Upcoming Concerts Indianapolis

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.

This month and last - teachers from all over Central Indiana are learning what Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 has to do with the Three Little Pigs.  What?!? You Ask? 

Well, each year over 25,000 students attend the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Young People's Discovery Concerts where they "discover" the exciting sounds of the symphony.  Historically, these Discovery concerts are many people's first trip to the symphony.  In fact, over a million people have attended these concerts over the decades and it's not unusual for me to hear stories from adult symphony goers saying their first trip to the ISO was as a child on a school field trip!

This year's program, "Musical Storytelling", features several programmatic works - meaning music representing characters, ideas or stories.  Examples include Mozart and Bernstein overtures (aka, musical abbreviations of the full length works) of The Marriage of Figaro and West Side Story.  The penultimate work on the program is The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky based on the Russian folktales of the magical bird.

Oddly, Brahms' Scherzo from Symphony No. 4 appears on this "Musical Storytelling" concert.  An example of absolute music, or rather, music that tells no story nor conveys an idea, this piece may appear out of place.  I sat in the first of two teacher workshops to specifically see how master teacher, Lisa Sullivan was going to connect this piece to the program's theme.  Little did I know, I was in for a treat.

Well, you all know the story of the three little pigs, the houses and the recurring theme of "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!" I'll admit that when I think of the Scherzo from Brahms' 4th symphony, a nursery story is far from my mind... alas, no longer!  She assigned themes from the movement to very parts of the story: the wolf, the pigs, the huff and puff and the celebration at the end.  Extracting and downloading these themes and pictures onto her computer, she used PowerPoint to tell the story.  The story version she chose to tell was Yo, Hungry Wolf (A Nursery Rap) by Davis Vozar (ISBN 0-440-40953-5). 

The storytelling was delightful, but what ensued next was truly memorable.  Teachers were introduced to rhythmic words created by Lisa and divided into groups.  Each group was assigned the task of creating movements truly worthy of a child's rap. We had a ball!!  

Check out the video below of what the teachers created.
<<<<<< >>>>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoZQRRUFnMM

Now, my favorite parts of this movement will always be the recurring ding-a-linging of the triangle, but I will definitely be listening to Brahms' work a little differently now.  Next time you listen to the piece, see if you can make out the themes representing the wolf, pigs or celebration.

I also challenge you to add a comment to this post and let us know about your first trip to the ISO.  Was it on a school field trip like the Young People's Discovery Concert??

Below is a link to more information about this upcoming program.  The next teacher workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan 5.
http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/learningcommunity/elementary/discovery 
 

I couldn't choose just one thing to write about this week. 

Win Joshua Bell's New CD!

Joshua Bell, world renowned violinist, Hoosier native and our guest artist for this weekend, has just been named the 2010 "Instrumentalist of the Year" by Musical America.  The Indianapolis Star's Jay Harvey recently blogged about his upcoming appearance with the ISO.  

We also have a free copy of Josh’s new CD, At Home with Friends, ready to give away.  Just post your favorite Joshua Bell moment, concert, performance or experience in this blog, and we'll select a winner on Friday at noon!

Congratulations Gabriela

Congratulations to ISO composer-in-residence, Gabriela Lena Frank, for winning a 2009 Latin Grammy Award in the category of "Best Classical Contemporary Composition" for her piece, Inca Dances! 

Give the Gift of Yuletide

The Indianapolis Symphony is proud to partner with the Children’s Bureau, an organization that sponsors families in need each year during the holidays.  As part of the gift packages for these families, you can donate $10 Duke Energy Yuletide Celebration tickets.  Click here to learn more.

Florence Henderson Performs with the ISO Nov. 20-22

It’s commonly known that Florence Henderson is a native Hoosier (and one of our favorite TV moms).  However, did you know:

Florence can be found as part of the “Global Indiana” exhibit at the Indiana State Museum?  See her picture here among other famous Hoosiers.

Florence’s voice can be heard each year at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500 race:  here’s a clip of her performance of “God Bless America” in 2005.

The town of Dale, Indiana (population: 1,500) is Florence’s hometown.  Did you know?  Abraham Lincoln grew up on a farm nearby.