Cleveland Orchestra Miami has announced its 2016-17 season with concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra presented in partnership with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

Eleventh Cleveland Orchestra Miami Season features four weeks of programming presented in partnership with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts concerts in January, February, and March

First performances by Miami’s Seraphic Fire vocal ensemble with The Cleveland Orchestra

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads performances in November 2016 with violinist Gil Shaham in a program of music by Berlioz, Barber, and Shostakovich

Subscriptions on sale March 13; individual tickets available in September

Community initiatives continue during the 2016-17 season

The four-week Cleveland Orchestra Miami season features weekends of concerts in November, January, February, and March with programs including works by Bach, Barber, Berlioz, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Nielsen, Respighi, Shostakovich, Sibelius, and Verdi.  Community initiatives also continue with the 2016-17 season, featuring a series of daytime Education Concerts at the Arsht Center, in-school music education programs, and free community presentations by The Cleveland Orchestra.

“Building on the success of the first decade of The Cleveland Orchestra’s residency in Miami, I am excited about next year’s 2016-17 season, especially our collaboration with another world-class ensemble, Miami’s own Seraphic Fire,” says Music Director Franz Welser-Möst.  “The diversity of culture and arts offerings in Miami inspires me. I’ve met so many interesting people who bring their talents to South Florida from South America, Europe, and Asia.  There is a mixture of cultures and excitement in Miami with a creative potential which I find extraordinary and unique.”

“Cleveland Orchestra Miami continues to grow with each passing year,” says Montserrat Balseiro, the organization’s Miami-based Managing Director.  “With the eleventh season coming up, we are excited to present four amazing weeks of concerts with our partner, the Arsht Center, and to continue building on our annual education and community presentations.  Cleveland Orchestra Miami is all about sharing world-class classical music and music education across Miami-Dade – and we are excited not just by our success so far, but with our plans for doing even more in the future.”

ARSHT CENTER PERFORMANCES
Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero opens the season with performances on November 11 and 12 with internationally renowned soloist Gil Shaham performing Barber’s Violin Concerto on a program that also includes Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture and Shostakovich’s dazzlingly triumphant Fifth Symphony.

Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts three weeks of concerts, beginning with the January 27 and 28 performances featuring the first performances with The Cleveland Orchestra by Miami’s Seraphic Fire, a professional vocal ensemble prepared by their founder and artistic director, Patrick Dupré Quigley. The January concerts feature Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 coupled with Bach’s complete Cantata No. 34 with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, and movements from Bach’s Cantatas Nos. 191 and 29.  Welser-Möst grew up in Anton Bruckner’s hometown of Linz, Austria, and is a noted authority and leading conductor of his expansive symphonies.  Following their Miami collaboration, Seraphic Fire will also perform with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in March 2017.

On February 2 and 4, violinist Nikolaj Znaider joins Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra in Nielsen’s Violin Concerto on a program that also features Sibelius’s popular Second Symphony.

The final week of Cleveland Orchestra Miami concerts for the 2016-17 season is led by Welser-Möst on March 24 and 25 and features a program of Mendelssohn’s sunny Fourth Symphony, nicknamed the “Italian” Symphony, alongside Respighi’s effervescent tone poem The Pines of Rome and selections from Verdi’s ballet music, chosen from several operas.

COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS
From its very beginning, Cleveland Orchestra Miami was designed to serve South Florida with an array of musical performances by The Cleveland Orchestra, including evening classical concerts, daytime education programs, and community engagement activities – touching the lives of more than 20,000 children, students, and adults each year. Cleveland Orchestra Miami is supported through the generosity of music-lovers from across Miami-Dade, who believe in the power of great orchestral music for adults and young people alike.

Education and community programs will continue to be an integral part of Cleveland Orchestra Miami’s annual schedule. During its eleventh season in 2016-17, Cleveland Orchestra Miami is presenting community education and engagement programs that reach students of all ages from pre-school to graduate school, enriching Miami-Dade County through world-class orchestral performances, engaging education concerts for school children, and collaborations with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and other community organizations. Cleveland Orchestra Miami continues its commitment to bringing the community the highest level of classical music available today throughout the world.

A highlight of the 2016-17 season is two Education Concert performances at the Arsht Center on January 31 for students of the Miami-Dade County School District (MDCPS) with conductor Brett Mitchell.  Early elementary school children will enjoy “Music Explorer” programs featuring Cleveland Orchestra musicians, which take the youngest audiences on a musical journey, exploring the instruments of the orchestra, one at a time; and college-level musicians have the opportunity to advance their orchestral performance craft by working side-by-side with Cleveland Orchestra musicians, conductors, and guest artists.

Support for Cleveland Orchestra Miami is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, and the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA MIAMI
Now entering its eleventh season with the 2016-17 season, Cleveland Orchestra Miami was launched during the inaugural 2006-07 season of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.  Cleveland Orchestra Miami serves Miami-Dade with an array of musical presentations performed by The Cleveland Orchestra, including an annual series of subscription concerts, education programs, and community engagement activities – touching the lives of more than 20,000 children, students, and adults each year. Under the leadership of the not-for-profit Miami Music Association, Cleveland Orchestra Miami is supported through the generosity of music-lovers from across South Florida, who believe in the power of great orchestral music for adults and young people alike. Each season of Cleveland Orchestra Miami concerts is presented in partnership with the Arsht Center.

