NEW YORK — Franz Welser-Möst is back on the Cleveland Orchestra’s podium, concentrating again on music instead of his health.

“It was not my best year, the last year,” he said Wednesday. “I feel good. You learn to live with the circumstances, and I’m extremely and grateful that I’m back at work.”

On track to surpass George Szell as Cleveland’s longest-tenured music director, the 63-year-old Austrian returned to his orchestra at Cleveland’s Severance Music Center last week and leads it in a pair of programs at Carnegie Hall this weekend. He will be in Austria for five concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic in late February, then leads that orchestra on a seven-concert tour in early March to New York and Naples and West Palm Beach, Florida.

Franz Welser-Möst to retire as Cleveland Orchestra music director in June 2027

Quite a schedule, given his setbacks in 2023.

He had a slipped disk in his neck while conducting Wagner’s four-opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)” at the Vienna State Opera in June, an injury that caused him to enter an orthopedic clinic in the second half of July and again in August. He was forced to cancel a high-profile new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” at the Salzburg Festival.

Welser-Möst had surgery Sept. 1 to remove a cancerous tumor from his bladder and came back to Cleveland to conduct the orchestra’s season opener on Sept. 28. After leading two weeks of programs there, he took the orchestra to Vienna and Linz for their 21st international tour together, then had a second operation on Oct. 25.

That was followed in November by six weeks of once-a-week immunotherapy treatment. He is scheduled for additional three-week cycles of treatment in March, July and October.

“The doctors are very happy. So am I, that it seems to work. It has been in my family, so it’s genetic,” Welser-Möst said. “Both my brothers had the same thing a couple of years ago. Both are very well now, so there’s every reason to be optimistic.”

Welser-Möst has been Cleveland’s music director since 2002-03 and has appointed 69 musicians, including 52 of the current 105 members.

“One of the keys to Franz’s success is his incredible discipline. He’s like a great athlete in that way,” said André Gremillet, the Cleveland Orchestra’s president and CEO. “He’s very focused, very disciplined in the way he approaches everything, and I think that has served him well also in facing his health challenges.”

His name at birth in Linz, Austria, was Franz Leopold Maria Möst, and he switched it in 1985 to Welser-Möst in honor of Wels, a nearby city he grew up in. The change was made on the advice of a benefactor, Baron Andreas von Bennigsen of Liechtenstein.

Welser-Möst spent a decade studying the technique of Herbert von Karajan, the Berlin Philharmonic’s chief conductor from 1954-89. He was 19 when he was brought to Karajan in 1979 by Albert Moser, then general director of Vienna’s Musikverein. Welser-Möst was among the 10 finalists of the Karajan International Conductors Competition, though he failed to win.

“I’d been to a lot of rehearsals in Vienna, in Salzburg and Berlin, and that made a huge impression on me because Karajan was highly efficient in rehearsals,” Welser-Möst recalled. “He would just say one sentence and the sound of the orchestra changed completely. And in those days, of course, I was like: How on earth is he doing that?”

Welser-Möst first conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in 1993 and became music director for the 2002-03 season. On the afternoon of his return concert on Jan. 11, he announced he will retire as music director at the end of 2026-27, his 25th season. Welser-Möst maintained he wasn’t focused on topping Szell’s reign, which stretched from 1946-70.

“I’m not into that game. It just happened,” he said.

Welser-Möst’s New York concerts are part of Carnegie Hall’s “Perspectives” series and its focus this winter and spring on the fall of the Weimar Republic.

“It is something that is so important to him and so important to his life,” Carnegie Hall executive director Clive Gillinson said. “I remember doing one Zoom call where he was in his library and he showed me all the books he’s got on Weimar.”

Welser-Möst is proud of extending the orchestra’s flexibility by programming semi-staged operas, with Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)” next this May. He already has scheduled Janáček’s “Jenůfa” for next season, Beethoven’s “Fidelio” for 2025-26 and Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow)” for 2026-27.

“I’m an old dog when it comes to opera,” he said. “I’ve conducted about 90 different operas in my life. When I was in Zurich for nearly 14 years, I conducted 43 opening nights of a piece.”

His retirement creates another coveted U.S. podium vacancy. Riccardo Muti stepped down from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June and Gustavo Dudamel shifts from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the New York Philharmonic for the 2026-27 season.

