Cleveland Repertory Orchestra

06/03/2026

Our 2026-27 season is here! Four concerts, all free and open to the public.

New Morning: Twenty-Five Years After September 11
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Cuyahoga Community College East Campus, Cleveland

Tales: Three Folk Traditions
Saturday, November 7, 2026
Federated Church, Chagrin Falls

Homecoming
Saturday, February 20, 2027
First Congregational Church, Akron

Dance
Saturday, April 10, 2027
Rocky River Presbyterian Church

All concerts begin at 7:00 PM. Visit www.clevelandrepertoryorchestra.org/2026-2027-season for full season details!

05/22/2026

Tomorrow night.

The Art of Joy — our season finale — is at Rocky River Presbyterian Church tomorrow, Saturday, May 23 at 7:00 PM. Free and open to the public.

If you still need tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

We'll see you there!

05/20/2026

We know not everyone wants to be on their phones during a concert, so our digital program book is available now — read through it before Saturday if you'd like.

https://tinyurl.com/yu2zbu9x

Free tickets are still available if you haven't reserved yet: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

Join conductor Matthew Salvaggio, Isaac Ripple, and the members of the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra for their final concert of the 2025-2026 season!To close out the 2025-2026 season, the CRO will feature the oboist M. Isaac Ripple on Jennifer Higdon’s stunning Oboe Concerto. The concert will also...

05/18/2026

Concert week is here!

This Saturday, May 23 at 7:00 PM, we're at Rocky River Presbyterian Church for The Art of Joy, and we're looking forward to this concert!

If you haven't reserved your free tickets yet, it's not too late. We'd love to see you there.

Reserve here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

This concert sponsored in part by Rocky River Presbyterian Church as part of their Artist Concert Series.

05/16/2026

If you've ever wondered what makes the oboe special, 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗻's Oboe Concerto will answer that question.

Higdon is one of the most celebrated composers in American music today — a Pulitzer Prize winner, three-time Grammy winner, and one of the few composers in the country who makes a full living from commissions, averaging 300 performances of her works per year. She wrote this concerto for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, building it around the instrument's strengths: the long, soaring lyrical line; the natural affinity for intimate duets with individual players in the orchestra; the playful agility in faster passages. She said she considers the oboe "a most majestic instrument" — and this concerto makes that case compellingly.

Dr. 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗮𝗰 𝗥𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 performs it with us on May 23. Between Higdon's gift for writing music that is both demanding and immediately expressive, and Dr. Ripple's depth as a performer, this is the centerpiece of the evening.

Reserve your free tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

05/14/2026

We're delighted to welcome 𝗗𝗿. 𝗠. 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗮𝗰 𝗥𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 (Isaac Ripple) back to Cleveland for The Art of Joy.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Frank Rosenwein, Isaac is now Visiting Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. He's a member of the Elegia Duo and a founding oboist of Catharsis Winds, an internationally recognized and award-winning wind quintet, and he's in demand as a guest artist and clinician throughout the country. Cleveland Classical has described his playing as "elaborate" — precision and depth woven together in every phrase.

On May 23, Isaac performs Jennifer Higdon's Oboe Concerto — a work built around the oboe's capacity for soaring lyrical lines and playful agility in faster passages. There are few better matches of piece and player.

We're glad to have him with us!

Reserve your free tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

05/12/2026

𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧: Christopher Theofanidis - Chamber Symphony No. 1

We close the evening with Christopher Theofanidis' Chamber Symphony No. 1 — a work that begins with Tchaikovsky and becomes something entirely its own.

Theofanidis is a composer of remarkable range: Yale professor, recipient of the Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Grammy-nominated, and the composer behind Rainbow Body, one of the most performed new orchestral works of this century. For the Chamber Symphony No. 1, he turned his attention to an early Tchaikovsky string quartet and asked a deceptively simple question: what would this music sound like given to a small orchestra?

The answer required deep study. Theofanidis worked through Tchaikovsky's orchestration, tracing the composer's love of Mozart and the clean clarity of the classical sound world, to understand what this intimate chamber work might become in a larger form. The result is 28 minutes of music that feels both familiar and newly discovered!

Reserve your free tickets for May 23: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

05/09/2026

𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧: Zhou Tian - Joy

We open The Art of Joy with exactly that.

Zhou Tian's "Joy" was commissioned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Morningside Music Bridge, and at its core it's about what happens when musicians come together with full commitment and enthusiasm. It opens with a lyrical introduction before launching into something colorful and virtuosic — Chinese-inspired folk melodies woven into the richness of a string orchestra. Seven minutes. Pure energy.

Zhou Tian is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music. His Concerto for Orchestra earned him a Grammy nomination in 2018, making him the first Chinese-born composer, and only the second Asian composer ever, to be nominated in that category. His music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and many others.

One small thread worth noting: Zhou Tian studied composition with Jennifer Higdon, whose Oboe Concerto also appears on the May 23 program!

Reserve your free tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy

05/07/2026

🎟️ 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲!🎟️
Join us on 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟯 𝗮𝘁 𝟳:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 for the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra’s season finale:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗼𝘆

📍 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗯𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵
𝟮𝟭𝟳𝟱𝟬 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱, 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿

Featuring:
🎶 𝗭𝗵𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗶𝗮𝗻: Joy
🎶 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗻: Oboe Concerto - featuring Dr. M. Isaac Ripple
🎶 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘀: Chamber Symphony No. 1

This concert is 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰, though tickets are requested in advance.
Whether you’ve joined us before or are thinking about coming for the first time, we would love to welcome you.

🎟️ Reserve tickets here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/the-art-of-joy
If you’re able, please consider including a donation to support CRO’s work. 💙

This concert generously sponsored in part by Rocky River Presbyterian Church as part of their Artist Concert Series.

Experience live orchestral music in Cleveland. Discover upcoming concerts, guest artists, and accessible performances with the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra.

04/28/2026

We are seeking members to join the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra's Board of Directors.

Posted 10:53:04 PM. The Cleveland Repertory Orchestra is seeking new members to join its Board of Directors.Board…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.