Cleveland Orchestra Raises $1.23 Million At Gala

From The Cleveland Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra announced today that the 2017 Annual Gala held on Saturday, October 7 raised – for the fourth year in a row – more than a million dollars. This year’s Cleveland Orchestra Gala raised a record-breaking $1,230,000, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the sponsors, patrons, and long-time supporters, as well as the leadership of Gala Chair Norma Lerner; co-chair Nancy W. McCann; corporate co-chair, KeyBank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Beth Mooney; and corporate co-chair, Cleveland Orchestra Board President Richard K. Smucker. The Gala has nearly doubled the annual revenue in the last five years. The Cleveland Orchestra Gala supports the Orchestra’s education and community programs which share the value and joy of music with people throughout Northeast Ohio.

More than 550 guests attended the full Gala evening this year, along with many people who attended the concert through a partnership with the Cleveland Foundation that provided 1,000 free tickets to the community. Gala attendees included more than 100 members of the Orchestra’s young professionals group, The Circle.

The concert portion of the evening featured Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra in a program that included Verdi’s Ballet Music from Don Carlo, Respighi’s The Birds, Johann Strauss’s The Carnival of Venice, and Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien.

The concert was followed by dinner throughout Severance Hall, in the Bogomolny-Kozerefski Grand Foyer, the Smith Lobby, the Founders Gallery, the Hood Meyerson Box Promenade, and Severance Restaurant. The Gala was catered by Executive Chef Douglas Katz of Fire Food and Drink.

The lead sponsors for the Gala are The Lerner Foundation, KeyBank, Richard and Emily Smucker, Audrey and Albert Ratner, and Dee and Jimmy Haslam.

Image Courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra