By JOHN BENSON

Special to The Gazette

Bombastic blockbuster music is the theme behind the Cleveland Orchestra’s 41st Blossom Festival season at Blossom Music Center.

“For the Cleveland Orchestra, the No. 1 thing is always the music,” said Cleveland Orchestra Director of Public Relations Ana Papakhian. “We try to present the best music, the best guest artists and the best performances. We also try to appeal to a broad variety of people across Ohio.

“When we get down to Blossom, we have the opportunity to reach more people who might not come to Severance Hall. And of course, we want them to hear the Cleveland Orchestra and to be welcome.”

Whether it’s Orff’s “Carmina Burana” or a special appearance by Northeast Ohio’s favorite son Drew Carey, this year’s Blossom Festival Season has been tailored to appeal to not only a wide variety of classical lovers, but contemporary music fans to boot. As usual, the nine-week schedule kicked off in a grand and free fashion with the Cleveland Orchestra’s annual summer celebration taking place July 2 at Public Square in downtown Cleveland.

“Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’ (July 5) is a really famous piece, which was used for the NBA playoffs commercials this year,” Papakhian said. “It has a bombastic choral sound to it, and the music is so glorious, exciting and fun outside because you can sit on the lawn and feel like you’re right up close to it.”

She added, “Also, Drew Carey is coming. He’ll be narrating ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (July 26). What’s really famous about that piece is the wedding march, which you’ll hear at a lot of weddings. Drew, who will actually be speaking the Shakespearian lines during the piece, is an incredible presence with charisma. So it’s not necessarily a comic performance, but we know his personality will certainly add to the show.”

Papakhian pointed to several more shows of note, including Gershwin: Concerto in F (Aug. 2) featuring flamboyant French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. There’s also the Cleveland Orchestra debut of Julia Fischer (Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto on July 19), the Blossom Festival debut of Northeast Ohio native pianist Orion Weiss (Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1) and genre-bending contemporary trio Time for Three (Aug. 10).

It’s the latter act that Papakhian hopes will attract a truly diverse audience.

“Time for Three is three young guys in their 20s — two violinists and a bassist — that play this amazing cross-genre type of music,” Papakhian said. “They’ll play a folk piece, a bluegrass piece, a classical piece. They’ll improvise, and they do a lot of fun things.

“So if you want to experience the Blossom Festival for the first time in a fun way that combines a lot of different styles of music, that would be the night to try it.”

Individual tickets to the 2008 Blossom Festival are $22 to $47 (pavilion) and $20 to $22 (lawn). Tickets can be purchased by calling 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visiting www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Benson may be reached at ididhear@aol.com.

8 p.m. July 5

o Orff: “Carmina Burana,” Borodin: “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor and Tchaikovsky: “1812 Overture.” Robert Porco, conductor.

The Blossom Festival Chorus performs in all three works on this program. Fireworks follow the concerts, weather permitting.

8 p.m. July 12

o Rossini: Overture to Semiramide, Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 and Rimsky-Korsakov: “Capriccio espagnol. Jayce Ogren, conductor and Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor.

7 p.m. July 13

o Bravo Broadway: Broadway Today! Robert Porco, conductor.

The program includes selections from “Cats,” “Chess,” “Dreamgirls,” “Hairspray,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “The Lion King,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Movin’ Out,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Rent,” “Tommy,” “Wicked” and “The Wiz.”

8 p.m. July 19

o Mussorgsky: “Night on the Bald Mountain,” Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4. Andris Nelsons, conductor.

7 p.m. July 20

o Mozart: “Overture to The Marriage of Figaro,” Stravinsky: “Dumbarton Oaks Concerto,” Falla: Suite No. 1 from “The Three-Cornered Hat,” Berlioz: “Roman Carnival Overture,” Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique.” Along with Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra. Andris Nelsons, conductor and Tito Muñoz, conductor.

8 p.m. July 26

o “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” featuring Weber: “Overture to Oberon,” Foote: “A Night Piece,” Sullivan: “Masquerade” from “The Merchant of Venice” and Mendelssohn: “Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Nicholas McGegan, conductor and Drew Carey, narrator.

7 p.m. July 27

o Baroque Evening featuring Vivaldi: Concerto alla rustica, RV 151, Vivaldi: Concerto in C major for Two Trumpets, RV 537, Haydn: Symphony No. 30 (“Alleluja”), Mouret: “Fanfare-Rondeau” from Suite de Symphonies No. 1 in D major, Leclair: Suite from Scylla et Glaucus and Handel: Water Music, Suites in G and D. Nicholas McGegan, conductor.

8 p.m. Aug. 2

o Harbison: “Remembering Gatsby: Foxtrot for Orchestra,” Gershwin: Concerto in F and Brahms: Symphony No. 1. Jahja Ling, conductor.

7 p.m. Aug. 3

o Beethoven: “Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus,” Ewazen: “Ballade for Clarinet” and Sibelius: Symphony No. 2. Jahja Ling, conductor.

8:30 p.m. Aug. 8

o Schubert: Andante from Symphonic Fragment D.936A (realization by Brian Newbould), Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) and J. Strauss, Jr.: Kaiser-Walzer (“Emperor” Waltz). Franz Welser-Möst, conductor.

7 p.m. Aug. 10

o Time for Three with Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Carl Topilow, conductor.

This unusual string ensemble joins the Cleveland Pops Orchestra for an evening of bluegrass, jazz, classical and American music.

8 p.m. Aug. 16

o Empire Brass. The Empire Brass is renowned for its brilliant virtuosity and diverse repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to jazz and Broadway. Fireworks follow the concerts, weather permitting.

7 p.m. Aug. 17

o Blossom Favorites. Blossom Festival Orchestra. Loras John Schissel, conductor. An evening of music by John Williams, Mozart and Sousa, with pre-concert children activities and an all-American cookout.

7 p.m. Aug. 24

o A Bernstein Celebration. Blossom Festival Orchestra. Loras John Schissel, conductor. Celebrating the 90th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, the Blossom Festival Orchestra plays his music in this special concert featuring his daughter, Jamie, as narrator. Program includes selections from “Candide,” “Wonderful Town” and “West Side Story.”

8:30 p.m. Aug. 30-31

o Blossom Night at the Movies … Celebrating Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary. Blossom Festival Orchestra. George Daugherty, conductor.

Daugherty returns to Blossom to celebrate the spectacular 85-year legacy of Warner Bros. The evening features famous movie scenes projected on a big screen and accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The family friendly show features moments from classics like “Casablanca,” “A Star Is Born,” “The Music Man,” “My Fair Lady” and “Looney Tunes.”

— John Benson