The Cleveland Orchestra’s July 3-7 concerts at Blossom Music Center will include fireworks. Photo: Roger Mastroianni
“Music lovers aren’t the only ones headed for a major reunion at Blossom Music Center this weekend. No, the Cleveland Orchestra itself is also about to enjoy an important homecoming,” writes Zachary Lewis in Tuesday’s (6/29) Plain Dealer (Cleveland). “When it convenes at its summer home with former associate conductor Brett Mitchell this Independence Day weekend, it’ll be the first time the full ensemble has appeared together since March 2020.… After nearly a year of playing virtual concerts … liberally spread apart on the Severance Hall stage and largely without woodwinds or brass, the full crew this weekend at Blossom will … return to their pre-pandemic configuration…. [In addition to] Sousa’s ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’ and Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812’ Overture [the opening concert will include] music by three African-Americans…. In the mix with beloved works by Bernstein and Copland will be ‘An American Fanfare,’ by Adolphus Hailstork; Concerto in One Movement, by Florence Price; and ‘Soul of Remembrance,’ by Mary Watkins…. This season, the orchestra is offering digital program materials, viewable on smartphones, and virtual tickets…. One other difference: … ‘The lawn has never looked better,’ chief brand officer Ross Binnie said…. ‘The whole space is absolutely dynamic.’ ”
