The Cleveland Orchestra

The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year it exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of colour and chamber-like musical cohesion, “virtually flawless,” and “one of the finest ensembles in the country (if not the world).

Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.

The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently in 2020, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including Adella, its digital streaming platform, and its own recording label. New initiatives for audience growth and community service have been introduced in recent years, including new technological infrastructure and capabilities at its home, Severance Music Center, to capture the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.

The 2024–25 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 23rd year as music director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra.

Its acclaimed opera presentations, including Puccini’s “La fanciulla del West” (2023), Verdi’s “Otello” (2022), Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” (2019), Debussy’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” (May 2017), Bartók’s “The Miraculous Mandarin” and “Bluebeard’s Castle” (2016), and Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” (2014 and 2017), have showcased the ensemble’s unique artistry and collaborative work ethic.
Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalogue of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.