The Cleveland Orchestra will return to the Blossom Center this summer, with social distancing and other health protocols. Photo by Roger Mastroianni
“After canceling last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cleveland Orchestra on Sunday unveiled its 2021 Blossom Music Festival,” writes Mark J. Price in Sunday’s (4/11) Akron Beacon Journal (OH). “The festival will feature 11 concerts from July 3 to Sept. 5 at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls. Orchestra officials said the concerts will be in compliance with county, state and federal health guidelines…. The festival will begin July 3 with ‘An American Celebration’ [led by] former Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Brett Mitchell…. Rafael Payare, music director of the San Diego Symphony, will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut July 25 in a concert featuring Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 … Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt will return to Blossom on Aug. 1 for a program featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.… Karina Canellakis … will make her Cleveland Orchestra debut Aug. 15 with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4…. Elim Chan … will lead a concert Aug. 28 featuring … Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations.’ The Labor Day weekend program ‘Hollywood Under the Stars’ on Sept. 4-5 will feature movie conductor Richard Kaufman in a concert featuring music from … blockbuster films…. Additional repertoire and guest artists will be announced in May.”
