Individual concert tickets for the 2017-18 Cleveland Orchestra season go on sale Tuesday, August 1

The Orchestra’s 100th Season opens on September 23 with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst

The Cleveland Orchestra’s Second Century Season is presented by The J.M. Smucker Company and KeyBank

CLEVELAND – Individual concert tickets for The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2017-18 Season and 100th year of concerts go on sale on Tuesday, August 1, 2017, online at clevelandorchestra.com, by phone at 216-231-1111, and in person at the Severance Hall Ticket Office.  The season marks the launch of the Orchestra’s Second Century and is the 16th year of its acclaimed partnership with Franz Welser-Möst.

Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra open the Orchestra’s 100th season on September 23, 24, and 26 with encore performances of their innovative and revolutionary production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen.  The fully staged opera with digital animation was premiered by the Orchestra in May 2014 and was declared by The New York Times as “… ingenious ….”  Additional highlights in the 2017-18 season include two unique festivals: “The Ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde,” a two-week series of concerts centered around concert performances of Wagner’s ultra-Romantic opera; Welser-Möst explores the depths and wonder of ecstasy — in a journey toward transcendence and understanding, through music, art, and belief.  “The Prometheus Project” features all nine Beethoven symphonies and during the festival, Welser-Möst offers a renewed point of view on these groundbreaking works, rooted in a studied understanding of the composer’s philosophy of politics and art, and presented within the context of his thoughts and beliefs.  Also featured are Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Haydn’s The Seasons, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, which Welser-Möst programmed because they are all influential works that were so powerful, the music world was not the same after they premiered.

At the Movies, American Greetings Family Concerts, PNC Musical Rainbows, and more
The 2017-18 season also features the popular At the Movies Series (sponsored by PNC Bank), the KeyBank Fridays@7 series, the American Greetings Family Concert Series, and PNC Musical Rainbow Concerts. The traditional Cleveland Orchestra Christmas Concerts (sponsored by Dollar Bank) will be conducted by Brett Mitchell, and will begin on December 14 and run through December 23, 2017

Annual Cleveland Orchestra Gala
On Saturday, October 7, the Cleveland Orchestra Gala Concert, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, with the theme of A Musical Journey through Italy, features Verdi’s Ballet Music from Don Carlo, Respighi’s The Birds, Johann Strauss’s The Carnival of Venice, and Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien.  This year, the Gala Evening, a benefit event comprising a concert and dinner, is chaired by Norma Lerner; co-chair Nancy W. McCann; corporate co-chair, KeyBank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Beth Mooney; and corporate co-chair, Cleveland Orchestra Board President Richard K. Smucker. The Gala concert and dinner support the Orchestra’s Education and Community programs.  For concert tickets, contact the Severance Hall Ticket Office at 216-231-1111. For Gala tickets, call 216-231-7535. For more information, visit https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/News-and-Updates/News-Releases/2017-releases/2017-05-31-gala/.

Choral Highlights
In addition to performing in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus will be featured in major choral-orchestral works by Beethoven, Haydn, and Ravel during the season.

John Williams Movie Music April 8, 2018
Individual tickets for the April 8, 2018 concert of the movie music of John Williams conducted by the composer will be available on August 1, 2018. Williams’s list of legendary film scores includes Star Wars, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List, Jaws, and Superman, just to name a few.  Now, Hollywood’s most revered and beloved composer for film, John Williams, joins The Cleveland Orchestra for a special, one-night-only concert featuring the music from many of his celebrated works. Details of the program will be announced during the 2017-18 season.

Full details of the 2017-18 Cleveland Orchestra season at Severance Hall, including Cleveland Orchestra soloist and conductor debuts, are available online at: clevelandorchestra.com and at the following links:

2017-18 Cleveland Orchestra Severance Hall season press release

2017-18 Cleveland Orchestra Severance Hall subscription concerts calendar:

October 7 Gala press release

At the Movies series press release

American Greetings Family Concerts and PNC Musical Rainbows press release

For further information, contact The Cleveland Orchestra’s Public Relations Office at 216-231-7637.

