Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio.[1][2] Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five".[3] The orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall. Its current music director is Franz Welser-Möst.
The Cleveland Orchestra
History[edit]
Founding and early history (1918–1945)[edit]
The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918 by music-aficionado Adella Prentiss Hughes, businessman John L. Severance, Father John Powers, music critic Archie Bell, and Russian-American violinist and conductor Nikolai Sokoloff,[4] who became the orchestra’s first music director. A former pianist, Hughes served as a local music promoter and sponsored a series of “Symphony Orchestra Concerts” designed to bring top-notch orchestral music to Cleveland.[5] In 1915, she helped found the Musical Arts Association,[6] which presented Cleveland performances of the Ballets Russes in 1916 and Richard Wagner’s Siegfried at the Cleveland Indians’ League Park a few months later[7] After a great deal of planning and fundraising, The Cleveland Orchestra’s inaugural concert was performed on December 11, 1918, at Grays Armory.[8]
Three events occurred in 1921 that proved significant in the orchestra's early development: