Editing Cleveland Orchestra (section)

===Founding and early history (1918–1945)===
The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918 by music-aficionado Adella Prentiss Hughes, businessman [[John L. Severance]], Father John Powers, music critic Archie Bell, and Russian-American violinist and conductor [[Nikolai Sokoloff]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=43}}</ref> who became the orchestra’s first music director. A former pianist, Hughes served as a local music promoter and sponsored a series of “Symphony Orchestra Concerts” designed to bring top-notch orchestral music to Cleveland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=36}}</ref> In 1915, she helped found the Musical Arts Association,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=40}}</ref> which presented Cleveland performances of the [[Ballets Russes]] in 1916 and [[Richard Wagner]]’s ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' at the [[Cleveland Indians]]’ [[League Park]] a few months later<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=40–41}}</ref> After a great deal of planning and fundraising, The Cleveland Orchestra’s inaugural concert was performed on December 11, 1918, at [[Grays Armory]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=55}}</ref>

Three events occurred in 1921 that proved significant in the orchestra's early development: 
* The ensemble presented its inaugural children’s concert, which began a long-standing tradition of performing for young people from local schools.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=77–78}}</ref> 
* The Women's Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra was founded, a group which focused largely on internal affairs,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=77}}</ref> including organization and branding; the Women's Committee was also the driving force behind the creation of the orchestra’s education-oriented Key Concerts series decades later.
* The orchestra performed its first concert in [[New York City]] that year, at the [[New York Hippodrome|Hippodrome Theatre]], a demonstration that the orchestra was committed to embarking on major activities from early in its existence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=71}}</ref> 
In 1922, the orchestra again traveled to New York for its first concert at Carnegie Hall.<ref name="The Cleveland Orchestra">{{Cite web|title=A Century of Excellence|url=https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/from-the-archives/soundwave/|website=The Cleveland Orchestra}}</ref>  Later that year, the orchestra performed its first radio broadcast<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=82}}</ref> and, in 1924, issued its first recording — a shortened version of [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]’s ''[[1812 Overture]]'' for the [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick label]] under Sokoloff’s direction.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=84}}</ref>
[[Image:Severance Hall.jpg|right|thumb|Severance Hall, the orchestra's home since 1931.]]
By the end of the 1920s, the Musical Arts Association began planning for a permanent concert hall for the orchestra. Board president John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth, pledged $1 million({{Inflation|US|1000000|1928|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) toward the construction of a new hall,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=99}}</ref> and the groundbreaking ceremony took place in November 1929, a few months after Mrs. Severance’s death.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=104; 110}}</ref> On February 5, 1931, the orchestra performed its inaugural concert at Severance Hall.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=115}}</ref> Also that year, Lillian Baldwin created what became known as the “Cleveland Plan,” an initiative designed to build upon the orchestra’s earlier children's concerts and create a program that taught classical music to young people before experiencing live performances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=119–120}}</ref>

In 1933, Sokoloff stood down as the orchestra’s music director, succeeded by [[Artur Rodziński]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=128; 134–135}}</ref> During his decade-long Cleveland tenure, Rodzinski advocated for the inclusion of staged opera at Severance Hall.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=135}}</ref> The first of these productions was featured during the 1933–34 season, when the orchestra performed Wagner’s ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=135; 138}}</ref> In 1935, the orchestra presented the United States’ premiere of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s ''[[Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)|Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District]]'' at Severance Hall<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=149–152}}</ref> and, later in the season, took the production to New York’s [[Metropolitan Opera]]. Four years later, in 1939, the orchestra established the Cleveland Summer Orchestra and began to perform 'pops' concerts at Cleveland’s [[Public Auditorium|Public Hall]]. On December 11, 1939, The Cleveland Orchestra celebrated the anniversary of its founding by releasing its first recording on the Columbia label.<ref name="The Cleveland Orchestra" />

Rodzinski departed Cleveland in 1943, succeeded by [[Erich Leinsdorf]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=201}}</ref> However, Leinsdorf's Cleveland tenure was brief, as he was drafted into the United States Armed Forces shortly after his appointment, which diminished his artistic control.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=205; 207; 209}}</ref> Although Leinsdorf was honorably discharged from the military in September 1944, his time away from the podium had required the Musical Arts Association to employ a number of guest conductors from 1943 until 1945,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=213}}</ref> including [[George Szell]], who had impressed audiences at Severance Hall during two weeks of performances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=214}}</ref> Leinsdorf lost much of his public support and, though still under contract, submitted his resignation in December 1945.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=226}}</ref>