Cleveland Orchestra

The Cleveland Orchestra is a major American symphony orchestra headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918, it developed from the concert-promotion work of pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes and was organized with the support of civic leaders, philanthropists, a music critic, and Russian-American conductor Nikolai Sokoloff. Sokoloff became its first music director. The ensemble gave its inaugural concert at Grays Armory on December 11, 1918, and quickly established an unusually ambitious profile for a regional orchestra through touring, broadcasting, recording, opera performances, educational work, and collaborations with leading conductors and soloists. The orchestra is generally grouped with the five American ensembles informally called the Big Five. Its principal home is Severance Music Center, originally Severance Hall, which opened in 1931 after major financial support from John L. Severance and Elisabeth Severance. The hall has been renovated several times, including a substantial modernization and expansion completed around the turn of the twenty-first century. Since 2021, the main auditorium has been known as Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall, while the larger complex is called Severance Music Center. The Cleveland Orchestra's artistic identity was particularly shaped by George Szell, who served as music director from 1946 to 1970. Szell reorganized the ensemble around demanding standards of precision, balance, rehearsal discipline, and personnel selection. His tenure helped establish the orchestra's reputation for clarity and technical excellence, while also expanding its international standing through European and Soviet tours. The opening of Blossom Music Center in 1968 added a summer venue and helped support year-round employment for the orchestra's musicians. Later music directors broadened the ensemble's international and operatic activities. Lorin Maazel led the orchestra from 1972 to 1982 and helped establish its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concerts. Christoph von Dohnányi, music director from 1984 to 2002, expanded touring, recording, opera, and festival relationships, including a continuing association with the Salzburg Festival. He also guided the large-scale renovation and reopening of Severance Hall and conducted Wagner's Ring cycle as part of the orchestra's seventy-fifth-anniversary activities. Franz Welser-Möst became music director in 2002. During his tenure, the orchestra maintained recurring residencies at Vienna's Musikverein, the Lucerne Festival, and the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. It continued to present symphonic programs, opera, educational activities, community outreach, and films with live orchestral accompaniment. The orchestra marked its centenary in 2018 with a gala concert at Severance Hall that was later broadcast nationally on PBS. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it suspended live performances and a planned European and Abu Dhabi tour in 2020, launched the Adella digital platform, and created its own recording label. Limited summer performances returned in 2021, followed by the planned resumption of the Severance Hall season. The organization operates as a nonprofit cultural institution rather than a conventional commercial product brand. Its principal offerings are live orchestral concerts, summer performances, recordings, digital programming, educational initiatives, youth activities, touring, residencies, and opera and multimedia presentations. In January 2024, the orchestra announced that Welser-Möst would conclude his music-director tenure at the end of the 2026–2027 season. The Cleveland Orchestra remains an active international ensemble with a substantial recording legacy and a central role in the cultural life of Northeast Ohio.

