The Cleveland Orchestra announced its 2026-27 season on April 15, 2026, marking the final year of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst’s 25-year tenure at the ensemble. The season runs nine months at Severance Music Center in Cleveland and has been described as a comprehensive survey of Welser-Möst’s artistic priorities, including major choral works, new music, an opera, and an extensive presentation of Richard Strauss’s orchestral catalog.

Programmatic highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, the world premiere of a Cleveland commission by Martinů, a new work by Stephan Koncz, and compositions by former Composer Fellow Bernd Richard Deutsch. Notable guest conductors scheduled for the season include Alan Gilbert, Fabio Luisi, Elim Chan, Thomas Adès, Semyon Bychkov, Jane Glover, John Adams, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Featured soloists include violinist Augustin Hadelich, soprano Golda Schultz, saxophonist Steven Banks, and pianists Beatrice Rana, Alexandre Kantorow, Conrad Tao, and Yunchan Lim.

Beyond Cleveland, the orchestra plans return engagements in New York and Miami, as well as its longest international tour in recent years. Welser-Möst has led the Cleveland Orchestra since 2002, during which time the ensemble has maintained its standing among the world’s premier orchestras. Season and single ticket information is available at clevelandorchestra.com.

Source: Symphony