May 15 2024
An Evening with Kai Bird

An Evening with Kai Bird

Presented by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center

Bird’s keynote presentation will include performances of works inspired by the festival’s theme by Cleveland Orchestra musicians and soloists.

Keynote speaker Kai Bird is a Pulitzer Prize—winning biographer, journalist, and co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, on which the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer was based. He is the executive director and distinguished lecturer of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.

His most recent books include The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter and The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames, which was a New York Times best-seller. He chronicled his childhood in the Middle East in his memoir, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis. He is the author of biographies of John J. McCloy, McGeorge Bundy, and William Bundy. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2006 for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (co-authored with Martin J. Sherwin). His work includes critical writings on the Vietnam War, Hiroshima, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the CIA.

He won the National Books Critics Circle Award and the Duff Cooper Prize for History and is the recipient of numerous fellowships. He is an elected member of the prestigious Society of American Historians.

Bird’s keynote presentation will include performances of works inspired by the festival’s theme by Cleveland Orchestra musicians and soloists. The event will be livestreamed on The Cleveland Orchestra’s digital home, adella.live and by Chautauqua Institution on CHQ Assembly at assembly.chq.org

Kai Bird, speaker
Michael E. Hill, EdD, President of Chautauqua Institution, moderator 

Jung-Min Amy Lee, violin
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
SARASATE  Fantasy on The Magic Flute
JOHN ADAMS  “Batter my heart” from Doctor Atomic
*A book signing with Bird will immediately follow the event.  

Ticket holders for Mozart’s Magic Flute (May 16, 18, 24, & 26) and Mozart’s Gran Partita (May 23 & 25) qualify for and can claim complimentary tickets for the festival’s keynote event.

Admission Info

Phone: (216) 231-1111

Email: boxoffice@clevelandorchestra.com

Dates & Times

2024/05/15 - 2024/05/15

Location Info

Severance Music Center

11001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106

Parking Info

Campus Center Garage

The Case Western Reserve University Campus Center Garage is located adjacent to Severance Hall, with stair and elevator access to Severance Hall. Event parking in the Campus Center Garage can be purchased for $11 per vehicle when space permits. Please note, however, that the garage often fills up well before concert time and only patrons who purchase pre-paid parking passes are ensured a parking space.


Pre-paid Parking in the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance for $15 per concert (with guaranteed space).  To purchase online, use either the mini-calendar at the top of every page or from the full calendar, hover or click on a date and then click on the “More Info” button for the concert.  This will take you to the concert page, and on the righthand side, the car icon will show you whether pre-paid parking is available.  Click on the link.  Or, pre-paid parking can also be purchased through the Ticket Office: 216-231-1111.

Additional Parking

Additional event parking is available in the Case Western Reserve University Lot 1 off Euclid Avenue across from Severance Hall; at the University Circle Lot 13A on Adelbert Road; and at the Cleveland Botanical Garden parking garage on East Boulevard.  Space at these lots may be limited during weekday daytime hours.

Parking Map

For a map of parking areas near Severance Hall, (desktop) click here  –  (mobile) click here.

Friday Morning Matinee Parking

Parking for Friday Morning Matinees is extremely limited. For your convenience, bus service is available from these locations:

Shuttle bus service is available from the parking lot at Cedar Hill Baptist Church (12601 Cedar Road, Cleveland Hts.).
Round-trip shuttle service rate: $5 per person. 

Round-trip bus transportation, supported in part by Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra (formerly Women’s Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra), is available from these four locations:
Beachwood Place, Crocker Park, Brecksville, and Summit Mall in Akron.
Round-trip bus service rate: $15 per person ($60 for Friday Morning Series).

Call Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 for more information.