Franz Welser-Möst Returns to the Cleveland Orchestra from Medical Leave

Welser-Möst, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, will lead a series of concerts in late February

The Austrian conductor Franz Welser-Möst will make his return to the Cleveland Orchestra earlier than expected, following his recent medical leave. Welser-Möst was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in September 2023, and subsequently withdrew from most of his upcoming engagements starting in the Fall of 2025.

The Cleveland Orchestra recently announced that Welser-Möst will lead an additional subscription week on February 27-28 and March 1, 2025. Additionally, Welser-Möst will lead a substantial series of concerts, including the orchestra's performances at Carnegie Hall on March 18-19 and an all-Tchaikovsky program featuring Yuja Wang at Mandel Concert Hall on March 22-23.

Conductor Alan Gilbert was originally scheduled to lead these concerts, but he has offered to step aside in order to allow Welser-Möst to spend more time working with the orchestra, as his long tenure there begins to wind down.

Welser-Möst joined the Cleveland Orchestra as its seventh music director in 2002. The three-time Grammy Award nominee is the longest-serving leader in the orchestra’s history, and his tenure will surpass that of George Szell, who held the role for 24 seasons.

During his tenure, Welser-Möst has demonstrated a strong commitment to new music and also brought back opera to the Severance Music Center. He has led orchestral residencies in the USA, Europe, and China, and under his leadership,p the orchestra has been a regular guest at all the major international festivals.

In January 2024, it was announced that Welser-Möst had decided not to renew his contract after its expiration in 2027.