“Every institution needs once in a while new input and new ideas,” Welser-Möst said. “I’m not saying I’m running out of ideas, but I always tried to live that philosophy here, that music comes first, the institution second, the individual third.”

Smith started OSV Studios, located at 29605 Lorain Road in North Olmsted, as a small offshoot of his father’s video rental franchise.

Since then, he has worked on motion pictures, won multiple awards for his commercials and digitized millions of family photos.

“I basically learned by buying equipment and figuring out how it works,” Smith said. “We still do thousands of film transfer orders every year.”

Smith’s father and grandfather owned Merle Smith Auto Service in Lakewood from 1939 to 1989.

In 1983, Merle Jr. purchased a video rental franchise to diversify his holdings.

After an injury ended his football career at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Smith began working in the store.

Part-time work quickly branched into a $30,000 investment in equipment to do film transfers and photograph weddings.

Then, Smith shot a wedding for an ad executive.

That connection led to hundreds of regional and national spots for Family Dental Centers, Discount Drug Mart, Invacare, LeafGuard, NASA, several area car dealerships and many more.

Smith also works regularly with Cleveland’s professional sports teams and shot both the Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association’s All-Star games.

“Over and over again, I’ve had to adapt this business,” he said, recalling recessions as well as rapidly changing technology. “We use the best audio and the best camera equipment available.”

OSV Studios’ current client list runs over 200, and Smith and a staff of eight produce 50 to 60 commercials each month, with occasional help from subcontractors and freelancers.

Smith also rents equipment and his studio space which includes a fully equipped sound stage, a green screen and more.

Motion picture production companies sometimes rent his equipment to supplement their shoots.

Today’s cameras provide much better images than what Smith started out using.

And, equipment is much lighter and less expensive. Editing has improved as well from tapes that physically had to be cut to digital tools used on computers.

The next wave of changes comes from the much-discussed AI or artificial intelligence.

But, Smith is cautious about how AI is used.

“I like technology that advances the product,” he said, “not that takes away from writers or artists.”

Smith also frequently works to advance his profession by sharing what he knows with the next generation.

He taught in Berea City Schools for 10 years and frequently employs interns.

“For over 35 years, both nationally and in Cleveland, we’ve amassed an impressive client list that we’re proud to have won many awards for,” according to its website. “Our versatile production capabilities cover all bases.”

Smith also would like to offer classes for local business owners since technology to capture video now is ubiquitous.

“We’re excited for the next decade,” he said, adding that he is currently hiring. “It’s been a great 40 years, and I’m looking forward to 40 more.”

In addition to OSV Studios, Smith owns the building he occupies and rents space to several businesses — such as a full service salon.

After raising his family in Westlake, he now lives in Willard where he and his wife operate Sweet Smitty’s ice cream shop, 302 Walton St. East.

The 46 graduates will assume duties as peace officers for 22 Ohio agencies, the release said.

Graduates include Vincenzo D. Cataldo, Lorain Police Department, and Molly A. Searles, Bay Village Police Department.

The 21-week basic course began in August.

The course was developed by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission and offers comprehensive instruction in more than 150 topics, including criminal law, traffic law, community relations, physical training, self-defense, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, standardized field sobriety testing and electronic speed measuring devices.

Zachary M. Hudson, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Parks and Watercraft, was selected as class speaker by fellow class members and addressed the assembly.

Michael Rankin, first assistant prosecuting attorney in the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, was the featured speaker for the ceremony and addressed the graduates and an audience of friends, relatives and law enforcement officers, according to the release.

The cost of a one-year dog license is $20.

Licenses can be purchased for terms of one or three years and also can be bought for the lifetime of the dog, according to a news release.

The state of Ohio requires that all dogs aged 3 months and older have a current dog license.

Licenses purchased after the deadline are assessed an additional $20 fee, per Ohio law, doubling the price of a one-year license, according to the release.

Lost dogs can be reunited with their legal owner more easily when wearing a dog license, the release said. A dog license also allows for longer stray hold times (up to 14 days instead of 72 hours), should the dog enter a shelter.

Fees for a dog license are $20 for a one-year tag, $60 for a three-year tag and $200 for a lifetime tag.

Cuyahoga County residents can buy their dog licenses at local Discount Drug Mart locations, Pet Supply Plus stores or the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter.

