“Nothing flashy about the number 31, but the 31st season of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is special nonetheless,” writes Zachary Lewis in Wednesday’s (6/1) Plain Dealer (Cleveland). “During its fourth year under music director Brett Mitchell, associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, the distinguished pre-professional ensemble will take several giant steps forward in the form of a world premiere, two other contemporary works, and first-time performances of symphonies by Bruckner and Prokofiev…. Up first, on Friday, Nov. 18, is a weighty night of two firsts: the group’s first Bruckner (Symphony No. 4) and the premiere of ‘Fountains of Youth,’ by Roger Briggs, Mitchell’s former teacher at Western Washington University…. On Sunday, Feb. 19 … in addition to Debussy’s ‘Nocturnes’ and the Poulenc Gloria with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, the group will perform ‘Sea-Blue Circuitry,’ a work by American composer Mason Bates…. On Friday, May 12 … the group will undertake its first Prokofiev Symphony (the widely-beloved Fifth) [and] another contemporary American work: Joan Tower’s ‘Made in America.’… ‘It’s a huge, huge season for us,’ Mitchell said, adding that ‘this is what we in COYO do now.’ ”
Posted June 2, 2016
