CLEVELAND MUSICAL SOCIETY - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The CLEVELAND MUSICAL SOCIETY was one of the earliest organizations in the city devoted to music. Its founding in 1832 coincided with the arrival of the first piano in Cleveland. The first president of the society was A. S. Sanford. Members met every Monday and Tuesday at 7 P.M. In its early years, the society essentially served as a club for those who shared a common interest in music. Later it began to sponsor occasional musical events that were open to the public. Occasional concerts usually featured choral music. With the emergence of several new singing societies in the late 1830s and early 1840s, the society became less publicly active. It was apparently resuscitated or organized in the late 1850s with a combined choral and orchestral concert at the Melodeon on 9 Jan. 1857. Under the direction of F. X. Byerly, concerts were given in 1860-61, but the society probably disbanded during the Civil War.

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