The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music, and has presented over 200 performance premieres.
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The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (CCS) was founded in 1980 by composer Edwin London as a professional ensemble in residence at Cleveland State University to perform new, primarily American music. Through the vision and expertise of Dr. London and the talent of a dedicated core of Cleveland musicians, the ensemble steadily grew in scope and stature throughout the following two decades, performing, recording and commissioning contemporary orchestral music.
At the peak of its activity, CCS presented a concert series of eight programs and numerous recording sessions in each season under the direction of Edwin London. Performances were offered at Cleveland State University and many other Cleveland venues, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Trinity Cathedral, Public Hall, Karamu House, Liberty Hill Baptist Church, Old Stone Church and John Carroll University. In addition, the ensemble offered "encore" performances in communities adjacent to Cuyahoga County and throughout the Midwest.
Composers in Cleveland and around the world began to see the Cleveland Chamber Symphony as an important resource for their work and the work of their younger students. Composers of national and international stature whose works were being commissioned and performed by CCS were drawn to Cleveland as guest conductors and pedagogues. A hallmark of the ensemble was the close collaborative relationship it shared with many composers. In many ways, CCS set the standard for the performance of contemporary orchestral music. A critically acclaimed performance of Bernard Rand's Canti Trilogy led to a national tour culminating in a memorable performance in Paine Hall at Harvard University.
In 2007, the group won a Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) category, for its recording of Olivier Messiaen's Oiseaux exotiques with pianist Angelin Chang.
Each Spring CCS holds their Young and Emerging Composers Concert, a unique performance featuring only music by student composers selected through a competitive process. This concert, a staple of the Chamber Symphony‘s programming since its founding in 1980, represents the best in a longstanding tradition of collegiality, apprenticeship and collaboration. Through rehearsals, the performance, and interaction with highly-trained professional musicians, it offers student composers an interactive laboratory within which they can create, experiment with, and refine their music.
Steven Smith has served as Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony since 2005. He recently began his tenure as Music Director of the Richmond Symphony with a Gala performance in April, 2010. He has served as Music Director of Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus since 1999.
From 1997 to 2003, Steven Smith served as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Particularly interested in the role of orchestras in arts education, he assisted in the planning and conducting of the Cleveland Orchestra's educational and family concerts and hosted the orchestra’s annual broadcast video-conference, which won an Emmy Award in 2001. For five seasons he also served as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra during which time they appeared by invitation at Carnegie Hall. During 2002-05, he also served on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory, leading both orchestral and operatic performances.
Steven Smith is also an active ASCAP award-winning composer, receiving commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Eugene Youth Symphony and solo artists. He was named Ohio Composer of the Year for 2008.
Sound Encounters I (GM 2039 )
The New American Scene (Albany Records, Troy 298)
Cleveland Chamber Symphony Vol 6 (TNC CD 1515)
The orchestra was formerly based at Cleveland State University but is now based at The Music School Settlement in partnership with Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. The Cleveland Chamber Symphony is led by Music Director Steven Smith.