Franz Welser-Möst
Photo: Don Snyder
The Cleveland Orchestra announced the extension of Franz Welser-Möst’s contract as Music Director for no less than eight years from now, to 2022! With this extension, his tenure will reach at least 20 years, extending four years beyond the Orchestra’s Centennial Season in 2017-18. He will become the second longest tenured Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra. He was named the seventh Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra on June 7, 1999, and began his tenure in September 2002. In May 2003, his initial five-year contract was extended to 2012. In 2008, a six-year extension was announced to 2018.
Concurrently with his Cleveland appointment, Franz Welser-Möst has also served as General Music Director of the Zurich Opera up to 2010, and in the same role at the Vienna State Opera from 2010 to 2014 where he walked out in September due to artistic dissatisfaction.
