“Three days into the 2019-20 season, the Cleveland Orchestra announced a five-year extension of its contract with music director Franz Welser-Möst,” writes Zachary Lewis in Saturday’s (9/21) Plain Dealer (Cleveland). “The conductor will remain in Cleveland until 2027…. Along with the extension … the orchestra on Saturday revealed several major artistic initiatives, unveiling plans for operas through the 2023-24 season, a new recording project and a sweeping array of educational and outreach programs…. New funding … will make daytime education concerts free to all schools in Northeast Ohio. This comes in addition to the group’s … successful ‘Mindful Music Moments,’ instrument training programs and the Center for Future Audiences…. The orchestra also announced its first concrete plans to promote diversity in classical music [through a] new fellowship program, titled ‘Nurturing Diverse Talent.’ … Many of its details have yet to be settled…. Its goal will be to groom young African American and Latinx musicians for professional careers here or anywhere, in part through chamber-music performances with members of the Cleveland Orchestra…. In the second half of this season, the orchestra … will launch a series of self-released compact discs, digital downloads and streaming-service albums.”
Posted September 26, 2019
