Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra returns to concerts for 2021-22 Season
Music Director Vinay Parameswaran leads ensemble in works by Joan Tower, Howard Swanson, Aaron Copland, and Antonin Dvořák in November
Longstanding partnership with Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus continues for concerts in 2022
Under 18s Free ticket program continues for all COYO concerts
Individual tickets on sale now
CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) and its music director Vinay Parameswaran announced details of the 2021-22 season. The Youth Orchestra, under Mr. Parameswaran’s direction, will return to performing in person after a season spent meeting remotely. The ensemble will perform a three-concert series in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance on November 21, 2021, February 20, 2022, and May 8, 2022. The concerts in February and May include the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus. Individual tickets are on sale now.
The 2021-22 season marks Vinay Parameswaran’s fifth as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and as associate conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. Parameswaran was promoted from assistant conductor in January, 2021.
“One of the most exciting occasions this fall is the return of COYO to Severance,” said Parameswaran. “This orchestra is one of the gems of Northeast Ohio, and this talented group confirms that the future of classical music is bright. I cannot wait for our audiences to see and hear these young musicians shine.”
During the 2020-21 season, COYO was unable to hold in-person concerts due to the pandemic. Across that time period, the musicians participated in a host of enriching experiences, such as seminars with Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst; score studies and conversations with composers John Adams, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Jesse Montgomery; audition preparation; and virtual coaching sessions. In June, COYO musicians and coaches were able to meet in-person at Blossom Music Center for a rehearsal and private performance for friends and family.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra’s return to the Mandel Concert Hall stage at Severance for the 2021-22 season will take place on Sunday, November 21, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. with a program featuring works by three American composers: Joan Tower, Howard Swanson, and Aaron Copland. The afternoon concludes with Dvořák’s dramatic Symphony No. 7.
The Youth Orchestra’s Severance concert series continues on Sunday, February 20, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. with music by contemporary American composer Jennifer Higdon and Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. On Sunday, May 8, 2022 at 7:00 p.m., COYO will perform with the to-be-announced winner of its annual concerto competition (held among COYO musicians), as well as Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus joins the Youth Orchestra on the February and May concerts, continuing the longstanding partnership between the two ensembles. The February concert includes choral works by Beethoven and Mozart, while May’s concert includes the Severance debut of music by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail.
As part of an ongoing partnership with Ideastream Public Media to provide greater access to music and culture, WCLV Classical 104.9 will present a broadcasts on-air and online of each of the three COYO concerts at Severance during the 2021-22 season. For broadcast information, visit wclv.ideastream.org.
Center for Future Audiences: Under 18s Free
The Under 18s Free ticket program is available for all COYO performances. The Under 18s Free program offers complimentary tickets (one per regular-priced adult paid admission) to young people ages 7-17. Under 18s Free is a program for young people, 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.
Ticket Information
Individual performance tickets are available for $15 per seat or $25 for a box seat. For more information or to order tickets, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, email [email protected], or order online at clevelandorchestra.com. Parking is available for $15.
Health and Safety
The Cleveland Orchestra is committed to creating a safe and comfortable environment for its musicians, guests, audiences, staff, and volunteers.
As of September 15, 2021, everyone coming to Severance to attend concerts and events is required to wear a mask. Guests will also be required to show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination or, should they be unable to be vaccinated, to provide a negative Covid-19 PCR test that has been taken within 72 hours prior to entering. For information, please also visit our Health & Safety page.
These requirements were developed in consultation with the Cleveland Clinic. Guests who are unable to provide verification of vaccination or choose not provide a negative Covid-19 PCR test may request a full refund of their purchase.
Anyone feeling ill or experiencing symptoms related to a cold or infectious disease is asked to stay home.
To ensure our audiences’ experience with The Cleveland Orchestra is as safe as possible, we continue to consult with the Cleveland Clinic and local public health authorities for health and safety guidelines. These include, but are not limited to, meeting HV/AC air filtration and circulation system requirements, enhanced cleaning procedures, and providing hand sanitizer throughout the venue. As always, the safety of our audiences, musicians, staff, and volunteers remains our top priority.
