Day Concert Indianapolis

While many of us are stuck with the image of the old, bearded Brahms in our minds, in his younger days, Johannes (right) was quite the looker and probably attracted his fair share of female attention, just like John Mayer.

1. Brahms wrote four symphonies.  Mayer has released four albums.  (There are also four Happy Hour concerts this season.  Try to explain that coincidence!)
2. Both men pursued secondary instruments in their youth.  Can you imagine Brahms as a cellist or John Mayer with a clarinet in his hands?  They both also started touring as teenagers.  At one point, Brahms' teacher wanted to send him to America to earn that big paycheck.  His parents declined, probably sparing Brahms future anonymity as a washed-up child star.
3. Speaking of the clarinet, John Mayer's first instrument, Brahms took up an interest in the reedy instrument late in life.  He came out of his self-imposed retirement to write some of his most moving music, all featuring the clarinet.  Do you think Mayer ever tried his hand at the Brahms' Clarinet Quintet?

My name is Sarah and I attend Covenant Christian High School. Each year after Christmas break, students at my school participate in a two week experience called “J-term”, or two week internship. I love music and thought that the Indianapolis Symphony would be a great opportunity. For my two weeks, I was part of the Learning Community. There were many activities and projects that I participated in during these two weeks, like the Young People's Discovery Concert teacher workshops designed to help teachers prepare their students for concerts and assisting HR with paper filing.  The teacher workshop was a brand new experience for me and I loved learning the different ways of presenting classical music to groups of elementary level students.

I was able to sit in on an ISO rehearsal and listen to the orchestra practice. Also, I attended a Happy Hour Concert planning meeting for the upcoming January event. It was interesting hearing all of the work that had been put into the event, and the work that still had to be done. Also, I was able to see the new promotional video for these concerts.

I attended a Coffee Concert and it was neat listening to the orchestra perform the songs that I heard them practice the day before. Also, before the Coffee Concert I served coffee and tea to patrons. It was fun and fascinating talking to the different people attending the concert. That ended my first week at the ISO, and I could not wait for the next week.

On Tuesday of my second week, I helped the HR department again with some filing.  I saw more paper than I have ever seen in most of my life! It was interesting how many papers and documents go through this department.

This week I was able to eat lunch with Becky, the principal piccolo player in the orchestra. It was fun hearing some of her stories and talk about flutes! Then I said bye and continued with my work in the Learning Community - mainly creating a database of orchestra music for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra program. 

Next came Friday, my last day at the ISO. Today there was a Coffee Pops Concert that I was able to enjoy. I loved this concert and had a great time listening to it.

Well, that was my J-term experience at the ISO. I could not have hoped for a better internship. I learned many things about the business behind the orchestra on stage. I was also able to meet new people and get to know them better. I am glad that I had this opportunity to spend my two weeks with the ISO!   

Everyone thinks marketers are all about numbers, charts and strange acronyms.  It's true, ROI is crucial. (That’s Return On Investment, or, was the cost of the ad worth the money it generated?) And, yes, we've got to hit our revenue goals.  But I certainly don't work in marketing at the ISO because I love graphs and spreadsheets.  I work at the ISO because I love music, and I’m in marketing because I’m a people person. At the end of the day, I’m here to connect people more closely to our music.

Others might look at a ticket order and see a sale; I look at that ticket order and see a person and a story. In the case of our $20.10 sale, there are a lot of orders. That’s means a lot of stories and I’d like to share one of them with you.

The promotion began with a two day pre-sale for our subscribers and donors. One of the first orders was from Rebecca. She’s a current donor to the ISO, but it’s been about five years since her last concert. That worries me. While her financial support is most welcome, the longer someone goes without attending concerts, the less likely she is to attend in the future and continue that support. 

