Cleveland Orchestra makes up for lost summer on eclectic 2022 Blossom Music Festival season

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Summer at Blossom Music Center this year will be a season of making up lost musical time and making new connections.

As in years past, the Cleveland Orchestra will spend its 2022 Blossom Music Festival, announced Sunday, appealing to a broad spectrum. At the same, it also will get around to presenting several programs conceived for the lost summer of 2020.

“That’s been the challenge of this pandemic,” noted Ilya Gidalevich, the orchestra’s director of artistic planning.

“We schedule years in advance, and so it’s very hard to bring back events from the past. But it’s also very important that we cater to as many people as possible.”

Film lovers have special cause for excitement. At last, the Cleveland Orchestra this year plans to fulfill its promise to present “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” in concert.

Both programs will be performed more than once and will feature live choral singers in addition to the orchestra in time with the film. “I cannot underscore how monumental that production will be,” said Gidalevich of the “Ring” concerts.

Also long overdue: the debut of conductor Elim Chan. She’ll take the stage at Blossom July 9, joining pianist Benjamin Grosvenor on a program featuring works by Weber, Liszt, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

The rest of the season is about as eclectic as can be, a mix that includes the popular “Salute to America” with Loras John Schissel and the Blossom Festival Band, and Jeff Tyzik conducting a “Paul Simon Songbook.”

Associate conductor Vinay Parameswaran kicks off the season with his final subscription appearance: a program pairing Copland’s Symphony No. 3 and principal cellist Mark Kosower performing Friedrich Gulda’s Concerto for Cello, a “wild, wild” work, Gidalevich said.

The classical crowd also can look forward to the local debuts of conductor Jonathan Berman and Jader Bignamini, music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and to appearances by conductors Giancarlo Guerrero, Ruth Reinhardt, and Jahja Ling. The latter will lead a special performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra.

Also slated to return are pianists Aaron Diehl, Cedric Tiberghien, and Daniil Trifonov, as well as violinists Sergey Khachatryan and Vadim Gluzman, with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Broadway fans also get their due. This summer, the orchestra will devote not one but two programs to that genre, welcoming back conductor Richard Kaufman for a program highlighting the late Stephen Sondheim, among others, and Baldwin Wallace University talent for a season finale production of “The Sound of Music.”

Nothing, while the pandemic persists, is set in stone. Every event carries an asterisk noting that program details are subject to change and anything can be canceled.

One thing, though, is certain. If the 2022 Blossom Music Festival is able to proceed, many crowds will be pleased.

“One can say relatively safely that this next summer will be great,” Gidalevich said. “I’m very happy with how it turned out.”

2022 BLOSSOM MUSIC FESTIVAL

Subscriptions, $120-$480; lawn ticket books, $180; and individual tickets to film concerts, $15-$121, are available now. Individual tickets to the remainder of the season, $25-$121, go on sale Monday, April 4. To order, visit clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111.

8 p.m. Saturday, July 2 (fireworks)

Vinay Parameswaran, conductor

Mark Kosower, cello

Gulda: Concerto for Cello

Copland: Symphony No. 3

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8 p.m. Sunday and Monday, July 3 and 4 (fireworks)

Blossom Festival Band

Loras John Schissel, conductor

“Salute to America”

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7 p.m. Saturday, July 9

Elim Chan, conductor

Benjamin Grosvenor, piano

Weber: Overture to “Der Freischutz”

Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

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7 p.m. Sunday, July 10

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

Paul Loren, Daniel Berryman, and Emily Drennan, vocalists

“Paul Simon Songbook”

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7 p.m. Saturday, July 16

Jader Bignamini, conductor

Aaron Diehl, piano

Paul Sikivie, bass

Aaron Kimmel, drums

Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite

Respighi: Fountains of Rome

Respighi: Pines of Rome

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7 p.m. Friday-Sunday, July 22-24

Ludwig Wicki, conductor

Blossom Festival Chorus

Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus

Shore: “The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” film concert

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7 p.m. Saturday, July 30

Ruth Reinhardt, conductor

Sergey Khachatryan, violin

Bacewicz: Overture

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

Dvorak: Symphony No. 5

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7 p.m. Sunday, July 31

Richard Kaufman, conductor

Hugh Panaro, Dee Roscioli, and Scarlett Strallen, vocalists

“Broadway Legends: Webber, Sondheim, Bernstein”

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7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

Jonathan Berman, conductor

Cedric Tiberghien, piano

Grieg: Piano Concerto

Schmidt: Symphony No. 4

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7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7

With the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra

Jahja Ling, conductor

Leah Hawkins, soprano

Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano

Issachah Savage, tenor

Raymond Aceto, bass

Blossom Festival Chorus

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

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7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor

Daniil Trifonov, piano

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

Adams: Harmonielehre

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7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 20 and 21

Justin Freer, conductor

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus

Williams: “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” film concert

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8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Vadim Gluzman, violin

Geminiani: La Follia Variations

Hailstork: Sonata Da Chiesa for String Orchestra

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

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8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3 and 4

Blossom Festival Orchestra

Andy Einhorn, conductor

Victoria Bussert, director

Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music

Rodgers: The Sound of Music