The Cleveland Orchestra returns to Severance Hall on Thursday night for its first concert since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
When the orchestra , the players had no idea it would be six months before they could perform together again.
Tonight鈥檚 return performance, part of the 鈥淚n Focus鈥� series, will be different: instead of filling the seats in Severance Hall, it will be (Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV), including the new 鈥溾�� app 鈥� named for Cleveland Orchestra Founder Adella Prentiss Hughes.
The orchestra鈥檚 Chief Brand Officer, Ross Binnie, says the pandemic has given them a chance to explore new ways to deliver digital content.
鈥淲e perform for about 400,000 people 鈥� live 鈥� in Northeast Ohio every year. And this could turn it into 4 million.鈥�
He adds that 鈥淚n Focus鈥� will feature a diverse array of composers: tonight鈥檚 performance includes Tchaikovsky and Respighi, but also American composer George Walker.
鈥淭hese are pieces that you wouldn鈥檛 normally get in a 鈥榥ormal鈥� year from a full orchestra, but they鈥檙e great pieces of work, beautiful to listen to, and this crisis gives us the opportunity to broaden the spectrum.鈥�
New protocols will limit the number of musicians, and for the time-being there will be no brass or woodwinds and no chorus.
There鈥檚 more information in the .
