Lincoln Center Festival and Cleveland Orchestra Announce Residency Including Future Collaboration with Vienna State Opera

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst was in New York today with Cleveland Orchestra Executive Director Gary Hanson, Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden, and the incoming Vienna State Opera General Director Dominique Meyer to announce a new partnership for The Cleveland Orchestra with Lincoln Center Festival and the Vienna State Opera. In 2011, the Orchestra will perform at the Festival in concerts featuring Bruckner symphonies juxtaposed with works by John Adams. In 2013 and 2015, the Orchestra will collaborate with the Vienna State Opera to present ballet and/or opera during the summer Festival.

Read the details and breaking news in The New York Times and The Plain Dealer.

View a video interview with Franz about Bruckner and Adams and read more about the partnership at LincolnCenter.org.

Comments from the public and the media are rolling in...

An e-mail to the Orchestra's Executive Director:

I want you to know I was thrilled to pick up the New York Times this morning and read about the new relationship of the The Cleveland Orchestra to New York City. This is great news for the The Cleveland Orchestra community because of the additional performances and financial support. However, the announcement is important for us as well here in Miami. Some doubters of the Cleveland residency hold that our relationship cannot substitute for a full time orchestra. It is highly relevant for us that New York is willing to make a commitment to enhance significantly its music scene by establishing the Orchestra's residency even though it already has a world class orchestra. The announcement this morning reaffirms that The Cleveland Orchestra and Miami are on the right track with a bright future.

Congratulations and best wishes,

Alan, Coral Gables, FL

Cleveland Magazine Blog:

"...out-of-town support is key to the orchestra's plan for future prosperity."

Crain's Cleveland:

"For the orchestra, the arrangement with Lincoln Center Festival helps further broaden its audience..."

The Plain Dealer's Five Things You Should Know: The Week in Review:

"Growth by diversifying: The Cleveland Orchestra announced Tuesday it will soon be a regular feature of the Lincoln Center Festival. Orchestra officials said a new long-term residency with multiple performances at the center's annual summer feast of culture will begin in 2011 and continue every other year through 2015. The Orchestra's decision to enter into a relationship outside Cleveland is part of a strategy to survive tough times by touring."