Cleveland Women’s Orchestra Celebrates 90th Anniversary

In Thursday’s (10/23) Cleveland.com, Peter Chakerian writes, “The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra will take the stage Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Art … to celebrate 90 years of music, community and perseverance. It’s a milestone few ensembles anywhere can claim. Founded in 1935, the CWO is believed to be the last surviving all-women’s orchestra of its kind in the country. It was born in an era when women weren’t typically given seats in professional orchestras, so they built their own … The group has performed more than 500 ‘Gift of Music’ outreach concerts over the decades, bringing live orchestral music to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and community centers … Under the direction of conductor Eric Benjamin … the [Sunday] program opens with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Overture in C … a composer who spent much of her life in her famous brother Felix’s shadow. Including her music feels deliberate—an echo of the orchestra’s own history of women claiming space and recognition.” Also on the program is Elgar’s “Sea Pictures.” “The program also includes the U.S. premiere of ‘The Coast” by contemporary composer Clara-Jane Maunder … The concert closes with Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 … the first symphony by an African American woman ever performed by a major American orchestra.”