CityMusic Cleveland, founded in 2004, has carved a distinctive place in the cultural life of Northeast Ohio. The professional chamber orchestra presents free concerts in neighborhoods that lack access to classical music. CityMusic has established a fresh orchestral paradigm by forging relationships, fostering community arts involvement, and offering programs full of artistic adventure.

In addition to performing many works from the traditional classical repertory, CityMusic has a strong history of exploring social issues through innovative projects whose centerpiece has often been a specially commissioned composition: bullying (2011, Margaret Brouwer’s Daniel and Snakeman); genocide and oppression (2012, Hans Krasa’s children’s opera Brundibar, initially performed in 1942 at the Nazi internment camp Theresienstadt); the plight of Cleveland refugees (2013, Dan Visconti’s Roots to Branches); interfaith efforts to preserve historic Jewish and Islamic texts (2018, Merima Kljuco&’s The Sarajevo Haggadah); a Holocaust Remembrance Day performance in May 2019 of Verdi’s Requiem to commemorate the 1943 performances of the work at Theresienstadt.

CityMusic Cleveland’s 2020-2021 season celebrated the centenary of the 19th Amendment, which ratified women’s right to vote by featuring twenty works by female composers and continued through the 2021-2022 season which included the premiere of a commissioned work by a woman composer on every concert.

CityMusic Cleveland is also committed to advancing arts education access. The Clurie Bennis Children’s Outreach Series, performed in schools and libraries in under-served Cleveland neighborhoods, presents arts programs that tell unique cultural stories.