Rebecca used the $20.10 sale to purchase two upcoming Classical concerts (Scheherazade and Fauré’s Requiem) and two upcoming Pops concerts (Marvin Hamlisch and Classically Cinematic). In other words, she went from 0 to 4 in just one order. Rebecca is now going to rediscover what she always loved about the ISO and, hopefully, start coming to concerts on a regular basis for years to come. That’s good for the ISO, but it’s also good for Rebecca. For me, it’s extremely gratifying to know that one order spurred by one special offer can create that difference in someone’s life. 

So that’s Rebecca’s story. Now I want to know yours! Don’t worry, you don’t have to write anything down or call me. All you have to do is visit IndianapolisSymphony.org and place your order. I’ll be able to read between the lines.

By the way, for those who don’t know, now through January 9, $20.10 gets you any ticket to any remaining Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Classical, Pops or Symphonic Hits concert at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Happy New Year, everyone – I hope 2010 is off to a terrific start for all of you!

This coming Friday and Saturday, the 8^th and 9^th, the ISO’s series of popular classics, Symphonic Hits powered by Lilly, returns to the Hilbert Circle Theater stage, and of course, that also means the return of Sound Off, the preconcert event that I host one hour prior to each concert (AKA 6:30pm).

This week’s concert program is full of spectacular music, including a suite of excerpts from my favorite work by Sergei Prokofiev, his ballet music for Romeo and Juliet.  The excerpts for this suite were chosen by this week’s conductor, Andrew Litton, and I believe that these will be the first-ever performances of this particular combination of movements.  The concert also features Tchaikovsky’s warhorse Violin Concerto, with soloist Vadim Gluzman, and Tchaikovsky’s Coronation March.

The first couple editions of Sound Off have been a lot of fun, thanks in large part to your terrific participation and questions for me and my guests.  If you have a burning question about orchestras or symphonic music that you’d like to see me answer during our The Audience Wants to Know segment, please submit it by commenting on this blog post, posting it on the ISO Facebook page, or emailing it to soundoff@indianapolissymphony.org.   In the next few days, I think the ISO staff may be even posting a special free concert ticket offer on our Facebook page for the best question submitted, so be sure to check for that.

Here are some videos to kindle your interest in this week’s repertoire.  I couldn’t resist starting with what is probably the most novel performance of music from the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto that I’ve ever heard.  This is a young accordion virtuoso from Ukraine, Alexander Hrustevich, performing the 3^rd movement of the concerto, and playing both the solo part and accompaniment himself - it’s quite breathtaking:
 

And to balance that, here’s a classic “normal” performance of the first movement with the legendary David Oistrakh as soloist.  (This is only the first part of the movement, but the remainder of the movement, as well as the rest of the concerto, are easily accessible on YouTube).
 

Here is a performance by the famous Bolshoi Ballet of the scene ‘Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb’ from Romeo and Juliet.  This scene will not be included in this weekend’s performances, but I thought you would enjoy it.

And finally, here is a concert performance by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic of the devastating ‘Death of Tybalt’, which will conclude the Romeo and Juliet suite in this weekend’s performances.
 

(These last two YouTube videos have "embedding" disabled, which means I can't post them inline here at the blog entry, but be sure to check out the links to view them directly on YouTube - they're both fantastic.)

See you at the symphony!

Every year, the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras, performs a series of New Year’s Concerts on December 30, 31, and January 1.  These concerts have become beloved around the world through the annual broadcast of the New Year’s Day performance.  These programs feature almost exclusively Austrian music, and in particular, music of the Johann Strauss family:  waltzes, polkas, overtures, and the like.

I’m thrilled that this year, for the first time in a number of years, the ISO will be doing an entire New Year’s Eve performance inspired by this wonderful tradition, and I have the privilege of conducting it.  This is music that is very close to my heart – it has an elegance, charm, and nobility matched by little else in the repertoire.  I’ve done individual pieces from this concert on many other occasions in the past, but this will be my first time doing an entire concert of Viennese repertoire, so I’m really looking forward to it.

