On a Personal Note

Rock and drum icon Stewart Copeland talks early influences and recent compositions — including Police Deranged, an orchestral survey of Copeland's career and his many years with The Police.Upcoming Performance (September 11 at Blossom Music Center):Join Stewart Copeland and The Cleveland Orchestra  for the finale to this summer's Blossom Music Festival, Stewart Copeland's Police Deranged For Orchestra, a high-energy orchestral celebration of The Police's biggest hits, including ‘Roxanne', ‘Don't Stand So Close To Me' and ‘Message in a Bottle'. With Copeland on drums, three singers, guitarist and the full symphony orchestra, these unique compositions give new life to classic songs and select hits from the career of one of the generation's greatest and most influential artists.Tickets available hereStream Stewart Copeland's new Spotify Playlist, "For Cleveland"

Revered pianist Mitsuko Uchida reminisces with fondness on the familial nature of her decades-long relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra.Featured Music:MOZART – Piano Concerto No. 24 (K. 491)The Cleveland OrchestraMitsuko Uchida, conductor and pianoRecorded live at Severance Hall in November 2005The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

After several artist cancellations irrevocably altered plans to perform Haydn’s The Seasons, soprano Golda Schultz was the last soloist standing. Not only did the show go on, it became a defining moment.Featured Music:HAYDN – The SeasonsThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorGolda Schultz, sopranoRecorded live at Severance Hall on Jan. 18, 2018The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

In January 2018, The Cleveland Orchestra planned to perform Haydn’s choral masterpiece The Seasons. One soloist fell ill. Then another. What resulted is one of the most unusual and memorable performances in Cleveland Orchestra history.Featured Music:HAYDN – The SeasonsThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorGolda Schultz, sopranoRecorded live at Severance Hall on Jan. 18, 2018The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Cellist Paul Kushious reflects on the works of Richard Strauss as he traces the composer’s path on an unforgettable and perfectly planned trip from Austria to Switzerland.Featured Music:STRAUSS – Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24The Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at Severance Hall in 2016The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Bassoonist Jonathan Sherwin discusses the existential meaning behind Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony - Resurrection; “Why am I here, what am I doing, and what gives my life meaning…”Featured Music:MAHLER – Symphony no. 2 (Resurrection)5. Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo)The Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorJoélle Harvey, sopranoSasha Cooke, mezzo-sopranoCleveland Orchestra ChorusRecorded live at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on January 26, 2019The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

From music conductors to visiting artists to her own family ties, board member Clara Rankin thinks back on the people and performances that define The Cleveland Orchestra.Interview conducted by André Gremillet, President & CEO of The Cleveland Orchestra.Featured MusicMOZART – Symphony no. 411. Allegro vivaceThe Cleveland OrchestraRecorded live at Severance Hall in 1966The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Pianist and Violinist Carolyn Gadiel Warner reflects on falling in love—with her husband of 40 years, Bruckner symphonies and her profession.Featured MusicBRUCKNER – Symphony No. 84.  FinaleThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at Severance Hall on May 29, 2010The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Principal Percussionist Marc Damoulakis talks about feeling the rhythm from an early age and what it means to keep time for The Cleveland Orchestra.Featured MusicRIMSKY-KORSAKOV – Scheherazade4.  Festival at Baghdad; the Sea; the Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze WarriorThe Cleveland OrchestraGustavo Gimeno, conductorRecorded live at Severance Hall on October 19, 2018The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Director of Choruses Lisa Wong reflects on the healing power of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls after 9/11 and the human voice as medicine for the soul.Featured MusicADAMS – On the Transmigration of SoulsThe Cleveland OrchestraJakub Hrůša, conductorCleveland Orchestra ChorusRecorded live at Severance Hall on November 17, 2019The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst recalls the automobile accident that would forever change his course, sparking a lifelong affinity for Franz Schubert in the process.Featured MusicSCHUBERT – Mass No. 6 in E-flat major2. GloriaThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at Severance Hall on May 18, 2019The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Principal Trumpet Michael Sachs reflects on his relationship with one of the most influential figures in modern classical music—and the lasting legacy of Boulez in Cleveland.Featured MusicSTRAVINSKY – The Rite of SpringPART II: The SacrificeThe Cleveland OrchestraPierre Boulez, conductorRecorded in Severance Hall in 1991

Clarinetist Robert Woolfrey talks about finding peace in Brahms’s German Requiem and its power to connect the past with the present.Featured MusicBrahms - German Requiem2. For all flesh is as grassThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live in Severance Hall on October of 2009The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Flutist and hometown girl Jessica Sindell reflects on her time with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, landing her dream job and the relentless pursuit of imperfection. Features Music:RACHMANINOFF - Piano Concerto 31. Allegro ma non tantoThe Cleveland OrchestraMatthias Pintscher, conductorKirill Gerstein, pianoRecorded in Severance Hall in 2018.The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Long-tenured violinist Emilio Llinás reflects on his journey from Cuba to Cleveland and shares a perspective shaped by his 52 seasons.Featured Music:BEETHOVEN – Symphony No. 91. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestosoThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded in Severance Hall in May of 2018, as the finale to the Prometheus Project.The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Viola Player Eliesha Nelson finds strength in Anton Bruckner’s strongly-held belief that good conquers all—at a time when uncertainty troubles many.Featured Music:BRUCKNER – Symphony No. 5The Cleveland OrchestraHerbert Blomstedt, conductorRecorded live from Severance Hall in February of 2020The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Principal Flute Joshua Smith explains how performing Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen left a lasting mark and why the dragonfly just may be his favorite insect.Featured Music:JANÁČEK – The Cunning Little Vixen(sung in Czech)The Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorMartina Janková, soprano (Vixen)Jennifer Johnson Cano, soprano (Fox)Samantha Gossard, soprano (Owl)Marian Vogel, soprano (Blue Jay)Sandra Ross, soprano (Woodpecker)Recorded live from Severance Hall in May of 2014The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Cellist Martha Baldwin talks about the restorative power of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto after a difficult diagnosis.Featured Music:BEETHOVEN – Piano Concerto No. 2The Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorEmanuel Ax, pianoRecorded live from Severance Hall in 2017The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

At age 21, in his second week with The Cleveland Orchestra, Principal Horn Nathaniel Silberschlag played Mahler’s 5th for a packed house, exceeding expectations. Even his own.Featured Music:MAHLER - Symphony No. 53. ScherzoThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at  the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in 2020The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Violinist Katherine Bormann contemplates whether you can be in a long-term relationship with a composition and talks about why she’ll stick with Strauss's Rosenkavalier Suite until the end.Featured Music:R. STRAUSS - Concert Suite: Der RosenkavalierThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorThe connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

French Horn Player Richard King shares his earliest memories of hearing Beethoven’s "Eroica" on the family phonograph and how the disc ended up shaping his destiny.Featured Music:BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)The Cleveland OrchestraThe connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Music Director Franz Welser-Möst recalls his conflicting emotions conducting The Cleveland Orchestra one last time before the Coronavirus pandemic silenced Severance Hall.Featured Music:SCHUBERT - Symphony in C major (“The Great”)2. Andante con motoThe Cleveland OrchestraFranz Welser-Möst, conductorRecorded live at Severance Hall on March 13, 2020The connection we share through music is more important than ever — and so is your support. To support The Cleveland Orchestra, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/donate.

Every story has a soundtrack. Cleveland Orchestra Musicians and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst share stories about the music that has shaped their lives.