Cleveland offers 10 premieres in Franz’s 20th season
mainThe Cleveland Orchestra has just rolled out its 2021-22 season, its 20th with Franz Welser-Möst as music director. The amount of new music is unprecedented.#
It includes commissions from Joan Tower, Hans Abrahamsen, Bernd Richard Deutsch, and Thomas Adès; and premieres by Joan Tower, George Walker, Gabriella Smith, Carlos Simon, Lili Boulanger, Unsuk Chin, and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Some 30 works will in the orchestra’s programming for the first time.
Mark Williams, Chief Artistic Officer, says: ‘It’s been empowering to embrace meaningful conversations about incorporating voices especially from people of color and women. Going forward, I’m encouraged that the strides we’ve made in realizing this season will become a template for the future.’
The orchestra’s sound and spirit are phenomenal under FWM.
As a Clevelander, I’m more excited than ever to buy my season tickets!
Mark Williams, Chief Artistic Officer, says: ‘It’s been empowering to embrace meaningful conversations about incorporating voices especially from people of color and women. Going forward, I’m encouraged that the strides we’ve made in realizing this season will become a template for the future.’
Mark Williams sounds like such a great guy. I’ve never heard anyone from an orchestra speak in such inspiring terms before.
Pure virtue signaling.
It’ll create a lot of buzz, but little music.
Lets hope it sells lots of tickets as well as “creating a buzz”.
The Cleveland Orchestra is fearless. The conventional wisdom would be to schedule the warhorses. Who else has the balls to do this schedule. The. Cleveland Orchestra…Second To None.
Either that or the empty hall will cause a financial problem. But what a way to go bust…
I assume the usual trolls will latch on to the “persons of color” in Mr. Williams’ statement, but Cleveland generally stands out not only for its high level of execution, but for the serious of purpose in its programming.
I’m curious with which Lili Boulanger wil come-up with.
Strange that no single truly interesting American composer appears on the list: Paul Moravec, Jake Heggie, Daniel Gilliam, Pierre Jalbert, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jonathan Leshnoff, Daniel Asia, Jeremy Cavaterra, Reza Vali. Maybe because they are male, white, and truly musically-gifted?
The given list looks merely fashionable, and Chin and Gubaidulina are sonic artists, not composers.
“…which Lili Boulanger will come-up with”: D’un matin de printemps [On a Spring Morning]
I’ve now seen the entire announcement, and it is the CO’s most adventuresome season in my memory. Good for them!
Re: white male American composers: there is an entire program of American minimalists, conducted by Adams. Your alternative list has a lot to recommend it; maybe next year.