A violin older than the United States itself is heading to Cuyahoga Falls this month. Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma will play Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto at Blossom Music Center on Saturday, Aug. 15, performing on a 1703 Stradivarius nicknamed the “Aurora, ex-Foulis” — an instrument 70 years older than the country it's now touring.
Lamsma will appear with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund, who is stepping onto the Blossom podium for a concert that, as reported by Cleveland.com, will also feature Sibelius's Finlandia and Suite No. 2 from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. The 7 p.m. performance takes place at the orchestra's outdoor summer home at 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd. Tickets range from $28 to $108 and are available through clevelandorchestra.com or by phone at 216-231-1111.
This isn't Lamsma's first trip to Northeast Ohio. She first came to Cleveland more than a decade ago, and the Aug. 15 date marks her third appearance at Blossom, following a previous stop in 2023, according to the same Cleveland.com report. What's new this time is the instrument in her hands.
A New Violin After Nearly a Decade With Its Predecessor
Lamsma played her previous instrument, the 1718 “Mlynarski” Stradivarius, for nine years — a violin also provided to her on loan by an anonymous benefactor, according to background from the LA Philharmonic. After returning that instrument, she spent two years searching for a replacement before landing on the “Aurora, ex-Foulis,” which is likewise on loan to her.
The 1703 violin has its own pedigree. It was previously on long-term loan to Japanese-Canadian violinist Karen Gomyo through a private sponsor and the Stradivari Society, per reporting from the Phoenix Symphony. Cleveland.com reports that Lamsma said she feels an immediate connection to her new violin, calling the Blossom performance an absolute dream.
Lamsma's academic pedigree matches her instrument's provenance. In 2019, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, an honor restricted to just 300 living former students who have distinguished themselves in the profession, according to Sheldon Artists.
A Concerto Sibelius Wrote as a Farewell to His Own Violin Dreams
The Sibelius Violin Concerto that Lamsma will perform carries a history nearly as dramatic as the instrument playing it. Sibelius premiered the work in Helsinki in February 1904, but an underprepared soloist, Viktor Nováček, delivered what became a disastrous performance; Sibelius withdrew the score and heavily revised it before a successful 1905 Berlin premiere led by Richard Strauss, according to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Sibelius himself had once dreamed of becoming a violin virtuoso, even auditioning for the Vienna Philharmonic at age 26, according to research from the Konserthuset Stockholm. He composed the concerto as a personal farewell to those abandoned performance ambitions. Cleveland.com reports that Lamsma, who has recorded and performed the piece many times, said it feels personal to her because Sibelius himself wanted to play violin.
Berglund's Rapid Rise on the International Podium
Berglund brings her own milestone to the Blossom stage. She was appointed Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2026, becoming Chief Conductor Designate this month before taking full leadership in August 2027 — making her the first Norwegian woman to helm a major Norwegian symphony orchestra, according to OperaWire. She also currently serves in principal guest or chief conductor roles with the Dresden Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, per Cleveland.com's report.
Berglund debuted outside Norway in 2019 and made her U.S. debut in 2023. Despite the pairing at Blossom, she and Lamsma have not yet met or worked together, according to Cleveland.com. Before turning to conducting in 2017, Berglund earned a master's degree in cello performance from the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2015 and played professionally in orchestral cello sections, including a stint with the Bergen Philharmonic, per her Wikipedia biography.
The Venue Built to Keep Musicians Employed Year-Round
Both artists' backgrounds as string players give the Blossom program a certain symmetry, but the venue itself has its own origin story rooted in musicians' livelihoods. Blossom Music Center opened on July 19, 1968, in Cuyahoga Falls after Cleveland Orchestra music director George Szell championed building a permanent summer facility to guarantee year-round employment for orchestra members, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
Built into a natural hillside on 800 acres adjacent to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the venue features a slate-and-steel pavilion seating 5,700 people alongside a general-admission lawn that can hold up to 15,000 additional patrons. Families attending the Aug. 15 concert can also take advantage of the orchestra's “Under 18s Free” program, which provides two free youth lawn passes with the purchase of every regular-priced adult ticket, per the Cleveland Orchestra's own visitor information.
The Aug. 15 performance is the latest entry in a packed summer at Blossom, which has also hosted rock acts like Chicago and Styx and hip-hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan this season, as Hoodline has previously reported. But for classical audiences, the draw this time is a 323-year-old violin, a barrier-breaking conductor, and a concerto born from one composer's unfulfilled dream of virtuosity.