For more information, visit cuyahogadogs.com.

Fees from dog licenses support the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter and the lost and stray dogs it houses until reunited with their owners or adopted to new homes, the release said.

Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter, which is located at 9500 Sweet Valley Drive in Valley View, is open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and from noon to 4 p.m., Sundays.

And inside the castle, the bedroom is the sanctuary.

But, for children battling cancer, the bedroom is even more than a sanctuary: It is a place of rest, of healing, of recuperation and of reflection.

It’s a space where the very power of positivity can truly make all the difference in the world.

For one amazing local nonprofit called Special Spaces, creating a dream bedroom for a child with cancer is its sole mission. The group recently completed its 55th such bedroom for a local child.

Headed by director Shari Caruso, Special Spaces provides a dream bedroom makeover and design for children fighting cancer who live in Lorain County or Cuyahoga County and are between the ages of 2 to 19.

Anyone wishing to nominate a child easily can do so on the nonprofit’s website at www.SpecialSpaces.org.

Special Spaces origin

Special Spaces was founded in 2004 in Knoxville, Tenn., by Jennifer Swain, who, at the time had no intention of the nonprofit becoming a nationwide organization, Caruso said.

However, the concept took off and now there are 12 chapters in 10 states.

Fate took a turn when Caruso was interviewing a prospective member at a Rotary meeting to discuss the prospects’ community service record.

“And they shared this story about work they were doing in Wisconsin with Special Spaces, and I jumped all over that and said I need to get a chapter in Greater Cleveland,” Caruso beamed. “So, in 2006 or so, we brought it here, but still so many folks have not really heard of the organization.

“When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it can change their world. The activities that they used to enjoy may look and feel different. They may not be able to do the things they really love.

“They don’t play soccer, ride bikes, go to prom or attend school. And, they spend a lot of time away from others — time in the hospital, visiting different doctors, receiving painful treatments, feeling tired and nauseous, and often times being isolated.

“So, our goal is to provide these children with a special space where they can not only sleep, relax and recover, but also play and enjoy just being a kid. A custom bedroom designed just for them.

“Whether they are dreaming of a princess castle, a butterfly bedroom, a pirate ship or a sports theme, we transform the child’s existing bedroom into a place that only they can imagine. A place for them just to be a kid.”

Caruso’s heart

Caruso is a former high school home economics teacher at Rocky River High School.

When she became director of the Greater Cleveland Special Spaces, she admits to having more heart than helping hands or funds.

She did what any good teacher would do, and that was to reach out to former students and colleagues to help her get started.

During her tenure as an educator, there was a class called service learning, so many of her students were familiar, not only with her passion for helping, but also the nuts and bolts, quite literally in this case, of successfully managing a nonprofit organization.

“I had absolutely no funding, but my husband smiled and told me that I’d figure it all out,” Caruso said. “I reached out to my friends and colleagues and said that I needed this or I needed that, or I need help building this or do you have a television?

“Special Spaces just smacked in the face when I heard about it and I knew that was going to be my mission. It really has changed my life and I’m so happy to hear and share the stories about the kids and the families we’ve been able to help.

“There was one teen boy that we recently did a room for who has just been to hell and back. We got a call from his mom recently that he would be in his room with his friends laughing and playing video games and that it was the first time she heard her son laugh in years. It’s incredibly touching, and just the best feeling you could possibly hope to get.”

The work is done by teams of dedicated volunteers and Caruso said they still need volunteers, particularly those who are handy with carpentry and other skilled trades that could be applied to interior design.

All furniture, fixtures, custom decor and other bedroom items have to be new and of course, donations of cash always are welcome.

The average cost of a bedroom makeover is about $8,000.

Caruso points with pride at Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams that provides her team “all the paint they could ever need,” and also the local Lowe’s franchise which has sponsored rooms and provided helping hands and materials.

She said she actively is looking for more corporate sponsors and partners, businesses that would like to make Special Spaces their corporate philanthropy, and folks that want to support the kids through their Amazon “Wish List.”

The application process is fairly straightforward and can be done online.

Once an applicant is approved the team meets with the child and parent to determine exactly what they need and exactly what they want.

A total of 108 law enforcement agencies will receive funding as part of the third round of the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program.

