Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
APRIL CONCERT SCHEDULE
Lilly Classical Series
Pictures at an Exhibition
Thursday, March 31, 11 a.m. (Coffee Classical Series)
Friday, April 1, 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 3, 3 p.m. (Duke Energy 317 Series at Avon High School)
Hans Graf, Conductor
James Ehnes, Violin
Few works can match Pictures at an Exhibition for orchestral color, sonic impact and sheer excitement. And no work displays the virtuosity of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra quite like it.
- This suite of 10 piano pieces composed by Modest Mussorgsky is considered his most famous piano composition and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists.
- ISO purchased an en plein air oil painting painted at Marsh Symphony on the Prairie during last summer’s outdoor performance of this same work.
Learning Community Events
Discovery Concert: The Orchestra Moves
Tuesday, April 5, 10:15 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Vince Lee, Conductor
Central Indiana students in grades 3 – 6 experience the magic of the symphony through the Indianapolis Symphony’s Link Up program, a nationally recognized curriculum by Carnegie Hall. The program includes comprehensive preparation materials and a teacher workshop prior to the concert.
- The ISO can arrange media interviews with participating schools upon request.
- Students will enjoy Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Stravinsky’s “Finale” from The Firebird Suite (1919), and Scarim’s A Simple Melody, among others.
- More than 18,000 total students from 170 schools in 31 Indiana counties are scheduled to attend a Discovery Concert this season. There are additional performances in May. Visit indianapolissymphony.org for times and dates.
Printing Partners Pops Series
Pink Martini with the ISO
Thursday, April 7, 6:30 p.m. (Stella Artois Happy Hour at the Symphony)
Friday, April 8, 11 a.m. (The Stratford Coffee Pops Series)
Friday, April 8, 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 9, 8 p.m.
Jack Everly, Conductor
Guests can’t help but snap their fingers and tap their feet to the swinging Pink Martini. The eclectic 12-piece ensemble will perform its musical extravaganza of cabaret, samba, timeless pop and jazz.
- This is the final Stella Artois Happy Hour at the Symphony of the season. Pre-concert music performed by DJ Helicon. Please note: Time for Three will not appear at this concert.
- Founded in 1994, Pink Martini features a dozen performers. The Washington Post writes of Pink Martini’s sound: “rich, hugely approachable music, utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious … it seems to speak to just about everybody.”
Learning Community Events
MYO 20th Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, April 10, 3 p.m.
Learn more about MYO in Indianapolis.
Celebrate the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s 20th Anniversary with a free jazz concert. MYO is a very special ISO program that helps youth and families develop life skills through the rehearsal and performance of music. The exciting new experiences and skills gained from the program aim to prevent at-risk behaviors and keep students in school in several ways:
- Students have weekly lessons and ensemble performances and perform in a solo recital each year. The young musicians also perform in large ensembles at Hilbert Circle Theatre, in the community, and are available to perform at company events. Parents rehearse and perform with the students.
- FORTE, the ISO’s young professionals group, works with older students and provides encouragement to complete high school and prepare for college or other vocational training.
- The ISO also offers monthly Just for Parents workshops and partners with other programs including Second Helpings, Art of the Soul, Domestic Violence Network, and the Financial Center to connect participating families with other resources.
- Since becoming an ISO program in 2008, 100 percent of graduating MYO seniors have gone on to post-secondary education.
- The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra is presented by Roche.
Lilly Classical Series
André Watts
Thursday, April 14, 11 a.m. (Coffee Classical Series)
Friday, April 15, 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 16, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 17, 3 p.m. (Telamon Classical Series at the Palladium)
Gilbert Varga, Conductor
André Watts, Piano
Explore Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable Romeo and Juliet Overture, Wagner’s transcendent Prelude and Liebestod to his opera Tristan und Isolde, and and excerpt from Franck’s symphonic poem Psyché et Eros, based on the Greek myth. Pianist André Watts also returns to Indianapolis, playing MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a Romantic work inspired by the brilliance of Liszt.
