Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra – In 1930, a local violin professor Ferdinand Schaefer founded the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted until 1937. During Fabien Sevitsky’s tenure (1937-1955), the orchestra played a concert series during a twenty-week season, and all musicians were paid. In addition, the group made a series of recordings on RCA under Sevitsky and also played on CBS airwaves as well as the Mutual Radio networks. The next musical director Izler Solomon (1956-75) increased the orchestra’s reputation by taking them on national tours and helped the ISO win a U.S. State Department Award for their international salute concerts. While John Nelson (1976-1987) was at the helm, the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie series commenced in 1982, the same year that Erich Kunzel became the group’s first Principal Pops Conductor. Also of note, the orchestra moved into its present home at Hilbert Square Theatre in 1984. (The space had been a movie palace since 1916.) In 1987, British conductor Raymond Leppard took over as director and in 1994 established the Indianapolis-on-the-Air broadcasts, which are now picked up by 250 stations spread out over thirty-eight states. Under Leppard’s leadership, ISO began a fifty-two week season, made a series of recordings on the Koss Classics label, toured Europe in 1993 and 1997, and performed at Carnegie Hall in 1989 and 1991. Succeeding Leppard was Mario Venzago, who served from 2002 to 2009. The youngest director to be appointed is Krzysztof Urbański, who has been at the helm since 2011. Directed by current Pops Conductor Jack Everly (2002- ), the Duke Energy Yuletide Celebration concerts, established in 1986, have helped popularize the orchestra. Consisting of eighteen (each presented twice for a total of thirty-six concerts), the Lilly Classical series of the 2018-2019 season included an abundance of masterworks, modern compositions, and many first-class soloists, such as pianist Emanuel Ax, pianist André Watts, and violinist Julian Rachlin. Lastly, Hoosier native Robert Spano was one of the guest conductors.