Of those agencies, 32 will use funding to create new body-worn camera programs and 76 agencies will dedicate funding toward expanding or upgrading existing technology, the release said.

The agencies receiving the funding include:

• Cleveland Metroparks, $29,446

• Erie County Sheriff’s Office, $31,610

• Lorain County Metro Parks, $14,423

• North Ridgeville Police, $83,549

“Body-worn cameras are important for both the protection of our law enforcement officers and members of the public,” DeWine said in the release. “My administration is proud to support our police departments and sheriff’s offices will the cost of this equipment so that agencies big and small can outfit their peace officers with cameras.”

DeWine created the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program in 2021.

More than 300 law enforcement agencies have received funding as part of the program, including over 200 law enforcement agencies that received nearly $10 million in grants in the 2022-23 biennium.

The Ohio General Assembly allotted an additional $10 million to the program as part of the current 2024-2025 biennium, $5 million of which will be awarded next year.

Ohio’s Office of Criminal Justice Services, which is administering the grant program, received $10.7 million worth of grant requests for this round of funding. All qualifying agencies that applied for grants to establish new body-worn camera programs received funding, and the remaining funds went to existing programs to upgrade aging cameras, add storage capacity, or hire record-retention personnel.

According to the health care system, about 90 percent of the 350,000 people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year will not survive, and the use of AEDs dramatically increases the odds of survival.

As part of the initiative, athletic directors led the AEDin3 challenge for their programs, conducting drills and getting the devices to fields and other sports venue areas in under three minutes with the goal to most effectively deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to re-establish an effective heart rhythm.

Institutions that can’t beat the AEDin3 time limit are eligible for AEDs and training at no cost, UH officials confirmed.

Schools in attendance on Jan. 9 included Bedford, Cuyahoga Falls, Grand Valley, John Hay, Kenston, Normandy, Ravenna, Streetsboro, Valley Forge and Western Reserve.

After recently partaking in the challenge, Kenston officials learned the school was not equipped to care for someone in cardiac arrest safely.

That changed soon after.

“Our athletic trainer, Viviani Deubel, really is the one to thank for Kenston getting this — she’s placed (with us) through our partnership with UH and we’ve always had a really great relationship,” said Kenston Athletic Director Reid Guarnieri.

“This program allows us to expand some of our coverages in our facilities and to have more safety outdoors in place,” he added. “It’s (also) a nice feeling to be one of the first few (schools) selected.”

Launched in partnership with the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Brown cornerback Denzel Ward’s “Make Them Know Your Name Foundation” and Kaulig Companies, the program serves to ensure every school in Northeast Ohio is equipped with the latest technology and training.

Officials added that a second wave of distribution is set to follow.

“We are thankful to our partners to be able to connect athletes with the tools for an effective emergency action plan in the case of cardiac arrest,” said AEDin3 founder Dr. Robert Flannery, UH orthopedic surgeon and assistant physician to the Browns.

“We’re excited about the program, and while we’ve initially really focused on Northeast Ohio, just through word of mouth, this week, we’ve had our first out-of-state request from a school in Michigan and a school in New York,” he continued. “We’re starting to see that this is something worthwhile and needed, and something we hope everyone is doing already, and being able to provide this added incentive is great.

“We’ve been successful to this point, but we won’t be an overall success until every venue across the state is covered.”

The orchestra said in September that the 63-year-old had a cancerous tumor removed and he was canceling conducting performances from late October through the end of the year. At the time, the orchestra said he would undergo treatment between conducting engagements for 12 to 16 months.

Welser-Möst was to conduct the Orchestra at Severance Hall starting Thursday night and is to lead it on tour to New York’s Carnegie Hall on Jan. 20 and 21.

“I am immensely grateful for the extraordinary journey that I have had with the Cleveland Orchestra since I first came to Severance more than 30 years ago,” Welser-Möst said in a statement Thursday. “It is both a special and an emotional moment as I reflect on what we have accomplished together. But perhaps what matters most to me is the shared passion, the inspiring creativity, and the lasting friendships that I have had the privilege of building with our musicians, audiences, and fans around the world.”

Born in Austria, Welser-Möst was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1990-96, chief conductor of the Zurich Opera from 1995-2005 and its general music director from 2005-08. He was general music director of the Vienna State Opera from 2010-14.

