Cleveland Chamber Symphony

Since 1980, under the founding leadership, Dr. Edwin London, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony has steadily climbed to the summit of new music’s Mount Olympus.  Thanks to its unique mission and vision to commission, perform, record and promote the dissemination of musical works exclusively by composers of our time, no other institution has contributed so much to advancing the art of contemporary primarily American music.

Guests Verb Ballets performs with CCS (2012)

The musicians of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, along with its artistic and administrative leadership, have developed an extraordinary set of skills required to meet the ever advancing evolution of musical language and challenges of institutional development in these competitive times.  The Cleveland Chamber Symphony would have been the envy of many of the “great masters” who often had difficulty in obtaining authoritative renditions and public appreciation of their “new music” in their own time!

Steven Smith (Conductor and NEOSonicFest Artistic Director) has served as Artistic Director of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony since 2005. He began his tenure as Music Director of the Richmond Symphony with a Gala performance of French and Spanish orchestral masterpieces in April, 2010, and is currently in his 9th season. He served as Music Director of Santa Fe Symphony & Chorus from 1999-2013. 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.

Steven Smith, conductor

Alegrias for chamber orchestra – Margi Griebling-Haigh
with Verb Ballets - choreographed by Michael Escovedo
(Cleveland Composers Guild selection)

Listen to ‘em – Gabriel Novak
with the Cleveland School for the Arts Dancers

Antifonys – George Walker

Abu – George Walker

In Memory (2013) – Keith Fitch

Pastoral – Julia Perry