Over the course of the first ten years, Cleveland Orchestra Miami has touched the lives of over a quarter-million music lovers from across Miami, presenting music programs for more than 65,000 young people across the county, engaging with more than 40,000 students from 200 schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School System with more than 75 local partner organizations and sponsoring corporations across South Florida to share music and music-making throughout the region.

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Under the leadership of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra has become one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world.  Acclaimed internationally as one of the most dynamic orchestral collaborations today, the partnership between The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst has resulted in an unprecedented series of residencies in the United States and Europe, including ongoing residencies in Miami and at the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, regular appearances in New York City and at music festivals across Europe.  Founded in 1918, the Orchestra performs at home in Ohio in two of the world’s finest concert venues: Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center. For more information, visit www.clevelandorchestra.com.

ABOUT THE CONDUCTORS
FRANZ WELSER-MÖST
Franz Welser-Möst is one of today’s most distinguished conductors. He has been music director of The Cleveland Orchestra since 2002, with his tenure now contracted until 2022. He holds the Orchestra’s Kelvin Smith Family Endowed Chair. The Cleveland Orchestra, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2018, has reached new heights under Mr. Welser-Möst’s direction. The New York Times recently declared The Cleveland Orchestra the “best American orchestra” due to its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion. The Cleveland Orchestra has been repeatedly praised for its innovative programming, support for new musical works, and for its success in semi-staged and staged opera productions – including 2014’s critically acclaimed performances of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with a revelatory computer-animated stage design. In addition to their regular residencies in the USA and Europe, Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra are frequent guests at many prestigious concert halls and festivals, including the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival. The Cleveland Orchestra has been hugely successful in building up a new and, notably, a young audience through its groundbreaking programs involving students and by working closely with universities.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO
A native of Nicaragua and raised in Costa Rica, Giancarlo Guerrero began his tenure as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony in 2009, and has led the Nashville Symphony to several Grammy wins in recent years, including in the category of Best Orchestral Performance in 2011 and for Best Classical Compendium in 2016.  He now conducts on five continents and annually visits Caracas, Venezuela, to conduct the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and to work with the young musicians in the country’s much-lauded El Sistema music education program.  Mr. Guerrero served as music director of Oregon’s Eugene Symphony from 2003 to 2009.  Last season, Giancarlo Guerrero made his debut with the Houston Grand Opera conducting Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and made European debuts with the Orchestre National de France, the Netherlands Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, and Tonkünstler Orchester.

ABOUT SERAPHIC FIRE
Currently in their 14th season performing throughout the South Florida region and on national tours, Seraphic Fire is regarded as one of the preeminent choral-orchestral chamber ensembles in the United States. Led by Founder and Artistic Director Patrick Dupré Quigley, Seraphic Fire brings top ensemble singers and instrumentalists from around the country to perform repertoire ranging from Gregorian chant and baroque masterpieces to Mahler and newly commissioned works by this country’s leading composers. For more information, visit www.seraphicfire.org/about/.

ABOUT THE ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is made possible by the public support of the Miami-Dade County Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council and the City of Miami Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, as well as the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. The Adrienne Arsht Center also receives generous support from individuals, corporations and local, state and national foundations.

Set in the heart of downtown Miami and designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is one of the world’s leading performing arts organizations and venues. Since opening in 2006, the Arsht Center, a 501C3 non-profit organization, has emerged as a leader in presenting innovative programming that mirrors South Florida’s diversity as well as a catalyst for billions of dollars in new development in the downtown area. Spotlighting legends and serving as a launch pad for local artists to make their mark on the international stage, the Center presents nearly 500 events each year across its eight flexible, state-of-the-art performance spaces. The Center programs 12 signature series, including the largest jazz series in South Florida, the biggest flamenco festival on the East Coast, and a robust program of new theatrical works as well as free programming for the community and an arts education program that serves nearly 30,000 children each year. As Miami’s new Town Square, the Arsht Center also houses Brava!, a fine dining restaurant; the Café at Books & Books in the historic Carnival Tower and a weekly Farmers Market. Visit www.arshtcenter.org for more information.

 
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA MIAMI 2016-17 Season (as of 3-13-2016)

NOVEMBER 2016

Friday, NOVEMBER 11, 2016 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, NOVEMBER 12, 2016 at 8 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor

Gil Shaham, violin

BERLIOZ  Roman Carnival Overture

BARBER  Violin Concerto

SHOSTAKOVICH  Symphony No. 5

JANUARY 2017

Friday, JANUARY 27, 2017 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, JANUARY 28, 2017 at 8 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano

Seraphic Fire, vocal ensemble

            Patrick Dupré Quigley, founder and artistic director

BACH  Movement I from Cantata No. 191, “Gloria in excelsis Deo”

BACH  Cantata No. 34, “O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe”

BACH  Movement II from Cantata No. 29, “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir”

BRUCKNER  Symphony No. 7

EDUCATION CONCERTS

Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Brett Mitchell, conductor

Two performances by The Cleveland Orchestra for students from Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Program to be announced

FEBRUARY 2017

Thursday, FEBRUARY 2, 2017 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 4, 2017 at 8 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

Nikolaj Znaider, violin

NIELSEN  Violin Concerto

SIBELIUS  Symphony No. 2

MARCH 2017

Friday, MARCH 24, 2017 at 8 p.m.

Saturday, MARCH 25, 2017 at 8 p.m.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

MENDELSSOHN  Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”)

VERDI  Ballet Music [selections from operas]

RESPIGHI  The Pines of Rome