Welser-Möst first conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in 1993 and became music director for the 2002-03 season following Christoph von Dohnányi’s 18-season tenure. Welser-Möst’s time leading Cleveland will surpass that of George Szell, the orchestra’s music director from 1946-70.

School officials confirmed that this year’s event returns to Playhouse Square for the first time since 2020.

The 47th annual celebration will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 at KeyBank State Theatre, located at 1519 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland.

The remembrance will feature a musical performance by Grammy Award-winner BeBe Winans and student performances by Tri-C’s Creative Arts Dance Academy and The Cleveland Chorale.

In addition, two Tri-C students will present essays that reflect on a quote from King’s 1965 commencement address at Oberlin College: “The time is always right to do what is right.”

The two essayists are Amulya Tiralapuram, a student government senator and Phi Theta Kappa member who hopes to work in health care, and Tatiana Raudales, a student in the illustration program who hopes to transfer to a four-year university to earn a bachelor’s degree in English with an art studio minor.

The event will also recognize 12 Tri-C students for their scholarships from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Scholarship Fund, established in 1987, and the Cleveland Teachers Union Endowed Scholarship Fund, established in 1995.

Tri-C President Michael Baston noted that the college was founded on the idea of accessible learning, which he described as a significant part of King’s hopes and dreams.

“He believed that everyone should have a path toward a broad education to build relationships across racial lines, have a beloved community and make a life for themselves,” Baston said. “We come together (not only) to honor his memory, but to continue his work.”

For more information or to watch a Livestream, visit tri-c.edu/MLK2024.

In 2023, two teachers from Bay High School, 29230 Wolf Road in Bay Village, received top honors from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association.

The group recognized Bay technology teachers Luke Kieffer and Ron Rutt for their work in the technology and education field, according to district communications director Karen Misciagna.

The award goes to “superior” technology and engineering programs, Misciagna said.

“These programs serve as a standard for comparison and models for the development of other programs,” International Technology and Engineering Educators Association officials said of the honor in a statement. “Awardees serve as models for their colleagues, inspiration to their communities and leaders in their region, province or state as proponents of advancing technological literacy for all.”

Both teachers have been with Bay High for nearly 20 years.

Rutt, a Bay High graduate, said he is extremely grateful that the technological education program he enjoyed still is up and running at the school.

“We’re not a subject area that, across the state and the nation, necessarily receives all the attention,” he said. “But, I think that we are a vital subject.

“The two of us are pretty passionate about making (technological education) an important part of schools.”

Kieffer and Rutt also have access to a hands-on education lab located inside Bay High.

Rutt stressed this importance of engaged education, in conjunction with learning through theory and textbooks.

“I started out five years at the middle school, and I’ve been at the high school ever since,” he said. “I teach the (computer-aided design) courses.

“It’s cool to see the whole process through and not just talk about things in theory.”

Robert Hoon, Bay Village City School District director of curriculum and instruction, echoed the sentiment of working hands-on with students.

Hoon praised Kieffer and Rutt for their continued work with Bay Village students over two decades.

“Although this international award is quite impressive, what stands out to me is that because of their hard work and dedication to our students and their education, our Bay High School technology and engineering program serves as a standard,” Hoon said. “We are so fortunate to have Luke and Ron on our staff.”

Kieffer said the hope is to inspire a passion for technological education in the next generation of potential educators.

As a relatively thin field, he noted that keeping students interested in taking the next steps in their education is vital to the field’s survival.

“We always have a chip on our shoulder, because tech ed programs across the state sometimes get shut down; guys retire and then nobody comes to replace them,” Kieffer said. “We’re always fighting for existence.

“We know it’s important, and when we get recognized, people realize it’s important.”

Jason Martin, principal at Bay High, said the two teachers have had a transformative effect on the lives of their students, and the school.

Technological education students at Bay High graduate ready for the modern workforce thanks to the efforts of Kieffer and Rutt, Martin said.

“Thanks to the hard work of Luke and Ron, we have seen firsthand the transformation of our students as they progress through this program,” Martin said. “They emerge as confident, capable individuals with a deep passion for technology and a strong foundation in the skills necessary for success in the fields of technology and engineering.”

Kieffer and Rutt officially will receive their honors March 6-9 during the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association conference in Memphis, Tenn.

This report was edited at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2024 to correct the wording of a statement by Jason Martin.