The video productions of the VPO concerts frequently feature dance performances with the musical ones, and so I’m delighted that in that spirit, Indy’s own Dance Kaleidoscope will be joining us on stage for several numbers.  I saw their choreography the other day, and DK Artistic Director David Hochoy has done a great job of capturing the special qualities of this music.  Also in the tradition of the VPO concerts, we will have a wonderful guest soprano, Jacqueline Brecheen, to sing several arias from Viennese operettas.

I’ll leave you with a video from the 1987 VPO performance, with Herbert von Karajan conducting the famous “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” waltzes, also featuring dancers from the Vienna State Opera Ballet.

See you (New Year’s Eve) at the Symphony!
 

It is quite extraordinary how the human brain can tuck away memories into the subconscious, only to be triggered back to the surface later in life. When asked to write a blog about my experiences with Yo-Yo Ma in Louisville in May of 1999, I remembered only a few minor details about the evening. After all, my time with him and pianist Jeffrey Kahane ten years ago spanned a fraction of a day – a mere five hours, if that. My trigger for that evening was a picture of Yo-Yo and me at the post-concert reception that night, which rekindled my memory of the evening and yielded my blog entry on July 7 (see “A Heart of Gold” below).

On October 1, 2009, Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Kahane reunited in Indianapolis for a one-night performance at the Hilbert Circle Theatre with the ISO, and what I witnessed will surely be remembered. Humanity in classical music presents itself in many different forms, but this time it was through something the audience rarely has the opportunity to witness in the performers onstage: Humor.

I collected both gentlemen at the hotel prior to the rehearsal. Though some guest artists of this caliber respectfully feign familiarity with management they have worked with in the past, I had a hard time believing that Yo-Yo didn’t remember me. It felt as if a day hadn’t gone by, apart from my extra ten pounds and Yo-Yo’s stylishly new glasses.   A few minutes after reacquainting ourselves, Jeffrey descended and gave Yo-Yo a hug.  It was at this point another memory triggered – I had forgotten the amazing friendship between these two men until they started laughing – and they laughed the entire way to the hall. Not just the obliging gentlemanly chuckle, but the boisterous, wheezing, gut-busting howling at each other’s jokes. Somehow, even Jeffrey’s hilarious description of the Cyclops in Homer’s Odyssey made Yo-Yo’s endless giggling explode into a high-pitched belly laugh. Both men could barely walk by the time we reached the theatre a few minutes later.

This brotherly friendship is equally as evident on the stage, though mutually understood in a purely musical realm. The respective communication between the two was intriguing to witness during the performance of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto. Jeffrey’s animated control of the orchestra and Yo-Yo’s exquisite mastery of the concerto produced a glorious response from the sold-out theatre, whose ranks were captivated by the encore, J.S. Bach’s Sarabande from the Sixth Cello Suite (the same movement Yo-Yo performed at Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral this past August).

What is remarkable is that though I have trouble remembering my own birthday without the help of my Facebook account, I will not forget laughing hysterically at the dynamic between Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Kahane and witnessing their amazing collaboration on stage for the second time in my life. Both have their own solo careers in cello and piano, respectively, and Jeffrey even manages to juggle his music directorships at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony simultaneously. But when these two musical brothers do have the opportunity to perform together, they shine, and the memory is unforgettable.

After much deliberation, we have chosen a winner.  Congratulations to . . .

(Imagine the drum roll . . .)

LAUREN ALAYZA!

