2019/2020 Annual Report a special message from a note of thanks from FRANZ WELSER-MÖST RICHARD K. SMUCKER & ANDRÉ GREMILLET December 2020 December 2020 Dear Friends, Dear Cleveland Orchestra Family, The past year has been like no other. As a global community, we have experienced unexpected hardship We write to you in the midst of a Cleveland Orchestra season unlike any we have ever experienced. While and disappointments. We have faced isolation. And yet, we have also shared hope and renewal. Our beliefs in life’s we currently face the greatest challenge in our storied history, we are fortunate to be sharing more music with more joys and continuation have been tested like never before. people than ever before through online offerings and a digital fall season on our new platform Adella. And that is entirely thanks to you. Yet the situation has reminded me wholeheartedly of something I already knew, about the experience we share together. I admired The Cleveland Orchestra even before I visited Severance Hall for the first time As we embark on this new generation of music-making, we want to take this opportunity to look back nearly three decades ago. In the years since, my respect for and relationship with this extraordinary ensemble on the past year. In the coming pages, I hope you enjoy reading about just some of the incredible things you made of musicians has grown and grown. And my understanding of Cleveland’s people as a dynamic and supportive possible this year by supporting your Cleveland Orchestra. hometown has also deepened. This past year has reminded me again and again just how extraordinary Cleveland’s In difficult times, it’s important to celebrate the victories. You’ve made an extraordinary impact with your caring and dedicated people are — the Orchestra together with its hometown community. support for the Orchestra this year, and you’ve brought joy and music into homes in Northeast Ohio, South Florida, The necessary separation that we all felt across the spring and summer has only confirmed for me and around the world. Cleveland’s unique strengths. And the time apart reminded me once again just how important the arts are in Because of you, we reached the end of June with a balanced budget despite facing incredibly difficult uniting the world and bringing us together — to perform, to listen, to learn, to understand. I continue to believe circumstances during the last four months of the fiscal year. Our work is not finished. With the ongoing effects with all my heart that music is an integral and essential part of life — as essential as education, family, and and changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Orchestra still faces great financial and other challenges, and friendship. Our experiences together help us understand the world and each other more deeply. continued support for the Preservation Fund is more important than ever. Everything that makes The Cleveland Orchestra special is still true. We haven’t lost our connections by being apart. In fact, on a daily basis, when we lean on our shared understandings, we become stronger. We listen to Thanks to the generosity of this incredible community, we are confident that The Cleveland Orchestra will one another more intently, as musicians and people, and we savor our moments together with renewed strength. continue to thrive today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Thank you. What a joy it was to return to this orchestra in October and to make music for our community again. And With gratitude, what a joy it will be when we can all gather to celebrate what we have accomplished during this unforgettable time. Together we are re-creating and strengthening The Cleveland Orchestra in the midst of unprecedented times. Together, we are becoming stronger. Thank you for the vital part you play in making today and tomorrow into reality. Best wishes, Richard K. Smucker André Gremillet Board Chair President & CEO Franz Welser-Möst Music Director 2 The Cleveland Orchestra 3 Annual Report 2019/2020 excellence Under the leadership of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, The Cleveland Orchestra has extended its artistry and musical abilities and remains one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world – year after year setting standards of extraordinary artistic, creative programming, and community engagement. The New York Times recently declared the ensemble “America’s finest, still” for the group’s virtuosity, elegant sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion. In September 2019, The Cleveland Orchestra opened the Carnegie Hall season led by Franz Welser-Möst (pictured below). The Orchestra was featured for the venue’s Gala performance, joined by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, the late cellist Lynn Harrell, and pianist Yefim Bronfman for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. In January 2020, the Orchestra made its annual return to Miami for the 14th year of partnership with the Adrienne Arsht Center. Thousands of South Floridians gathered at the Arsht Center for evening performances as well as free education concerts. Orchestra musicians also went out into Miami-Dade County to share music and education resources with the community. 