WCLV Arts Calendar
If your organization is planning an event you would like us to consider adding to the WCLV Arts Calendar, submit detailed information to John Simna via email.
Akron Art Museum
Current shows at the Akron Art Museum include Oliver Jeffers: 15 Years of Picturing Books, and William Richards: The Vastness Beyond Vision. Both shows will be on view through July 27th. The Akron Art Museum will present She Said, She Said: Contemporary Women Artists, a new exhibition in the Karl and Bertl Arnstein Galleries will run through Sunday, August 10th.
Apollo's Fire
Apollo's Fire will present four performances of Fencing Match: Round 1, featuring double concertos by Bach, Vivaldi and others. Concerts take place in Bath, Rocky River, and at Case Western Reserve August 8th through 10th..
Beck Center
At Lakewood's Beck Center, the 1975 musical A Chorus Line, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, will be onstage July 11th through August 10th.
Benjamin Franklin Community Gardens
In Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood, the Ben Franklin Community Garden Music Series features an eclectic lineup of professional Northeast Ohio artists performing on the first and third Saturdays at 6PM, through September. On July 19th, Mud Window Mud Mirror - Early music meets modern imagination. Soprano and percussion duo blend marimba, bells, and voice to explore Medieval and Renaissance repertoire through seasonal themes, bold textures, and experimental soundscapes.
Bop Stop
Coming to the Bop Stop, On Thursday, July 10th, guitarists Dan Bruce and Dan Wilson will perform. And on Saturday July 12th you can hear saxophonist Steve Kortyka's Quartet. On Sunday evening, July 13th, bass clarinetist Todd Marcus's quintet with special guest clarinetist Virginia McDonald will be in town.
BorderLight Theater Festival
The BorderLight Theater Festival returns to the Playhouse Square District from July 16th through 19th. The festival features a mix of local, national, and international artists, offering new plays, physical theatre, family-friendly programs, comedy, and more.
Cain Park
Coming to Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, the 48th annual Arts Festival July 11 thru 13, showcasing artists from across the country. There'll be a variety of arts on exhibit, as well as live entertainment.
Canton Museum of Art
Current exhibits at the Canton Museum of Art include Apeiron: Eco-Art of John Sabraw, Art & Activism from the CMA Collection, and This Riverbed Is A Cradle: Fiber Art of Michelle Wentling. All three exhibits are on view through July 27th.
Chagrin Arts
Chagrin Arts presents the opera Blind Injustice, the true stories of a half dozen people who were wrongly imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The music is by Scott Davenport Richards, the libretto is based on the book Blind Injustice by Mark Godsey. It's playng July 11th, 12th and 13th in the Outcalt Theater in Playhouse Square.
CLEConcierto
CLEConcierto, the baroque ensemble-in-residence of The Resonance Project, will present two performances of "Songs of Nature," combining traditional Senegalese folksongs and drumming combined with works by Vivaldi, Jean-Féry Rebel, and Davide Perez. This coincides with Free Mondays at the Zoo, where Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township residents receive free admission before 12 PM (with an ID and utility bill)
Cleveland Cinematheque
Cleveland Cinematheque will begin celebrating its 40th year with a special Bastille Day Cinematheque 40th anniversary screening of Adieu Phillipine sponsored by Cinematheque co-founder John Ewing. They'll also show new 4K restorations of René Clair’s 1931 French musical comedy Le Million, and the psychedelic Hungarian animated feature Son of the White Mare. Another classic, Walter Hill’s The Warriors, shows from a 35mm print to to begin the Long Nights series.
Cleveland International Piano Competition
The Cleveland International Piano Competitions celebrates Piano Days July 20th through August 2nd with a variety of events, including workshops, community events, masterclasses and a series of concerts including The Five Browns and 2003 First Prize Winner Kotaro Fukuma
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is presenting a summer series of outdoor concerts on Mondays this summer, beginning July 14. The Cultural Concert Series will include a variety of styles of music, beginning with CLEConcierto on July 14th and including Sammy De Leo and other July 21s,t August 4th and 11th/
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art will feature an exhibit by Takashi Murakami called Stepping
on the Tail of a Rainbow. Traditional Japanese art is remixed with contemporary pop culture. The show will be on view through September 7.
At the Cleveland Museum of Art in Gallery 115 is Creation, Birth, and Rebirth, continuing until July 27. It explores some of the fundamental moments in the sacred narratives of the medieval world: the creation of the universe, the birth of its gods and its humans, and visions of the end of life conceived as a new beginning.
Cleveland Orchestra
On Thursday July 10th, the Orchestra performs the first of the Summers at Severance concerts as Marie Jacquot leads music of Mozart and Richard Strauss. And on Saturday the 12th, Osmo Vanska leads the Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Chorus and soloist in the Sibelius tone poem En Saga and Carl Orff's Scenic Cantata Carmina Burana.
The second Summers at Severance concert will take place on Thursday, July 17th when Guest Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali leads a program that will include Beethoven's Symphony No. 2. Stravinsky' s Jeu de cartes and the Suite No. 2 from Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé Ballet.
And on Saturday July 19th at Blossom, Petr Popelka is the Guest Conductor and Veronika Eberle the soloist in Beethoven's Violin Concerto.
Cleveland Shakespeare Festival
The free outdoor Cleveland Shakespeare Festival returns with its second feature this summer, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. There'll be stagings Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, July 18th through August 3rd at a variety of locations across Northeast Ohio.
