CLEVELAND, OH – Hailed by The New York Times as “America’s most understatedly amazing orchestra (if not the world),” The Cleveland Orchestra spent 2018 celebrating not so much its origins, but more of what it unceasingly manages to give back to robust citizens of Northeast Ohio – great music.
The centennial culminated Sept 29th, 2018, with Steinway Artist Lang Lang in a spectacular Anniversary Gala at Severance Hall that raised an eye-popping $1.75 million to support education and community programs. More than 1,800 guests attended the concert.
Bringing classical music to a broader audience has been The Cleveland Orchestra’s mission since President Woodrow Wilson roamed the White House. According to the orchestra’s estimates, more than four million young people have benefitted from live concerts and performances through these outreach initiatives.
Donor Mary Freer Cannon made the year-long centennial festivities extra special. She gifted a new Steinway & Sons Model D concert grand piano, selected by Cleveland Orchestra Principal Keyboard, Joela Jones, and Steinway Artist Yefim Bronfman at the factory in Astoria, Queens.
The New York Steinway is the latest addition to a piano inventory that includes a Hamburg Model D, selected by virtuoso Mitsuko Uchida. Among her many accolades, Mitsuko holds a Grammy Award for Mozart Concertos and a Gramophone Award for her work with the late French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez on the Schoenberg Piano Concerto, both with the Cleveland Orchestra.
“They are consistently recognized as the world’s greatest orchestra and it is an honor providing them with the world’s best pianos,” says Ted Good, CEO of Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland. Good purchased the Cleveland Steinway dealership in 1996 and has been working with the cultural icon ever since. His wife Teresa, first woman president of Piano Cleveland, is involved with Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra.
“We have a wonderful relationship with Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland,” says Julie Kim, Senior Director of Operations and Venues. “They have been long-time collaborators and supporters of The Cleveland Orchestra and have been extremely helpful to us in working through the process of selecting and purchasing new pianos. We are grateful to them for our ongoing partnership.”
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