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Education Concerts for Grades 4-5 and 6-8
Primary Concerts for Grades 1-3
For more than 80 years, The Cleveland Orchestra's Education Concerts have provided a unique experience for Cleveland area school children. These narrated, 60-minute concerts explore basic music concepts while introducing children to orchestral repertory featuring the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra. These concerts are designed with the following goals in mind:

To present concerts of the highest artistic quality
To introduce students to the Orchestra and to its music
To acquaint students with the role of the audience
To familiarize students with Severance Hall and its rich history
To encourage students to examine the nature, meaning and value of the arts in the community and in the world at large
To provide an opportunity for students to listen to, analyze and evaluate music performances in accordance with the National Standards for Arts Education

Teachers receive a comprehensive array of free classroom resources prior to the concerts including the Teacher's Guide, The Score student newspaper, classroom lessons from volunteer Docents (serving Cleveland and East Cleveland schools), special CDs of concert music, plus an interactive Videoconference broadcast on WVIZ-TV. Each is provided to help both students and teachers prepare for Education Concerts at Severance Hall.

These concerts are supported in part by grants from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Plain Dealer Publishing Company, TRW, Ohio Arts Council, Cuyahoga County Commissioners and the citizens of Cuyahoga County, National Endowment for the Arts, The Cleveland Foundation, the Max Ratner Education Fund, John P. McWilliams and Brooks Barlow McWilliams Fund of The Cleveland Foundation, The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation, Kiwanis Foundation, Victor C. Laughlin, M.D. Memorial Foundation Trust, The Junior Committee of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Ticket sales for Education Concerts are handled through the Orchestra's Education Department. For more information, please contact the Manager of Educational and Family Concerts at (216) 231-7349 or email educationconcerts@clevelandorchestra.com.

Docent Program
The Docent Program provides trained volunteers on request, free of charge, to Cleveland and East Cleveland Public Schools to help prepare students for Education Concerts. Docents present two 30-minute lessons before the concert for students in grades 4-8. Docents reach an average of 2,500-3,000 students per year. For more information contact the Docent Coordinator at (216) 231-7374 or email docents@clevelandorchestra.com.

Videoconference
"Get Ready for The Cleveland Orchestra" features information about Education Concerts, a mini tour of Severance Hall, and student questions by fax or email. Watch the program by tuning to WVIZ/PBS, or record the program for viewing at a later time but prior to the concerts. Teachers with Education Concert reservations will automatically receive a videoconference broadcast schedule.

Teachers Guide
The Teacher's Guide provides repertoire-specific classroom teaching ideas for grades 1-3, 4-5, 6-8. The Teacher’s Guide reviews the instruments of the Orchestra and includes information about The Cleveland Orchestra and historic Severance Hall. This special benefit is provided free to schools who purchase tickets.

The Score
The Score, a special newspaper for students who will be attending Education Concerts, provides feature stories about the Orchestra, background information on composers and compositions, games and puzzles, plus Fan Mail (student letters) and Visual Art Winners (student artwork). The Score is provided free to schools who purchase tickets.

Classroom CDs
Excerpts of the musical pieces to be featured in Education Concerts provide a convenient way to familiarize students with the concert music. CDs are provided free to schools that purchase tickets.

Visual Arts Project
The Visual Arts Project encourages an appreciation of Education Concerts as a visual experience as well as a musical one, and provides a follow-up exercise to extend the concert-going experience. Any student who attended an Education Concert by The Cleveland Orchestra may submit a drawing, painting or collage based on any aspect of the visit to Severance Hall. Winning entries receive tickets to a Cleveland Orchestra evening concert.

For more information call (216) 231-7349 or email educationconcerts@clevelandorchestra.com.

Each year, The Cleveland Orchestra performs a special 75-minute concert for Northeast Ohio's high school students. The High School Morning Concert is designed with the following goals in mind:

To feature an exceptionally talented young soloist;
To present musical selections which show the diversity of the orchestral repertoire;
To introduce high school students to the traditional format of orchestral programs.

