Cleveland Orchestra Announces New Assistant Conductor & Youth Orchestra Appointment

From The Cleveland Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra announced today the appointment of Vinay Parameswaran as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. The appointment is for a two-year term, beginning with the 2017-18 season. Appointed by Franz Welser-Möst, Mr. Parameswaran joins the Orchestra’s conducting staff in August when he begins work with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and in September at the start of the 2017-18 season at Severance Hall. As Assistant Conductor, Mr. Parameswaran will serve as cover conductor for Severance Hall and Blossom Music Festival subscription concerts, and provide assistance to Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. He will also be actively involved with the Orchestra’s many education programs and community performances, including his work leading the Youth Orchestra. He will hold the Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Assistant Conductor Endowed Chair.

Mr. Parameswaran succeeds current Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell, who completes the final year of his four-year term at the end of the 2016-17 season; Mr. Mitchell becomes Music Director of the Colorado Symphony with the 2017-18 season. As Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Vinay Parameswaran will oversee the ensemble’s artistic planning, select personnel for the ensemble, and lead rehearsals and performances of the Youth Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which begins its 32nd season in 2017-18, is a full symphony orchestra comprised of middle- and high-school-aged musicians from northern and central Ohio and western Pennsylvania who are coached by musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Founded in 1986, the Youth Orchestra provides talented young musicians with a pre-professional orchestra training experience of the highest artistic standard. The Youth Orchestra performs three concerts in Severance Hall each season, as well as three orchestra concerts in the community and several performances by chamber groups drawn from the ensemble throughout the region.“We are pleased to welcome Vinay Parameswaran to the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra,” said Mark Williams, the Orchestra’s Chief Artistic Officer. “Selected through a competitive audition, Mr. Parameswaran offers the kind of excellence, musical understanding, enthusiasm, and collaborative spirit that exemplifies The Cleveland Orchestra as an institution. His commitment to young people and fostering their interest in music is exceptional.

We have high expectations for Vinay, and I believe he will make a significant impact on our audiences, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the aspiring musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.”“I am thrilled and humbled to have been chosen for this incredible opportunity with The Cleveland Orchestra,” said Mr. Parameswaran. “In many ways, my musical path has led me to this point. From the six years I spent as a young musician in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra – which, like the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, was founded by Jahja Ling – through my years at college and conservatory, through all my work as an assistant conductor with the Nashville Symphony’s education and public concerts, I feel ready to join the inestimable and storied ranks of The Cleveland Orchestra. There is so much more I can learn, working with the Orchestra’s musicians – and so much that I want to share through music, with the members of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and with everyone in Cleveland! I would like to express my thanks to Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra. I’m looking forward to embarking on the next chapter of my career.”

Image Courtesy Of the Cleveland Orchestra