For five decades, the Kent Blossom Music Festival has nurtured young artists from all over the globe, giving them the opportunity to grow as musicians and collaborate with some of the world’s most talented musicians and teachers. With 12 performances on the calendar, the 2023 season of the Kent Blossom Music Festival runs through Aug. 6.
Since 1968, Northeast Ohio has been one of the preeminent training grounds for young artists – thanks to a long-standing partnership between Kent State University and the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra. One of the top summer training institutes in the U.S., the Kent Blossom Music Festival is believed to be the only partnership of its kind between a public university and an American orchestra.
The program was recently featured on WJW-TV’s “New Day Cleveland” as well as WKYC-TV’s “Good Company.”
Ricardo Sepulveda, director of the Kent Blossom Music Festival, said the group will put on about 12 performances throughout Northeast Ohio during the five-week program this summer.
“Our focus is [on] education, and we love going out into the community and performing for different venues,” he said. “We go around Northeast Ohio and our young artists perform at retirement homes, libraries and various places.”
Young artists who audition and are accepted into the program spend the summer receiving intensive training and mentorship from Kent State music faculty, guest artists and members of the Cleveland Orchestra. A popular program, the festival this year has a cohort of about 43 participants. Young artists this year come from all over the globe, including Taiwan, South Korea, Columbia and Venezuela. At the end of the season, they get to perform alongside their mentors in the Cleveland Orchestra.
Yung Cao, a young artist who focuses on piano and conducting, is in his third year of participating in the program.
“It’s great because it’s an opportunity for young musicians to network with other musicians,” he told WJW-TV. “I now have lifelong friends that went to the University of Cincinnati, some who may have gone to Julliard or local schools like Cleveland Institute of Music or Baldwin Wallace and Oberlin. The opportunity to learn from both a world-class faculty and with the super talented musicians and colleagues of mine now is just absolutely invaluable.”
Find the 2023 Kent Blossom Music Festival concert schedule, ticket information and more.