The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the

Hilbert Circle Theatre The Hilbert Circle Theatre, originally called the Circle Theatre, is in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Monument Circle. It was built in 1916 and consists of a Neoclassical style, white glazed terra cotta entrance section with a brick auditorium sect ...

in downtown Indianapolis on

Monument Circle The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a tall neoclassical monument built on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. In the years s ...

History

The orchestra was founded in 1930 by Ferdinand Schaefer, a local violin professor, with the help of Leonard A. Strauss. Strauss became the first president of the ISO. In 1937,

Fabien Sevitzky Fabien Sevitzky (September 29, 1891 in Vyshny Volochyok – February 3, 1967 in Athens) was a Russian-born American conductor. He was the nephew of renowned double-bass virtuoso and longtime Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevi ...

was hired as the orchestra's first music director, as the musicians became fully professional, paid a weekly salary for a 20-week season. The orchestra quickly ascended to national prominence, issuing a series of phonograph recordings on RCA Victor and Capitol Records in the 1940s and early 1950s. Some of the orchestra's earliest recordings have been reissued. In 1956,

Izler Solomon Izler Solomon (January 11, 1910 – December 6, 1987) was an American orchestra conductor, active mostly in the Midwest. Career Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Izler Solomon's first position as music director was from 1936 to 1941 with the Illinoi ...

was appointed music director. The orchestra toured nationally and produced a series of international salute concerts. This series won a US State Department Award. The orchestra performed in such venues as Clowes Hall on the campus of

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

and Caleb Mills Hall. John Nelson became music director in 1976. During his tenure, the orchestra relocated to the renovated Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis, which re-opened on October 12, 1984. Nelson brought the ISO back to the airwaves on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, as well as concerts in Carnegie Hall in 1989 and 1991 and at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. In 1987, he took the orchestra on its first-ever foreign tour in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, with concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki.

Raymond Leppard Raymond John Leppard (11 August 1927 – 22 October 2019) was a British-American conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the ...

succeeded Nelson as music director, in 1987. Under Leppard's direction, the orchestra began a 52-week season, and made a series of recordings on the Koss Classics label. Leppard returned the orchestra to Europe for two more tours in 1993 and 1997. Leppard became conductor laureate of the orchestra following the conclusion of his tenure in 2001. In 2009, the ISO announced its first-ever ensemble-in-residence,

Time for Three Time for Three (Tf3) is a classically trained string trio that explores a variety of musical genres. The members of the group are Nicolas (Nick) Kendall (violin), Charles Yang (violin), and Ranaan Meyer (double bass). Because of their eclectic ...

. In April 2010,

Krzysztof Urbański Krzysztof Urbański (born 17 October 1982, Pabianice, Poland) is a Polish conductor and composer. Urbański studied conducting at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where his teachers included Antoni Wit, who one year after leav ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. He was subsequently engaged for a return appearance in June 2010 at the orchestra's summer series, "Symphony on the Prairie". Based on these two appearances, the ISO named Urbański its 7th music director, effective September 1, 2011, with an initial contract of 4 years. In May 2019, the orchestra announced the scheduled conclusion of Urbański's tenure as music director at the close of the 2020-2021 season. In May 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Jun Märkl Jun Märkl (born 11 February 1959 in Munich) is a German conductor. Biography Born to a Japanese pianist mother and a German violinist father, Märkl studied piano and the violin as a youth. Beginning in 1978 at the Musikhochschule Hannover he co ...

as its artistic advisor for the 2021-2022 season. Märkl had first guest-conducted the orchestra in August 2000 in a "Symphony on the Prairie" concert.

Music directors

* Ferdinand Schaefer (1930–1937) *

(1937–1955) *

(1956–1975) * John Nelson (1976–1987) *

(1987–2001) * Mario Venzago (2002–2009) *

(2011–2021)

Principal Pops conductors

Erich Kunzel Erich Kunzel, Jr. (March 21, 1935 – September 1, 2009) was an American orchestra conductor. Called the "Prince of Pops" by the ''Chicago Tribune'', he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestras, especially the Cincinnati ...

(1982–2002) *

Jack Everly Jack Everly (born January 13, 1952) is an American conductor who serves as Principal Pops Conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada ...

(2002–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1930 American orchestras Tourist attractions in Indianapolis Non-profit organizations based in Indianapolis Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras 1930 establishments in Indiana Performing arts in Indiana