Here's what she had to say:
 

Dear ISO, My name is Lauren Alayza, and I am a seventeen-year-old aspiring cellist. It is my dream to become a fine cellist, (as fine as Yo-Yo Ma!) and to play chamber music professionally someday. I have only been playing about five years, but I try my hardest to make it seem as if I have been studying much longer. I am not like most student musicians, in fact, I believe someone with my situation is rare and unusual to come by. A few years after I began playing cello, I was diagnosed with a debilitating rare condition, that is not completely diagnosed yet. It has been a great four-year struggle to deal with the infinite debilitating symptoms, including arthritis which is difficult to deal with for any musician. Despite my pain, extreme fatigue, and occasional depression, I make it to all my lessons and rehearsals every week, and I have noticed an intriguing ongoing pattern. After every cello lesson, I leave feeling the best I have felt that day. Cello lessons quickly became a sort of distraction therapy, an escape, if you will, to my other life; my feeble reality. When I practice and play my cello, I am quickly engulfed in music and concentration to produce the best sound I possibly can, and voila, before I even know it, I have forgotten all of my aches and pains! Because of this epiphany I have had with music and its healing powers, I have vowed to dedicate my efforts of cello playing and practicing to someday help others experience this wonderful phenomenon we call music. I want to see (and meet!) Yo-Yo Ma at the Hilbert Theatre this Thursday because Yo-Yo Ma gives me inspiration as a musician, and as a cellist. I have followed his music from Sesame Street, to the Inauguration of President Obama, to duets with some of my favorite rising musicians, like Andrew Bird. Yo-yo Ma is inspiring to me because he is so open-minded to: different genres of music, collaborating with new and rising musicians, and I am sure he would be open-minded about exploring the healing possibilities music can offer to the world today.

Enjoy the concert Lauren!  We hope it brings you much joy and inspiration.

We also have an honorable mention.  Because of his very clever poem, we're giving Matt and his wife two free tickets to attend Joshua Bell on November 13-14.  (That concert's also approaching a sell-out.)  Here's the poem:
 

There was once Matt trying to impress his mate,
He was quite the average fellow,
So he planned this fantastic date,
To see his wife drool over some dude on a cello.
Little did he know it was the Yo-Yo Ma show,
An evening at the Indianapolis Symphony,
And tickets are sold out! “On No!"
So please help Matt through your empathy.
Two tickets would surely make my night.
Hearing the Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor,
From Yo-Yo Ma would be quite the sight,
And would really make my date finer.

And finally we have great news for everyone who submitted a comment.  We're going to give you all a pair of free tickets to the premiere performance of Symphonic Hits on October 16-17 featuring Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and piano powerhouse Garrick Ohlsson.  We'll email you all in a few days with the details.

Thanks to everyone who participated and keep on reading our blog!



 

It’s nice to have an announcement like this when a season is complete:

Headline: 

INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY SETS NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD AT MARSH SYMPHONY ON THE PRAIRIE

Copy:

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra announced that it set a new all-time attendance record of 107,281 for its Marsh Symphony on the Prairie season of outdoor concerts this summer, exceeding the previous mark of 107,245 set in 1999.  (We beat it by 36 people!)

·        Total season attendance of 107,281, the largest full-season crowd to attend the series.

·        Attendance Tops 100,000 Mark for Only 2^nd Time in 28-Year History of Outdoor Series

·        Single night attendance record for a Pops concert featuring the ISO with 8,145 people enjoying the Classical Mystery Tour Beatles Tribute program on Aug. 1

·        Second largest non-July 4 weekend attendance of 14,304 July 31-Aug 1, just missing the all-time record of 14,829 (Aug. 27-29, 1999 - Big Band)

·        Fourth largest single concert attendance of 12,291 on July 3

Although we are proud of our milestones, the Prairie season is more than just facts, figures and statistics. There are stories to tell. Here is just a sample of what occurred this season:

Happy Anniversary!

Symphony on the Prairie emcee Scott Hoke surprised Paul and Georgia Bradley when he announced from the stage on Aug. 29 that the couple was celebrating 80 years of marriage. Yes, that’s right. 80 years. The crowd roared and gave Paul and Georgia a standing ovation. According to a source, the young couple brought their own flask to toast to another 80 years.

