by Daniel Hathaway
Next Thursday, September 15, marks the fifteenth anniversary of the launching of ClevelandClassical.com (pictured left, the first Front Page from 2008).
Born out of 30 years of experience — and frustration — with running a concert series with minimal support from the traditional media, the website attracted immediate attention from musicians, presenters, and the concert-going public, who thought that a one-stop destination for classical music events and news had been needed for years.
From the beginning, robust concert listings were the source for all the rest of our content, and that is still the case today. Before long, we began to publish preview articles, and after that, concert and recording reviews.
We officially became a not-for-profit organization in 2009, the same year that we began offering summer fellowships to young writers. In 2011, Mike Telin and I began teaching music journalism at Oberlin, courses that have led to jobs in the industry for several individuals.
Since our 10th anniversary, a lot has happened that has globally affected arts organizations. We survived COVID, and continued to publish concert listings for remotely-attended performances, both local and world-wide.
The pandemic also inspired our Daily Diary, the first major addition to the site since its founding. It gives us a flexible platform for news items, announcements, season releases, regional and national arts highlights, and an almanac we can use to salute often forgotten musical figures on their birth- and death dates.
Looking forward, the concert season in Northeast Ohio is vibrant once again. Mike Telin and Jarrett Hoffman have just added over 350 listings to the calendar between now and the end of December, and new events are being added daily. (Pictured above: Concert Listings from September 15, 2008.)
Through all of this, the support of the Rubin Institute and dedicated advertisers and individual donors have kept us in business and allowed us to pay honoraria to writers. Here’s a big thank-you to everyone who has supported us in 2022-2023 and made our year-end fund drive a success.
We welcome readers who would like to send us into the new season with a launching gift. Just click here!
Published on ClevelandClassical.com September 7, 2023.
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