Final Concerto Round with The Cleveland Orchestra

Now firmly in its second century, The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year it exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color and chamber-like musical cohesion, “virtually flawless,” and “one of the finest ensembles in the country (if not the world).”

Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.

The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently in 2020, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including Adella, its digital streaming platform, and its own recording label. New initiatives for audience growth and community service have been introduced in recent years, including new technological infrastructure and capabilities at its home, Severance Music Center, to capture the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.

The 2023–24 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 22nd year as music director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra.

Its acclaimed opera presentations, including Puccini’s La fanciulla del West (2023), Verdi’s Otello (2022), Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (2019), Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (2017), Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin and Bluebeard’s Castle (2016), and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (2014 and 2017), have showcased the ensemble’s unique artistry and collaborative work ethic.

Since 1918, seven music directors—Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst—have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
Find out more.

Now firmly in its second century, The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year it exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color and chamber-like musical cohesion, “virtually flawless,” and “one of the finest ensembles in the country (if not the world).”

In the 2023-24 season, Reinhardt leads a production of La Traviata for the Royal Swedish Opera and will make debut appearances with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, and WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. In North America, she begins the season with the Nashville Symphony and makes debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony.

Programmatically, Reinhardt’s interests have led her toward an in-depth exploration of contemporary repertoire. With significant emphasis on women composers of the late 20th century and early 21st century, she brings new names and fresh faces to many orchestras for the first time. Among those whose works appear often in her progams are Grażyna Bacewicz, Kaija Saariaho, Lotta Wennäkoski, Daniel Bjarnason, Dai Fujikura,  and Thomas Adès.

In recent seasons, Ruth Reinhardt has made important debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Seattle. In Europe, her appearances have been no less impressive – the Orchestre National de France, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB), to name several.

Ruth Reinhardt attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where she received her master’s degree. Reinhardt was a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2017-2018), conducting fellow at the Seattle Symphony (2015-2016) and Tanglewood Music Center (2015), and Taki Concordia associate conducting fellow (2015-2017).