2020 marks 68 years of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus’s dedication to artistic excellence – a celebration accentuated by the Chorus receiving the Orchestra’s Distinguished Service Award in March. The Chorus has shown unwavering commitment through their work as a volunteer ensemble these many years. This summer, these dedicated members came forward with a major gift in support of the Orchestra Preservation Fund. We are deeply grateful to the Chorus for their passion and generosity. The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst face the audience during a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall. Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in concert at Severance Hall. I am delighted that the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus has been named the recipient of the 2019/2020 Distinguished Service Award in honor of their extraordinary and ongoing commitment to The Cleveland Orchestra. This award honors not only the tremendous artistry achieved throughout the “ group’s 68-year history, but also the substantial dedication of this all-volunteer chorus. Their significant commitment is born of a love for this incredible body of music and the indescribable joy that comes in performing with one another and alongside America’s finest orchestra. Bravi tutti to all current and former members of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.” —Lisa Wong, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus Director 4 The Cleveland Orchestra 5 Annual Report 2019/2020 Cleveland Orchestra Bassist Charles Carleton works with young musicians at the Music Showcase. learning Meaningful education initiatives are a core part of The Cleveland Orchestra’s mission. Our current focus is building the pipeline that gives Northeast Ohio’s students a rich music education, handing them their first instrument, and nourishing their growth from early childhood all the way to the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and beyond. At the second-annual Gordon Square Music Showcase in March 2020, band and choir students from Joseph M. Gallagher, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Metro Catholic, Halle School, and Waverly School were mentored by and performed alongside Cleveland Orchestra musicians. This free community performance is part of the Orchestra’s Neighborhood Partners initiative. It celebrates and brings awareness to the programs in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood that nurture a love of music in young people. The Orchestra’s Crescendo and Music Mentors pipeline programs have continued throughout the pandemic with Orchestra musicians providing outdoor instrument lessons and online instruction to students at three Cleveland Metropolitan School District schools. A Miami-Dade County student watches in awe as the The Cleveland Orchestra performs at the Arsht Center. “The Cleveland Orchestra remains committed to a singular mission: sharing extraordinary musical experiences with audiences of all ages — from Tokyo to Beijing, Paris to Vienna, and Cleveland to Miami. Every year since 2007, in partnership with the Arsht Center, we’ve presented free daytime field “ trip concerts for Miami-Dade County Public School District students, and we continue to engage students throughout MDCPSD with school-site coachings, mentorships, and special music programs. Our deep commitment to Miami is not only to our loyal audience, but also to the students of this vibrant community. Over the years, nearly 45,000 students from Miami-Dade public schools have attended free Cleveland Orchestra in Miami Education Concerts at the Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall.” —André Gremillet, President & CEO Cleveland Orchestra Trumpeter Michael Miller The Cleveland Orchestra Annual Report 2019/2020 works with6 young trumpet students. 7 innovation As one of the world’s most acclaimed symphony orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra has a long and storied recording history — and an enviably long catalog of albums released across the past century. 2020 marked a new milestone with the launch of the ensemble’s own recording label with two powerful releases. In June 2020 came The Cleveland Orchestra: A New Century, the label’s inaugural release. Featuring six musical works on three discs, this album presents compendium of the achievement and artistry under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. All six works were recorded live in concert at Severance Hall during the past three years (2017-19). Critical acclaim of these recordings has poured in: “The performances . are masterful, the work of an ensemble in peak form. This is no longer George Szell’s orchestra. It is Welser-Möst’s.” (Musical America) — “The Cleveland Orchestra has never sounded finer on disc.” (Gramophone) — “With this surprising start, Franz Welser-Möst and his Cleveland Orchestra are sending out several signals: they do not correspond to the cliché of the U.S. warhorse orchestras with their powerful sound — and they do not present a best-of potpourri of classical music, but rather use the scope of an orchestra’s own label consistently for the implementation of their own ideas.” (MDR Klassik).