The Cleveland Orchestra was created in 1918 after Adella Prentiss Hughes, a Cleveland pianist and concert promoter, built a local institutional base for ambitious orchestral programming. Hughes had helped establish the Musical Arts Association and promoted major performances in Cleveland before the orchestra was formed. She worked with John L. Severance, Father John Powers, critic Archie Bell, and violinist-conductor Nikolai Sokoloff. Sokoloff became the first music director, and the orchestra performed its inaugural concert at Grays Armory on December 11, 1918. The ensemble's early development combined local service with national ambition. It began children's concerts in 1921, established a women's committee that supported organization and educational activity, and performed in New York during its first years. Its first Carnegie Hall appearance followed in 1922. The orchestra also entered radio and commercial recording, issuing an early recording in 1924 and later recording for Columbia. These activities helped position it as a national institution rather than solely a civic orchestra. A permanent home became a central priority during the 1920s. John and Elisabeth Severance provided substantial support for the construction of Severance Hall, which opened in 1931. Educational work also expanded through the Cleveland Plan, designed to introduce schoolchildren to orchestral music before attending live performances. Sokoloff was succeeded by Artur Rodziński in 1933. Rodziński promoted opera as part of the orchestra's activities, including Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and the United States premiere of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. The orchestra later added summer and popular programs at Cleveland Public Hall. After Rodziński's departure, Erich Leinsdorf became music director, but military service and the resulting use of guest conductors weakened his position. George Szell, who had made a strong impression as a guest conductor, was appointed in 1946. Szell spent much of his first years reshaping the orchestra's personnel and working methods. His contract gave him unusually broad artistic authority, and his leadership emphasized exact coordination, disciplined rehearsal, carefully balanced sound, and demanding standards. The result was a distinctive Cleveland style that became highly influential in American orchestral life. Szell led the orchestra on its first European tour in 1957 and on a second major European and Soviet tour in 1965. Severance Hall was acoustically modified during his tenure, producing the structure known as the Szell Shell. The orchestra also gained international recognition through appearances at the Salzburg, Lucerne, and Edinburgh festivals. Blossom Music Center opened in 1968 as a summer home and helped provide a more continuous employment structure for musicians. Szell died in 1970 shortly after an Asian tour. Lorin Maazel became music director in 1972. He led tours of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan and oversaw important recordings, including the orchestra's first commercial opera recording, Porgy and Bess. His tenure also introduced the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concerts, which became a recurring civic and artistic tradition. Maazel left after the 1981–1982 season. Christoph von Dohnányi formally assumed the music directorship in 1984 after a transition period with guest conductors. His industry relationships supported new recording work, while his programming included opera and large-scale projects at Blossom. He expanded international activity in Europe and Asia and developed the orchestra's relationship with the Salzburg Festival. To mark the seventy-fifth anniversary, he conducted performances of Wagner's Ring cycle across two seasons. Dohnányi also guided the renovation of Severance Hall, during which the orchestra performed at Cleveland's Allen Theatre. The refurbished hall reopened in 2000, and Dohnányi became music director laureate when his contract ended in 2002. Franz Welser-Möst began his tenure in 2002. Under his leadership, the orchestra developed recurring residencies in Vienna, Lucerne, and Miami, continued opera and film-with-live-orchestra presentations, and expanded education and outreach. The ensemble celebrated its centenary in 2018. The pandemic forced the cancellation or suspension of live activity in 2020, but the orchestra responded with the Adella digital platform and its own recording label. Summer concerts returned on a limited basis in 2021, followed by the planned return to Severance Hall. In 2021, a major Mandel Foundation gift led to the renaming of the orchestra's principal hall and performance center. In 2024, the organization announced that Welser-Möst would conclude his music-director tenure after the 2026–2027 season.

• 2021

  Performance complex renamed

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  Following a planned gift from the Mandel Foundation, Severance Hall became Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall and the wider complex became Severance Music Center.

• 2020

  Digital platform and recording label launched

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  During the pandemic, the orchestra launched the Adella streaming service and announced its own recording label.

• 2018

  Centennial celebration

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra marked its hundredth anniversary with a gala concert at Severance Hall that was subsequently presented on PBS.

• 2000

  Renovated Severance Hall reopens

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  A major renovation and expansion of Severance Hall culminated in a reopening gala conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi.

• 1980

  Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concerts introduced

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  Lorin Maazel helped establish the orchestra's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert tradition.

• 1968

  Blossom Music Center opens

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra opened its summer home at Blossom Music Center.

• 1965

  European and Soviet tour

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra toured Europe and the Soviet Union, including performances in Moscow, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Sochi, and Leningrad.

• 1957

  First European tour

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  George Szell led the orchestra on its first European tour.

• 1931

  Severance Hall opens

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra moved into its purpose-built home, funded principally by John and Elisabeth Severance.

• 1922

  First Carnegie Hall appearance

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall for the first time, reinforcing its early national ambitions.

• 1921

  Children's concert tradition begins

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra presented its first children's concert, establishing a long-running commitment to young audiences and music education.

