One of my favorite things about Cleveland is the passion that it has for arts and culture. Unique to other cities, Cuyahoga County has a tax on cigarettes that goes straight to public arts funding. Last year, this tax brought in 27.2 million dollars. This money goes to nonprofit arts organizations around the city, both large and small. Perhaps this extra funding is what helps us consistently have one of the top 10 orchestras in the world.
Photo from http://clevelandorch.com
Founded in 1918, the Cleveland Orchestra is nearly 100 years old. With residencies around the world, concert tours, ongoing recording opportunities, and collaborations with other arts organizations, the Cleveland Orchestra is always pushing themselves to the next level. They strongly believe in “music for all ages and stages for life,” and this is evident in their many community education and engagement programs. From family concerts, school programs, youth ensembles, and festival performances, this organization is really doing an amazing job with keeping the passion for classical music alive. They even offer high school and college students $10 tickets!
Photo from http://clevelandorch.com
This March, they will be performing in Cleveland nearly every weekend. Some concerts include Celebrating American Classics, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, and The Velvet Violin in Severance Hall. There will also be a master class with Richard King on March 17th at 4:00 pm in Severance Hall. I strongly suggest that you take advantage of having this world class orchestra in your backyard!