Thank you, Supporters
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is supported by a generous grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and by annual donations from music-lovers across Northeast Ohio. Endowment support is provided by The George Gund Foundation and Christine Gitlin Miles. COYO touring is supported by an endowment gift from the Jules and Ruth Vinney Family. Anthony and Patricia Lauria recently endowed the Principal Viola chair of COYO.
About Vinay Parameswaran
Vinay Parameswaran began his tenure as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra as well as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in the 2017-18 season, marking the Orchestra’s 100th season, and was promoted to Associate Conductor during the 2020-21 season. Mr. Parameswaran came to Cleveland following three seasons as Associate Conductor of the Nashville Symphony from 2014-17, where he led more than 150 performances.
In the summer of 2017, Mr. Parameswaran was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Across recent seasons, engagements have included his debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Eugene Symphony, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Equally at home conducting opera, Mr. Parameswaran has led acclaimed productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore with Curtis Opera Theater. He also assisted on a production of Verdi’s Nabucco with Opera Philadelphia.
Mr. Parameswaran is the conductor on the album Two x Four featuring the Curtis 20/21 ensemble as well as violinists Jaime Laredo and Jennifer Koh. Along with works by Bach, David Ludwig, and Philip Glass, the recording included Anna Clyne’s Prince of Clouds, which received a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. He has participated in conducting masterclasses with David Zinman at the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, as well as with Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Parameswaran played for six years in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Political Science from Brown University, where he graduated with honors. At Brown, he began his conducting studies with Paul Phillips. He received a diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller as the Albert M. Greenfield Fellow.
About the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is a full symphonic ensemble comprised of approximately 85 young musicians drawn from 35 communities in seven counties across Northern Ohio. Founded in 1986 by Jahja Ling (then resident conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra), the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) provides serious young music students of middle and high school age with a unique pre-professional orchestral training experience.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is part of a suite of Cleveland Orchestra programs designed to nurture aspiring young musicians, which also includes the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, the Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus and Preparatory Chorus, and the Crescendo and Music Mentors pathways initiatives for students in Cleveland schools. In addition, with the support of many generous individual, foundation, corporate, and governmental funding partners, the Orchestra’s full range of education and community programs reach more than 100,000 young people and adults annually, helping to foster a lifelong relationship with music by removing barriers to participation, advocating for and helping to facilitate equitable access to comprehensive music education in schools, and harnessing the life-changing power in service to the community. For more information please visit these links: Education, Community, and Learning Resources.
For more information, please visit our COYO page
About the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus (Daniel Singer, Director) began its 31st season in 2021-22. Comprised of students in grades 9 through 12, the Youth Chorus helps raise awareness of choral music-making in the schools of Northeastern Ohio and encourages students to continue their choral activities through college and into adulthood. The Youth Chorus regularly collaborates with outstanding musical ensembles, and its 2021-22 season will include two concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, as well as a broad range of collaborative and independent performances throughout Greater Cleveland. For more information, please visit our Choruses page.
Calendar Listing
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
2021-22 Severance Season
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Vinay Parameswaran, conductor
TOWER Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
SWANSON Short Symphony
COPLAND Suite from Appalachian Spring
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus
Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Vinay Parameswaran, conductor
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus
Daniel Singer, director
BEETHOVEN Elegischer Gesang (Elegiac Song) for Chorus and String Orchestra
MOZART Misericordias Domine, KV 222
HIGDON Blue Cathedral
FALLA The Three-Cornered Hat (complete ballet music)
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus
Sunday, May 3, 2020 at 3:00 p.m.
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
Vinay Parameswaran, conductor
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus
Daniel Singer, director
Program includes:
ESMAIL She Will Transform You
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
The winner of the annual COYO concerto competition will also perform on this program, with repertoire and soloist to be announced.
All programs, artists, and prices are subject to change.