This year the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series is host to some of the world’s greatest living masters of the violin—Gil Shaham, Midori, Roby Lakatos, Riccardo Minasi, to name but a few. Our Masters of the Violin series takes a curatorial look at this magical instrument from both historical and stylistic points of view. It showcases master instrumentalists not only in Western classical music—including Baroque and earlier medieval precursors of violin—but also other styles such as Celtic, gypsy, American bluegrass as well as classical music of India and Persia.

Flamenco Festival returns to Cleveland in March with flamenco’s most prized artists. We explore three aspects of the art of flamenco—baile, cante, and guitar—through the remarkable contributions of three of its most revered figures in Spain today: Eva Yerbabuena (baile/dance), Estrella Morente (cante/singing), and Tomatito (guitar). In three separate concerts during the month, they’ll take your breath away.

In celebration of the opening of our Indian galleries (January 2014), we showcase dance and music of the subcontinent of India. Indian classical dance and music still share a strong connection with its classical art. The concerts explore some of these themes and connections by performers who have devoted their lives to its mastery.

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s collections of medieval and Renaissance art serve as inspiration for an originally conceived musical event: the series Mother and Child comprises music from various eras spurred by spiritual images of the mother and child. Showcasing the impressive Cleveland Orchestra Youth and Children’s Choruses, Quire Cleveland, as well as Trinity Cathedral Choir and organist Todd Wilson, the program begins in the museum’s galleries, moves to the atrium, and concludes in Gartner Auditorium in a finale of music for organ, choir, and brass. Also following the theme of mother and child, the State Symphony Capella of Russia returns to the series to perform a special choral program in the atrium.

A host of pre-concert talks by experts in the field, on-stage conversations with the performing artists, and fascinating films provide new vistas into the intersection of art and performance.