Cooper Piano Competition
Oberlin Conservatory will present the Cooper International Competition for piano. The semifinal rounds will be held in Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall July 20th thru July 22. The three finalists will perform concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra on Thursday evening, July 24th at Mandel Concert Hall at the Severance Music Center.
Cleveland Public Library
At the Downtown Branch of the Cleveland Public Library, Larry Lester, an authority on Friday, August 8th, Larry Lester, an authority on Negro Leagues Baseball will share the legacy of Black baseball and
its impact on Cleveland. Friday evening, August 8th, at the Downtown Branch,
DANCECleveland
DANCECleveland begins its 2025-2026 season Saturday, July 26 with Community Dance Day across the Playhouse Square District, as well as the Northeast Ohio Student Showcase in the Allen Theatre. The community-focused day features free movement classes for all ages and abilities in a wide variety of styles, including contemporary, ballet, African drum and dance, stepping, hip-hop, musical theatre, Pilates, family dance, jazz, and more.
First Congregational Church of Akron
First Congregational Church of Akron will host the internationally acclaimed Arsis Handbell Ensemble for a performance on Tuesday evening, July 15th. The church is located at 292 East Market Street in Akron.
Latino International Film Festival
LatinUs Theater Company presents the second Cleveland Latino International Film Festival, showcasing a lineup of films that celebrate the richness and diversity of Latino culture. This event will take place at the Pivot Center for Art, Dance, and Expression' LatinUs Black-box theater in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood July 1th through 13th. The event is free, but reservations are required.
Maelstrom Collaborative Arts
The Summer Series at Maelstrom Collaborative Arts at West 54th and Detroit in Cleveland will feature three programs. In Shortform, July 10th, 11th and 12, performers showcase original live acts that are funny, absurd, experimental, and, above all, short. Each performance is 10 minutes or less.
Vibes takes place on Saturday, Auugst 1nd. It's a musical showcase featuring artists from an array of genres, a day long casual summer festival that invites the neighborhood to drop in and check it out.
And finally, Vibes from August 12st through 23rd will end the summer with Bricolage, featuring musicians, dancers, visual artists, theater-makers and more.
Medina County Art League
The Medina County Art League will sponsor the 51st annual anniversary of Art in the Park on Sunday, July 20. There are paintings, photography, jewelry and fabric art, all done by more than 100 artists. The event starts at 10:00a.m. and continues until 5:00pm, rain or shine, on the Square in downtown Medina.
MUSIC
M.U.S.i.C. (Stars in the Classics) will present two outdoor chamber music concerts at a private home in Orange Village this summer. Each concert offers a revue of top artists performing a varied repertoire. The concerts take place on Friday evening, July 11th and Sunday afternoon, July 13th in a private backyard garden. 216-702-7047
Nightlight Cinema
The Nightlight is a non-profit arthouse cinema, located in Downtown Akron. It has been making indie films available since 2014. The schedule includes Familiar Touch, Daniela Forever, the 1996 Japanese musical Shall We Dance, Granite Rapids and Evil Puddle.
Piano Cleveland
Piano Cleveland presents Piano Days 2025, a two-week festival of concerts, pop-up performances, and interactive events taking place across Cleveland. The festival begins Sunday, July 20th, with a performance by The 5 Browns, followed by appearances from local and international artists.
Playhouse Square
Individual tickets are now available for the touring company of the Tony-Award winning Kimberley Akimbo, which makes its Cleveland premiere at Playhouse Square July 15th through August 3rd
Porthouse Theater
Porthouse Theater on the grounds of Blossom Music Center has opened for the summer season. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, opens July 4th and runs through July 12th. School of Rock is on stage July 18th through August 3rd.
Radio on the Lake Theater
Radio on the Lake Theater will present a new audio play series for children called The Adventures of Blueberry Bob, four short plays that will be performed throughout the morning on Saturday, July 12th at the North Union Farmers Market in Shaker.
Renovare Music
Renovare Music presents three performances of A Hive's Song, a concert of instrumental music and original documentary songs in collaboration with My Sistas Keeper on Thursday, June 26 at Loganberry Books, as well as Thursday and Saturday, July 24 and 26 at Shalom and Tranquility Garden on West 39th and City Church on Euclid Heights Boulevard.
Rubber City Theater
Rubber City Theater presents the stage adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz at Akron's E. J. Thomas Hall Friday and Saturday, August 8th and 9th. The stage version features the musical score from the film.
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival's season is underway and includes productions of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Anything Goes and Wait Until Dark, all in the Festival Theater.
Strongsville Community Band
The Strongsville Community Band's series of summertime concerts will continue on the lawn at the Strongsville Middle School. There'll be Friday evening concerts on July11th and August 1st. Strongsville City Jazz will play at the Middle School Auditorium on July 18th.
Transformer Station
At the Cleveland Museum of Art's Transformer Station in Ohio City, there'll be two Wednesday evening City Stages block parties with live music. on July 9th, you can hear Latin Grammy–nominated musician Yeison Landero; on the 23rd, it's the six women known together as Las Karamba.
Trinity Lutheran Church
The Wednesday Noontime Music Near the Market continues at Trinity Lutheran Church on Lorain Road at West 30th Street. On July 16th and 23rd, Robert Myers plays Fugues, Fugues, Fugues, and on July 30th, Linda Kempke plays Time to Dance.
Weathervane Community Playhouse
At Akron's Weathervane Community Playhouse, it's Beautiful: The Carole King Musical through July 13.
Weathervane Playhouse presents its13th annual 8x10: The Eileen Moushey TheatreFest, celebrating the art of the short-format play. The festival runs July 17th through 20th, with performances Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon and evening. 330-836-2626