INDIVIDUAL AND SUBSCRIPTION TICKET INFORMATION
Beginning August 1, tickets to individual performances are available on-line at clevelandorchestra.com, or by calling Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141.  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, beginning September 9, 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 opens three hours prior to each performance).  Severance Hall Second Century Fund: a $2.00 charge on individual tickets will support the conservation and enhancement of Severance Hall.

Subscribers receive seating priority over individual-ticket buyers, ticket exchange privileges, and other benefits.  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 clevelandorchestra.com.

Under 18s Free, Student Advantage, and Frequent Fan Card
The Cleveland Orchestra again offers many ticket options, including the Under 18s Free ticket with an adult purchase; the Student Advantage Program for high school, college, and graduate students; and, also for students, the Frequent Fan Card.  These programs are supported by 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. For more information, visit https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/support-and-volunteers/center-for-future-audiences/.

UNDER 18s FREE
The Under 18s Free program offers free tickets (one per regular-priced adult paid admission) to young people ages 7-17 for select concerts.  The free tickets for Severance Hall concerts eligible for this program must be obtained through the Severance Hall Ticket Office.  Holiday concerts, At the Movies series concerts, and the Gala Concert are excluded from the Under 18s Free offer. For more information, visit https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/tickets/under-18s-free-for-families/.

STUDENT ADVANTAGE PROGRAM
The Cleveland Orchestra’s Student Advantage Program makes $15 tickets available to full-time high school, college, and graduate/post-graduate students during the Severance Hall season.  Membership is free; for more information, visit clevelandorchestra.com, and follow on facebook.  Student Advantage Program members also receive invitations to free open rehearsals and masterclasses.

The Cleveland Orchestra Frequent Fan Card is priced at $50, and is available at the Severance Hall Ticket Office.  The Frequent Fan Cards admit one student to unlimited performances, based on availability, of Cleveland Orchestra subscription concerts in the 2017-18 season.  The Cleveland Orchestra Frequent Fan Card, normally priced at $50, will be offered to students at a discount from August 14-25, for $35.  For information about purchasing a Frequent Fan Card, please call the Severance Hall Ticket Office at 216-231-1111.

The Student Advantage program is funded by the Center for Future Audiences through the Alexander and Sarah Cutler Fund for Student Audiences.

FRIDAY MORNING BUS SERVICE
Bus service is available to Friday Morning Concert patrons, departing from Akron, Beachwood, Brecksville, and Westlake for $15 roundtrip.  Bus tickets must be purchased in advance.  Subscribers can also purchase bus service when renewing their season package, for $90.  Local shuttle service is available from Cedar Hill Baptist Church for $5 per person.  Now offered for the eighth consecutive season, bus transportation is supported in part by Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra (formerly Women’s Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra).

2017-18 Corporate Sponsors (as of 7/18/2017):
The Cleveland Orchestra salutes these sponsors whose leadership support helps make the 2017-18 season possible.

Presenting Sponsors:
The J.M. Smucker Company
KeyBank

Second Century Sponsors:
voestalpine AG
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling and NACCO Industries, Inc.
Ruth McCormick Tankersley Charitable Trust
Swagelok Company
The Sherwin-Williams Company
Westfield Insurance
KPMG LLP
PwC

Sponsors:
American Greetings Corporation
BakerHostetler
Buyers Products Company
Dollar Bank Foundation
Eaton
Ernst & Young LLP
Forest City
Frantz Ward LLP
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Great Lakes Brewing Company
Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.
NACCO Industries, Inc.
Jones Day
The Lincoln Electric Foundation
Litigation Management, Inc.
The Lubrizol Corporation
Materion Corporation
Medical Mutual
MTD Products, Inc.
North Coast Container Corp.
Ohio Savings Bank, A Division of New York Community Bank
Olympic Steel, Inc.
Parker Hannifin Foundation
PNC Bank
Quality Electrodynamics (QED)
RPM International Inc.
Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP
The Sherwin-Williams Company
Thompson Hine LLP
Tucker Ellis

Media Contacts:
Justin Holden, [email protected], 216-231-7476
Rebecca Calkin, [email protected], 216-231-7637