The Cleveland Orchestra has announced programming for its 2026 summer season, anchored by the Blossom Music Festival at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Summers at Severance indoor series at Severance Music Center in Cleveland. Individual tickets went on sale March 11 through the Severance Music Center ticket office and clevelandorchestra.com.
The Blossom season opens July 3 with a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, featuring conductor Edwin Outwater and tenor Limmie Pulliam in a program of American music by Gershwin, Copland, and Bernstein, followed by fireworks. A traditional July 4 patriotic concert follows. Classical programming runs July 18 through August 29 with conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Kevin John Edusei, Kazuki Yamada, and Tabita Berglund, who makes her Cleveland Orchestra debut August 15 with a Sibelius program. Broadway star Idina Menzel appears July 26, and the orchestra performs film scores by John Williams on September 4 through 6. Lawn Ticket Books, including 10 adult vouchers and family perks, are available for $200.
Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, in his 25th and final season with the orchestra, conducts at both Blossom and Severance. Summers at Severance, a Thursday evening cocktail-and-concert series, opens July 16 with Bychkov conducting pianist Garrick Ohlsson in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Movie nights at Blossom include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with live orchestra on July 11 and 12. The J.M. Smucker Co. serves as presenting sponsor of the Blossom Music Festival; Thompson Hine LLP presents Summers at Severance.
Source: Colin’s Column