• 1918

  Orchestra founded and inaugural concert performed

  [1]Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org

  The Cleveland Orchestra was founded with Adella Prentiss Hughes among its principal organizers, and Nikolai Sokoloff became its first music director. The inaugural concert took place at Grays Armory on December 11.

A high-prestige American symphony orchestra combining rigorous ensemble playing, international touring, major recording projects, opera and multimedia programming, music education, and civic engagement.

• Live performance · 1918

  Subscription and single-ticket concerts

  The orchestra's core offering is a season of symphonic concerts at Severance Music Center, featuring standard repertoire, contemporary works, guest artists, and programs led by the music director or visiting conductors.

• Summer performance · 1968

  Blossom Music Festival

  Blossom Music Center is the orchestra's summer venue. Its programming extends the season beyond the downtown concert hall and includes orchestral performances, popular programs, and selected multimedia or special-event presentations.

• Opera · 1933

  Opera and staged concert productions

  The orchestra has presented opera in concert and staged formats, including major Wagner and Mozart projects and historically significant twentieth-century repertoire. These productions connect the ensemble's symphonic work with vocal, theatrical, and festival programming.

• Recorded music · 1924

  Cleveland Orchestra recordings

  The orchestra has maintained a substantial recording legacy across commercial labels and later through its own label. Its catalog includes symphonic repertoire, opera, live performances, and recordings made with both music directors and guest conductors.

• Digital media · 2020

  Adella

  Adella is a digital streaming and content platform introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It combines historical material with newly created performances and related programming, extending access beyond the orchestra's physical venues.

• Arts education · 1921

  Education and youth programs

  The orchestra provides programs for children, schools, young musicians, and community audiences. Its education tradition reaches back to the first children's concert in 1921 and includes initiatives designed to prepare students for and deepen their engagement with live orchestral music.

• 2020Adella digital access initiative

  United States · International

  A digital programming initiative launched while in-person concerts were suspended, providing subscribers and other audiences with access to archival and newly produced content.

  Outcome. Extended the orchestra's reach through streaming.

  Source
• 1980Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concerts

  Cleveland · Northeast Ohio

  A recurring concert tradition created during Lorin Maazel's tenure that links orchestral performance with civic remembrance and community engagement.

  Outcome. Became an annual tradition.

  Source
• 1931Cleveland Plan

  Cleveland · Northeast Ohio

  An education-oriented initiative developed to introduce young people to classical music before they attended live performances, building on the orchestra's children's concerts.

  Outcome. Helped establish a durable education mission.

  Source

• 2021

  Rename Severance performance facilitiesOther

  Background

  A planned major gift from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation supported the orchestra and its facilities.

  Action taken

  The main hall was renamed Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall and the wider complex became Severance Music Center.

  Aftermath

  The renamed facilities continued to serve as the orchestra's principal Cleveland home.

  Source

• 2020

  Move into direct digital distributionStrategy

  Background

  The pandemic suspended the live concert schedule and international touring.

  Action taken

  The orchestra launched Adella and announced an in-house recording label.

  Aftermath

  The organization created additional channels for performance access and recorded distribution.

  Source

• 1968

  Establish a permanent summer venueStrategy

  Background

  The orchestra sought a summer setting and a structure that could support more continuous employment for its musicians.

  Action taken

  Blossom Music Center opened as the orchestra's summer home.

  Aftermath

  The orchestra gained a major outdoor venue and an enduring summer festival presence.

  Source

• 1931

  Open a permanent concert hallStrategy

  Background

  The orchestra's growing artistic and civic ambitions created demand for a dedicated venue.

  Action taken

  The Musical Arts Association developed Severance Hall with major support from John and Elisabeth Severance.

  Aftermath

  The hall opened in 1931 and became the orchestra's principal home.

  Announced construction support. (1920s–1931)

  Source

1. 1Cleveland Orchestraen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Cleveland Orchestra official websiteclevelandorchestra.com