Tickets for the High School Morning Concert are $10 for students, teachers, and chaperones. For additional information call (216) 231-7349 or email sjones@clevelandorchestra.com. Click here for more information about the concert.

Click here to download and print the ticket order form.

One two-hour Teacher Workshop per concert week is offered for all music and/or classroom teachers who want specific lesson plans and activities tied to Education Concerts. The fee of $25 includes all materials and parking at Severance Hall.

For reservations call the Education Department at (216) 231-7355, email teacherworkshops@clevelandorchestra.com, or click here to download the registration form.

Other Workshops of general interest to teachers are also available.

Schools now have the opportunity to step into a whole new world of teaching and learning through music in partnership with The Cleveland Orchestra! Learning Through Music resources bring creativity into the classroom while preparing students to meet proficiency goals and engaging them in a life-long journey of music discovery.

Learning Through Music was founded on the vision that The Cleveland Orchestra should address the lack of music education opportunities in many local schools and could provide teachers with the tools to help their children learn - both about music and across subject areas. The primary purpose of Learning Through Music is to support general learning in the classroom through the use of music and musical concepts.

Over the course of five years, The Cleveland Orchestra developed and field-tested curriculum-based, arts-integrated lesson plans and classroom resources in collaboration with Cleveland-area elementary schools and teachers.

As a result of participating in Learning Through Music:

Classroom teachers have gained the interest, skills, and confidence to use music and musical concepts regularly in their classroom teaching.
Students have developed proficiencies targeted by the Ohio Competency-Based Curriculum Models.
Students have demonstrated increased knowledge and understanding of music and an interest in playing a musical instrument.
Students have developed skills and understandings in subject-area disciplines other than music.
Music and arts specialists interact collaboratively with classroom teachers supporting each other’s teaching goals.

Learning Through Music offers Curriculum Kits for individual teachers/classrooms for each grade K, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Curriculum Kits feature resources designed especially for a particular grade level. Special music and art compilation kits are also available for music and art teachers that feature two lessons from each grade-level collection.

With each Curriculum Kit teachers get:

Teacher-Tested Lesson Plans integrated with music and the arts and linked to the curriculum and Ohio proficiency mandates.
Books and CDs used expressly in the Learning Through Music Lessons.
Professional Development Workshops to prepare teachers to use Learning Through Music Lessons and other resources effectively in the classroom.
List-Serve to promote an exchange of information and to share successful strategies about Learning Through Music between teachers and The Cleveland Orchestra.
Discount Cleveland Orchestra Tickets to regular subscription concerts and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra concerts to promote teachers’ own understanding and connection to music and The Cleveland Orchestra.

For more information and to order resources please call the Cleveland Orchestra Education Department at (216) 231-7355 or email learningthroughmusic@clevelandorchestra.com.

Students Meet The Artist

Students Meet the Artist takes selected guest soloists/conductors appearing with The Cleveland Orchestra during its subscription season into school settings.

Distance Learning

Distance learning offerings covering a range of music education topics are available throughout the year. For more information on Distance Learning programs, call the Education Department at (216) 231-7355.

Coordinated by University Circle Inc. the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) is an early childhood program that brings the educational resources of several cultural institutions, including The Cleveland Orchestra, together with five area preschools located in University Circle. Modeled after a successful program established in 1988 by the Smithsonian Institution, ELI offers preschools a theme-based curriculum as well as the structure for its implementation through a Museum Education Specialist and the education staffs of the participating institutions. Monthly visits to cultural institutions (which are preceded by and followed up with in-classroom lessons) involve approximately 300 students from the following preschools: the Cleveland Music School Settlement, Covenant Early Childhood Program, Euclid Avenue Congregational Church Day Care Center, University Hospitals Child Day Care, and the Wade Day Care Center. The Cleveland Orchestra is proud to participate in the Early Learning Initiative.