CityMusic Cleveland begins 10th season with new director

Avner Dorman is the new music director of CityMusic Cleveland.

CityMusic Cleveland, with its newly appointed music director Avner Dorman, will present its 10th season opening, the Mozart Violin Concerto Tour, featuring one of the world’s foremost violinists, Rachel Barton Pine.

After performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto with CityMusic Cleveland last October, to standing ovations and stellar reviews, Pine has been invited back to perform Mozart’s five violin concertos—a different one in each of five venues. 

Pine has appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including those in Chicago, Montreal, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Vienna, New Zealand, Iceland and Budapest. She has worked with well-known conductors, including Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf and Placido Domingo. She also plays the electric violin in her rock band, Earthen Grave.

In July 2004, CityMusic Cleveland premiered with an ambitious mission to make world-class classical music available to everyone. Ten years later, the orchestra consistently performs for standing-room-only audiences throughout the region, for a total of more than 20,000 audience members a season.

CityMusic’s 10th anniversary season signals the beginning of a major new chapter in the organization’s history with the appointment of music director Avner Dorman. Known as one of the leading composers of his generation, Dorman’s music has attracted the most famed ensembles in the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.

Of the other three pieces on the program, two are concertos for small ensembles: a 21st-century Concerto Grosso by Dorman, and an 18th-century Concerto in C for Two Clarinets, Two Oboes and Strings by Vivaldi. The latter piece was considered very experimental when it was written, as it is one of the first works to feature a clarinet. The third piece on the program will be Schubert’s Third Symphony, zestful and optimistic, written during the only period in the composer’s life when he was in love.

The Cleveland Heights concert will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Fairmount Presbyterian Church (2757 Fairmount Blvd.)

All CityMusic Cleveland performances are free, and most include refreshments afterward.

No tickets are required, and CityMusic performs across Greater Cleveland. For more information on concerts and venues, including recommended restaurants nearby, go to http://citymusiccleveland.org.