Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Joined by Pianist Garrick Ohlsson at Sept. 29 DePauw Concert

September 23, 2013

For the opening concert of its 2013-14 Guest Artist Series, the DePauw University School of Music presents the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson. The Sunday, Sept. 29 performance will take place at 3 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium of the Green Center for the Performing Arts. ISO music director Krzysztof Urbański will conduct.

Ohlsson joins the ISO on the first half of the concert for Fryderyk Chopin’s First Piano Concerto, a virtuosic piece that encapsulates the composer’s Romantic spirit at its best. The program is paired with Sergei Prokofiev’s heroic and emotional Fifth Symphony.

Since his triumphant 1970 win of the Chopin International Piano Competition, Ohlsson, a student of the late Claudio Arrau, has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Chopin, he commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature, and is noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire.

Currently in his third season as music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, the youngest person ever to lead a major North American orchestra, recently extended his commitment as the artistic leader of the orchestra through the 2017-18 season. The seventh music director of the Indianapolis Symphony began his tenure with the ISO in September 2011. Urbański, now 30, graduated from the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw in 2007. In the same year, he was the unanimous First Prize Winner of the Prague Spring International Conducting Competition.

The dynamic Polish-born conductor considers directing an American orchestra a fulfillment of his life’s dreams. “With still so much to accomplish, the decision to stay felt right to me,” says Urbański. “This orchestra is filled with great talent, and this city loves the music that we make. It’s an honor for me to continue as artistic leader and be a part of this orchestra’s future.”

Urbański’s performances with the ISO have garnered both significant critical and audience acclaim. The Los Angeles Times reported that he “gives off a dashing rock star vibe and resembles a young Herbert von Karajan on the podium.” The German daily Die Welt essays that “with gentlemen like him, classical music is heading for a safe future: a wizard of music, young, but with a serious approach to the artistic ethos, the Maestro conquered the hearts of the orchestra and the audience alike.”

Due to public enthusiasm and demand in Greencastle, Urbański and the ISO are returning to the campus of DePauw University for two Sunday performances this season, on September 29 and again on February 9, 2014.

As ISO concerts often sell out, the box office is encouraging people to get tickets now. General admission is $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the concert. Tickets for all students, children, and seniors over 65 are free. For additional information or assistance, drop by the Green Center box office, (noon–4 p.m. and 6–8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon–4 p.m. on Friday and Sunday), visit www.depauw.edu/music/tickets, or call (765) 658-4827.

For anyone who would like to attend a DePauw School of Music performance and who is unable to pay the general admission price for adults, there is also a "Pay-What-You-Can" option available. If purchasing tickets online, click on the "Purchase Tickets" link next to the preferred date and proceed to check-out. The "Pay-What-You-Can" option is found on the checkout page. It is also available on request at the Green Center box office (605 S. College Avenue) to any patron who requests it.

Learn more about pianist Garrick Ohlsson here.

Back