*Please note: Lotus Club will be closed for all May performances. Lotus Club guests are invited to the Ginn Suite for pre-show and intermission. All concessions are cashless.
Parking
The most convenient parking option is Case Western Reserve University's (CWRU) Lot 29 Campus Center Garage. The garage is located directly adjacent to Severance Music Center off East Boulevard, and provides stair and elevator access to the hall.
Availability is limited, and pre-paid parking passes for the garage can be added for select performances during checkout.
For more information about getting to Severance Music Center and where to park, please visit our Directions & Parking page.
Accessibility Services
Below is a list of the features and services that The Cleveland Orchestra has made available in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance for this concert.
Wheelchair Access & Seating
Our venue’s seating has reserved special areas for those attending with the use of a wheelchair. These seating options are available during your seat selection across seating price levels. Ushers are available to assist, especially in the event of a General Admission concert.
There is barrier-free entry to Severance Music Center with automatic sliding doors at our garage entrance on Lower Level One in the CWRU Campus Center Garage. There is an elevator for wheelchair access in the center of the garage for traveling from Lower Level Two (the lowest level) to Lower Level One (the level of our arrival entrance). The Euclid Avenue entrance to Severance is best suited for wheelchair entry, with a convenient drop-off area designated at the curb.
Companion Wheelchair Seating
Wheelchair companion seating is available for purchase online and through Severance Ticket Services. Look for a "C" shape on the seating map when making your selection.
Assistance for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Infrared Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are available without charge for most performances in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall. Please request one in advance online or by calling the House Manager’s office. You will be asked to provide a driver’s license or ID card upon arrival, which will be held until the return of the device. Head Ushers can explain how to use the ALD.
Interpretive services may be available for certain events at Severance. Prior arrangements should be made four weeks in advance. Appropriate seat locations may be necessary. TTY line access is available at the public pay phone in the Security Office located at the garage entrance.
Assistance for the Blind or Persons with Low Vision
Large Print Programs are available for most Cleveland Orchestra performances in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall. These are available at the Coat Room locations or from Head Ushers on each level of the Concert Hall, and at Concert Previews.
For select vocal performances, Braille texts may be available on request with 2 weeks’ notice.
Service Animals
Trained guide dogs and service animals are welcome at Severance. If you have any questions, please contact the Ticket Office or the House Manager.
Restrooms
All Smith Lobby restrooms are fully accessible. In addition, private family-accessible restrooms are located in the Smith Lobby and off the Dress Circle Lobby.
Additional Information
The Cleveland Orchestra is strongly committed to making our facilities and performances accessible to all patrons. For more information regarding all of our accessibility services, please visit our Accessibility page.