Cleveland Orchestra coming back to Lakewood

[michael gill]

The Cleveland Orchestra is coming to play in Lakewood next Spring, in the next installment of its "at home" residency series. Some people will remember when the orchestra and its ensembles played in venues around Gordon Square last Spring, a big deal which in part sprung from chamber ensemble performances at the Happy Dog. The "At Home" residency included small ensemble performances at 78th Street studios and in neighborhood restaurants and bars, as well as a full orchestra concert--free--at St. Colman church.

This is still developing, but as of now, a full concert will happen at the Civic, preceded by musicians' visits to Lakewood City Schools. What a great score for the kids, and for the Lakewood City Schools' music program. Bravo. The concert will be broadcast on WVIZ TV, and WCLV, 104.9 FM.

There are more details forthcoming, as the press release below subtly indicates. We might wonder, for example, if ensembles from the orchestra might perform at the Lake Erie Screw Factory. Or perhaps a night at the Root. Or at Beck.

The last time I wrote about the Hilliard / Westwood theater, the archivist from the Cleveland Orchestra contacted me to point out that an old program indicated that the orchestra had once played there. It's a pretty fair bet that won't happen again.

Here's the press release:

The Cleveland Orchestra and Lakewood collaborate to present The Cleveland Orchestra at home in Lakewood May 17-24, 2014

WVIZ/PBS and WCLV 104.9 FM ideastream® will broadcast The Cleveland Orchestra in concert at the Civic Auditorium in Lakewood


CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Orchestra and Lakewood announce a new partnership that will present The Cleveland Orchestra at home in Lakewood, a week of activities and performances from May 17-24, 2014. The centerpiece of the Orchestra's neighborhood residency in Lakewood will be a free, public Cleveland Orchestra concert at the Civic Auditorium in Lakewood (14100 Franklin Blvd.) on Saturday, May 24, at 7:30 p.m., with a delayed broadcast on WVIZ/PBS ideastream, and a radio broadcast of the concert on WCLV 104.9. The television broadcast will feature a composite of the Orchestra’s performances, collaborations, and events in Lakewood. During the residency, the Orchestra will perform a free concert for students at the Civic Auditorium. Prior to the concerts, Orchestra musicians will visit classrooms in Lakewood schools to introduce themselves and the music that will be performed at the student concert.

“Creating a ‘grass roots’ opportunity for Lakewood to experience perhaps the greatest orchestra in the world at a very personal level is a cultural experience that we will remember for years to come. Our increasingly vibrant commercial corridors and neighborhoods will be made ever-more-so by the music and the musicians,” commented Lakewood Mayor Michael P. Summers. Ian Andrews, executive director of LakewoodAlive, Lakewood's nonprofit economic development organization, said, “We are ecstatic to have been chosen as The Cleveland Orchestra's destination for immersion into a Northeast Ohio community. Lakewood is known for its commitment to the arts. The Orchestra’s events will strengthen this commitment and showcase the city’s great quality of life, local organizations, restaurants, schools, and businesses that make our community special.”

The Cleveland Orchestra has a long history of appearing in Lakewood, going back to 1920, when the Orchestra first performed at Lakewood High School. The Orchestra returns to Lakewood in May for the first time in 29 years, under the leadership of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. The Cleveland Orchestra’s first music director, Nikolai Sokoloff, brought the Orchestra to Lakewood in March of 1920, and with the exception of Erich Leinsdorf, each music director has performed there with the Orchestra. The Orchestra continued performing at Lakewood High School through the early 1930s, and then performed at Hilliard Square Theater in 1933 and 1934. In April 1955, Music Director George Szell began leading concerts at the Civic Auditorium, and performances continued there until 1985 with Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi.

The Cleveland Orchestra introduced neighborhood residences in May 2013 in the Gordon Square community of Cleveland. The activities, including a Cleveland Orchestra Concert at Saint Colman Catholic Church, were taped and aired by WVIZ/PBS ideastream. WCLV 104.9 also broadcast the concert on radio.

The goals of the neighborhood residencies are to offer more people the opportunity to experience performances by the Orchestra and its musicians, to engage with local community partners around arts and cultural activities, and to bring increased visibility and vibrancy to greater Cleveland’s neighborhoods. The week of activities will include solo and chamber performances in unique locations, educational programs at local schools, and new artistic collaborations with neighborhood arts and cultural organizations. Details of The Cleveland Orchestra at home in Lakewood will be announced in March 2014, along with the process for acquiring tickets for the free, public Cleveland Orchestra concerts.

The Cleveland Orchestra thanks the following community partners who are helping to make The Cleveland Orchestra at home in Lakewood possible as of October 15, 2013:


Beck Center for the Arts
City of Lakewood, Mayor Michael P. Summers
LakewoodAlive
Lakewood Chamber of Commerce
Lakewood City School District
Lakewood Civic Auditorium

The Cleveland Orchestra’s “At Home” neighborhood residency program is supported in part by the Machaskee Fund for Community Programming, a fund created by a generous endowment gift from Alex and Carol Machaskee.