I’ve Never Won Anything in my Life”

Our very own Tim Northcutt, associate director of communications, tagged Debra Fleetwood from New Palestine as our 100,000^th patron to enter the gates on Saturday, September 5.  Fleetwood received a certificate for two Value Packs (each containing 10 tickets) to the 2010 Series, a $100 Gift Card from Marsh Supermarkets, and the ISO will donate two seven-concert Lilly Classical Series subscriptions to a local charitable organization in her name. Her party was escorted to a reserved table near the front of the amphitheater where they enjoyed the concert by the River City Brass Band and a fireworks finale in this final weekend of the summer season (see photo below). According to Tim, Debra proclaimed that she had “never won anything in her life.”

Rented Heaters…in July?

One of the coldest evenings in memory occurred during the classical music concert weekend. Evening temperatures hovered around 58-60 degrees. The operations team ordered heaters for the musicians on stage…in the middle of July!

A Day in the Life (of a Faux Beatle)

Jim Owen, one of the two original members of the Beatles tribute band, Classical Mystery Tour, currently plays the role of John Lennon, though he hasn’t always been confined to John’s duties at the piano, guitar and microphone.  Up until the late 90s or so, he usually played the part of George Harrison.  When the Classical Mystery Tour group performed for the ISO in winter 2006 on stage at the HCT, Jim’s previous experience performing as George proved fortunate.  Tom Teeley, the current George Harrison (and the other original member of CMT), was leaving a local restaurant and slipped on a patch of ice and broke his right wrist the day of a concert.  Luckily, due to Jim Owen’s previous experience as George, he and Tom Teeley switched guitars during the performance so that the difficult electric guitar solos could be played more easily.  Tom has never forgotten Indianapolis.

Anything for You Dad

For our second concert at Prairie on June 26-27, excerpts from the Harry Potter books were read by narrator Constance Macy.  However, the excerpts did not come with the music. Conductor Alfred Savia’s own daughter, Julia – a self-proclaimed expert on the Harry Potter series – carefully studied the music excerpts her father had chosen and appropriately chose the script that would be read by the narrator during the show. 

Four Score and Seven Years Ago

Dean Dorrell, our Abraham Lincoln impersonator from the July 2-4 concerts, has been a frequent visitor to the Prairie stage.  Typically he arrives several hours before the concert, sits in his dressing room in his full Lincoln garb, and reads the latest biography on the President he so uncannily resembles.  Standing one inch taller than Abe, Mr. Dorrell also keeps a copy of many of Lincoln’s speeches in his top hat (as Lincoln did), and has nearly all of his speeches memorized.  He can be seen all over Midwest visiting schools, libraries, concerts and other celebratory functions honoring our 16^th President.  And he does this on the side!  Personally, he is a very quiet, gentle and generous man.  (See photo below – Dean Dorrell as Abraham Lincoln, moments before reciting the Gettysburg Address to a crowd of more than 10,000)

How Does He Do That?

Some audience members may have been to the Rockapella show and heard the amazing sounds coming from Jeff Thacher, the group’s “percussionist.”  What they may not have seen is how he makes these sounds.  He attaches two small microphones to either side of his vocal chords with surgical tape, and is able to create the low “bass-drum” kicks with his throat, without moving his lips.  Only then does he put a normal microphone to his mouth to make the more consonant, percussive sounds.  Quite often he can make two different sounds at once – one with his throat, and one with his mouth.

Three Degrees of Separation

Larry O’Brien, the current leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, performed with the band in the 60s, when Ray McKinley was the leader.  Ray played with Glenn Miller in the Air Force band and acted as its unofficial leader after Miller disappeared in December 1944. 

It’s Still the 21^st Century, You Know

Glynnis Campbell, the wife of America’s bass player Rich Campbell, is a published novelist (under the pseudonym Sarah McKerrigan) with 10 books on the shelf so far in her career.  She concentrates on writing fiction set within historical contexts, usually taking place between 1100-1500 England and Scotland.  She studies the culture, music and even clothing fabrics to make sure that her stories don’t contain any anachronisms.  She delves herself into the time period so that it’s nearly second-nature to her.  That is, according to her husband, until her cell phone goes off.

