For 23 years, Franz Welser-Möst has shaped the Cleveland Orchestra’s unmistakable sound as its music director. Under his artistic direction the programme at Severance Hall has included an increasing number of world premieres along with highly acclaimed opera productions. Thanks to its innovative education projects and collaborations, the Cleveland Orchestra now has one of the youngest audiences in the USA. As its longest serving music director, Franz Welser-Möst will remain in position until 2027.
As a guest conductor he enjoys an especially close and productive partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic. He regularly conducts the orchestra in subscription concerts at the Vienna Musikverein, and on tours in Europe, Japan, China and the USA. The orchestra has given historic memorial concerts under his direction in Sarajevo and Versailles. He has also conducted the New Year’s Day concert three times (in 2011, 2013 and 2023).
In 2024/25 his engagements included performances with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein and the Bruckner Festival Linz, with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Johann Strauss 2025 celebrations in Vienna and with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Munich Isarphilharmonie and at the Kissinger Sommer.
At the Salzburg Festival he has set groundbreaking standards in opera and concert conducting, including in his interpretations of Rusalka, Fidelio, Reimann’s Lear and Puccini’s Il trittico. The operas of Richard Strauss have been a particular focus for him. He has conducted Der Rosenkavalier, Die Liebe der Danae, Salome and — in 2020 and in 2021 as part of the Salzburg Festival’s centenary celebrations — Elektra.
Franz Welser-Möst has released numerous CD and DVD recordings, which have received multiple international awards. In 2020 the Cleveland Orchestra launched its own streaming platform: adella.live. Various Severance Hall recordings are available as streams, downloads and on CD.
Franz Welser-Möst is an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic and is the recipient of the orchestra’s Honorary Ring. His awards include the Kilenyi Medal of the Bruckner Society of America and the Kennedy Center’s Gold Medal in the Arts. In 2020 he was awarded the Festival Pin with Rubies from the Salzburg Festival, and in 2021 he received the Austrian Music Theatre Prize for his conducting of Elektra.
