The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2017 Blossom Music Festival calendar, which features 21 concerts between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will lead three of the classical programs, including an opera night with soprano Erin Wall. Special tributes will include concerts honoring Carole King and Ella Fitzgerald, a side-by-side with the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra on the occasion of the Kent/Blossom Festival’s 50th anniversary, and a screening of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, shown in HD with the score by John Williams performed live on the last three nights of the season.
Here is the complete schedule:
Saturday, July 1, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.*
Sunday, July 2, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.*
The Cleveland Orchestra
Jahja Ling, conductor
Aaron Diehl, piano – Cleveland Orchestra debut
SHOSTAKOVICH Tahiti Trot
GERSHWIN Concerto in F
GERSHWIN Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture (arr. Bennett)
TCHAIKOVSKY “1812” Overture
Monday, July 3, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.*
Tuesday, July 4, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.*
Blossom Festival Band
Loras John Schissel, conductor
Blossom’s traditional, star-spangled celebration with the Blossom Festival Band features a mix of patriotic Sousa marches, Broadway favorites, an Armed Forces Salute, and more – concluding with the “1812” Overture and fireworks.
Saturday, July 8, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique
Sunday, July 9, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Erin Wall, soprano – Blossom Music Festival debut
An evening of orchestral selections and arias from favorite operas by Mozart, Verdi, Strauss and more.
Saturday, July 15, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
MILHAUD Le Boeuf sur le toit [The Ox on the Roof]
ROUSSEL Suite No. 2 from Bacchus and Ariane
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
Sunday, July 16, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Jack Everly, conductor
Kathy Voytko, vocalist
Ted Keegan, vocalist
Ron Remke, vocalist
Richard Todd Adams, vocalist – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Blossom Festival Chorus
Selections from the great musicals of Irving Berlin, Lerner and Loewe, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, including Oklahoma!, The Phantom of the Opera, The Music Man, Les Misérables, and more.
Saturday, July 22, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Jahja Ling, conductor
Eli Matthews, violin – Cleveland Orchestra concerto debut
with the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra*
ROSSINI Overture to The Barber of Seville
PAGANINI Violin Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)
Celebrating its 50th season in 2017, the Kent/Blossom Music Festival began when The Cleveland Orchestra and Kent State University launched a partnership in 1968, the year Blossom Music Center opened. Festival participants will perform with The Cleveland Orchestra in a side-by-side concert and also present a pre-concert program at 7:00 pm.
Sunday, July 23, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Michael Krajewski, conductor
Liz Callaway, vocalist – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Allison Blackwell, vocalist – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Bryce Ryness, vocalist – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Carole King favorites with full symphonic treatment, including “It’s Too Late,” “Locomotion,” “So Far Away,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” “Natural Woman,” and more.
Saturday, July 29, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
David Fray, piano
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24
RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2
Saturday, August 5, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Robert Trevino, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Behzod Abduraimov, piano – Cleveland Orchestra debut
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
Sunday, August 6, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Stefan Jackiw, violin – Blossom Music Festival debut
STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
ROTA Suite from La Strada
KORNGOLD Violin Concerto
STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier [The Rose Cavalier]
Saturday, August 12, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Gustavo Gimeno, conductor
Johannes Moser, cello
RAVEL Alborada del gracioso [Morning Song of the Jester]
LALO Cello Concerto
FALLA Suite from El amor bruho [Love, the Magician]
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird
Sunday, August 13, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Richard Kaufman, conductor
Movie maestro Richard Kaufman conducts an all-star salute to the biggest, boldest, and baddest heroes of the silver screen: Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and more, with selections from Star Wars, Star Trek, and James Bond movies.
Saturday, August 19, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Fabien Gabel, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Juho Pohjonen, piano – Cleveland Orchestra debut
SCHMITT Le Palais Hanté [The Haunted Palace]
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1
DEBUSSY Ibéria
RAVEL Boléro
Saturday, August 26, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Augustin Hadelich, violin
Women of the Blossom Festival Chorus
DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
HOLST The Planets
Sunday, August 27, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra
Randall Craig Fleischer, conductor – Cleveland Orchestra debut
Capathia Jenkins, vocalist
Harolyn Blackwell, vocalist
Aisha de Haas, vocalist – Cleveland Orchestra debut
A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald in celebration of her 100th birthday including “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” and “Summertime.”
Friday, September 1, 2017, at 8:30 p.m.*
Saturday, September 2, 2017, at 8:30 p.m.*
Sunday, September 3, 2017, at 8:30 p.m.*
The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell, conductor
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial shown in HD on the big screen with the score performed live by The Cleveland Orchestra.
* denotes concerts with fireworks, weather permitting