Happy 09.09.09!

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra turns over its stage to other musical ensembles in August and early September during Marsh Symphony on the Prairie. During this period, our Symphony musicians take a much-needed, well-deserved break away from their year-round schedule.

So, we’re sometimes asked… where are the ISO musicians during this time and what are they up to?  Here's a sample!

“[Our vacation plans are] certainly not exotic -- we plan to stay in Indy, work on cleaning up/organizing our home 3/4's of the time, exploring Indy and environs the other 1/4.   Plans include State Fair (seriously...), Baden Springs, and some new restaurants in Indy and Bloomington.  This may not be exciting to you, but it's very exciting to us!”

-Bev and Sylvia Scott

Beverly Scott, Assistant Principal Viola

Sylvia Scott, frequent ISO pianist

“Our family went to St. Joseph, Michigan, for a week. We also are going to Chicago for the weekend. But we have mostly stayed at home this summer.”

-Ruth Boerner, viola

“I will be composing during the break.”  www.jimbeckelmusic.com

-Jim Beckel

Principal Trombone & Composer*

*Don’t miss Jim’s world premiere piece In the Mind’s Eye: Images for Horns and Orchestra in concerts on May 14 and 15, 2009.

“My husband, John, and I will be taking our children to college at the end of August. First to return to school will be Katherine, just back from an archaeological dig in Athens where she found an ancient cooking pot.  She will be a senior at Washington University in St. Louis. Then Amy and David head east.  Amy is just completing a summer at a biological research center in Maine, and will return to Swarthmore College to continue working on her bachelor's degree in biochemistry.  David, proud of his Indiana roots, is making a Yale corn-hole set to take to school.  He has high hopes of learning to play the carillon at Yale, which happily has a silent practice keyboard as well as the one which activates the giant bells in Harkness Tower.  I am occupied practicing viola and piano, teaching viola lessons, and sewing on buttons!”

-Terry Langdon, viola

“I'll be traveling to New York City to attend the National Flute Association’s annual convention with my husband, George Evans. (My teacher, William Bennett, will be performing at the convention-- he's also traveling from London to Indianapolis in November for a masterclass and recital Nov 4 & 5.) While we’re in NYC, we’re attending a concert at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. Other than that long weekend, I'll be at home working on my book, “Flute for Dummies,” which will be coming out in December of this year.”

-Karen Evans Moratz

Principal Flute

“My husband’s brother used to play professional basketball in the NBA....for the Portland Trailblazers.  He runs a youth basketball camp in Portland, and my husband and I will be going out to work at it.  Norm will coach, and I'll run the concession stand.  (Whoopee!!!)  It will give us a nice chance to visit with family.  We'll earn a small salary....enough to cover our airfare.....so we plan to go out a week early and drive over to the Pacific coast.  I'm a photographer, and I plan to come home with some great pictures of the Oregon coast.”

-Christal Steele

Assistant Concertmaster

“I will be heading out to the Northwest to visit family in Spokane, Washington, and in north Idaho (Hayden and Post Falls). My sister and I plan to bike the section of the Hiawatha Trail that crosses the Idaho panhandle. We also are going to spend a few days at Hayden Lake, ID.”

-Nancy Agres, viola

“I’ve spent time racing on such races as the Port Huron to Mackinac Race onboard a 50-foot raceboat called Goblin. We finished 3rd in our section and 13th in our division.  I also raced a regatta in Harbor Springs Michigan on Goblin.   I will be on a boat 47-foot sailboat called Big Country for the Tri-State Regatta which is a three-day, three-state regatta over Labor Day weekend.  We race from Chicago to St. Joseph, Michigan, then from St. Joseph to Michigan City, Indiana, then race back to Chicago. Happy Sailing!”

-Rick Graef

Assistant Principal Horn