- Born in Germany, Watt’s family moved to Philadelphia when he was eight years old. He entered and won his first competition at age nine, for the opportunity to perform with the Phiadelphia Orchestra Children’s Concerts.
- In 2004, Watts joined the faculty at Indiana University, where he holds the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music.
- Watts was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Lilly Classical Series
Organ Spectacular
Friday, April 22, 8 p.m. (Ears To Hear begins at 7 p.m.)
Saturday, April 23, 7 p.m.
Matthew Halls, Conductor
Paul Jacobs, Organ
Organ master Paul Jacobs joins the ISO for Guilmant’s thundering Symphony for Organ and Orchestra in a program of French masterworks featuring Ravel’s exquisite “Mother Goose” Suite. Get ready for the roar and thunder! You’ll feel the sonic wallop of the organ the instant before you hear it.
- On Friday, Anthony Elia, Director of Library and Educational Technology, Christian Theological Seminary, an avid student of classical music history and a composer in his own right, will give a free pre-concert presentation in the Wood Room. His “Ears to Hear” talk will put Messiaen and his masterwork in context, tuning ears to hear the spiritual depth and dimensions of Messiaen’s Les offrandes oubliées.
- Jacobs is the chairman of the organ department at the Juilliard School. He plays entirely from memory and has been influential in introducing the instrument outside of churches and into concert halls.
Learning Community Event
Teddy Bear Series: The Big Note
Thursday, April 28, 10:15 and 11 a.m.
Central Library
“The Big Note,” an original story written by ISO violinist Victoria Griswold, invites young children to move like trains and sway like trees as they participate in the adventures of a young boy’s search through a symphony orchestra. Five ISO musicians will introduce children and their families to excerpts from works of Rossini, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, and Rimsky-Korsakov as part of the event.
This event is free, but reservations are required, which can be made by calling the Central Library at (317) 275-4100. More information is available at indypl.org.
- Victoria Griswold is a 22-year member of the ISO. Prior to joining the ISO in April 1993, Griswold was a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade and Boston Ballet orchestras, the Rhode Island and the Florida philharmonics, and the Spoleto Festival in the United States and Italy.
- The 11 a.m. is sold out. A 10:15 a.m. show has been added.
Special Event!
INfusion Music Fest
Special Performance by Time for Three
Thursday, April 28, 8 p.m.
Ben Folds’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Friday, April 29, 8 p.m.
Kishi Bashi & Time for Three
Saturday, April 30, 4 p.m.
San Fermin
Saturday, April 30, 8 p.m.
Jayce Ogren, Conductor
The ISO and Time for Three bring together notable artists San Fermin, Kishi Bashi, and Ben Folds with modern compositions to present the first-ever INfusion Music Fest, a weekend celebration focusing on the connections between music and the environment. Led by up-and-coming conductor of contemporary repertoire Jayce Ogren, the ISO will present orchestral works that evoke the human relationship with the environment.
- Since joining the ISO as its artists-in-residence in 2009, Time for Three has become a household name for its genre-bending performances, innovative programming for the ISO’s Happy Hour series, and unique musical collaborations with indie artists.
- The ISO is committed to minimizing its own impact on the environment, beginning with a 10% reduction in energy usage and the installation of recycling stations in the Hilbert Circle Theatre. (There will not be a printed program book for this festival.)
– Looking ahead to May –
May 5, 7 and 8
Legendary pianist Menahem Pressler debuts with the ISO at age 92 with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27. Conducted by Roberto Abbado, Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Schumann’s Second Symphony balance the program with their overflowing emotional resonance.
May 13, 14 and 15
Join the ISO, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Indianapolis Children’s Choir, Indianapolis Men’s Chorus and others in A Choral Spectacular! featuring pops, standards, Broadway, light classical and gospel.
May 20 and 21
Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero returns for Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Sixth Symphony, which takes listeners on a walk in the countryside, past hills and streams, and even through a violent thunderstorm. The program opens with Duruflé’s poignant Requiem, featuring the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir.
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