Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
The largest performing arts group in the U.S. state of Indiana, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has experienced strong success with audiences, performing some 200 concerts yearly for crowds of about 350,000 people. The orchestra's reach became international early on, and its more than three-dozen recordings have gained wide distribution in both the classical and pops fields. Younger than other big-city American orchestras, the Indianapolis Symphony was founded in 1930 by Ferdinand Schaefer, a German-born violin teacher. At first composed of volunteers who split the income from ticket sales, the orchestra rapidly became better established, and by 1937 was a fully professional group. That year, Fabien Sevitzky, a nephew of Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitzky, took over as music director and raised the orchestra's profile significantly, organizing national radio broadcasts and a series of recordings on the RCA Victor and Capitol labels. His successor, Izler Solomon, conducted government-connected "salute" concerts -- outdoor pops concerts still offered in the Indianapolis area -- in countries around the world. Music director John Nelson (1976-1987) took the orchestra to Carnegie Hall in New York and to Europe for its first full-scale tour. At home, Nelson installed the orchestra in its present home, the Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis. The orchestra's first non-American conductor was England's Raymond Leppard (1987-2001, and continuing to perform as Conductor Laureate), who strengthened the group's European connections with two more tours and founded Indianapolis on the Air, a weekly broadcast syndicated to as many as 250 radio stations. Krzysztof Urbanski became the orchestra's seventh music director in 2011; at the time he was the youngest music director of any major American orchestra. The Indianapolis Symphony returned to the recording studio, issuing the large cantata Zabur by American composer Mohammed Fairouz on the Naxos label in 2016. The following year, they backed Marc-André Hamelin on Claude Baker: Piano Concerto and other works. In addition to its downtown series, the orchestra mounts a successful suburban pops series in the summer; its pops conductors have included Erich Kunzel (concurrently with his long tenure at the Cincinnati Pops) and Jack Everly.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Elgar Cello Concerto
Zuill Bailey, Krzysztof Urbański, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on Jan 5, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto
Zuill Bailey, Jun Märkl, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Telarc on Jan 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Dreams - Romantic American Masterpieces
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Apr 30, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Muhly: Cello Concerto - Bloch: Schelomo & 3 Jewish Poems
Zuill Bailey, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Jun Märkl
Classical - Released by Steinway and Sons on Jan 13, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony #1
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by New World Records on Jan 1, 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Claude Baker: Piano Concerto "From Noon to Starry Night" & Aus Schwanengesang (Live)
Marc-André Hamelin, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Juanjo Mena, Gilbert Varga
Classical - Released by Naxos on Oct 13, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Martin Loeffler : Orchestral Works
Jennie Hansen, Neil Rosenshein
Classical - Released by New World Records on Jan 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms, Dvorák & Rachmaninoff
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Serge Rachmaninoff
World - Released by Altair on Jun 26, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glazunov, Gershwin, Schumann & Beethoven
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Wilhelm Backhaus
Symphonic Music - Released by Altair on Jun 19, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Ljadov & Tchaikovsky
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Altair on May 23, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mohammed Fairouz: Zabur
Michael Kelly, Dann Coakwell, Indianapolis Children's Choir, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Eric Stark
Classical - Released by Naxos on Oct 14, 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov & Tchaikovsky: Russlan and Ludmilla - Dubinushka - Baba Yaga Waltz from Eugene Onegin - Manfred
Fabien Sevitzky, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on Dec 1, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo