The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s blockbuster 2024–25 season continues, with performances from top names in classical music, award-winning Pops artists and innovative fusions, and the talented musicians of the ISO at the heart of it all. Conductor and composer Steve Hackman returns with two installments of his popular Uncharted Series at Hilbert Circle Theatre.
Bartók x Björk - Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. An exploration of the avant-garde and adventurous, synthesizing the music of two of the 20th century’s most ingenious musicians. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is fused with the music of Björk, selected from her first three albums: Debut, Post, and Homogenic. These two composers from different genres are beloved for similar reasons: their radical and colorful musical language, extremes of emotional expression, and thrilling modernism. Underscoring the fusion are the parallels between the narrative context of Bartók’s Concerto and the subjects of Björk’s songs; the ominous threats of war in the first movement with “Army of Me,” the second movement’s playful “Presentation of the Couples” with Björk’s “Human Behavior,” the heart-wrenching third movement Elegy with “All is Full of Love” and “Hyperballad,” the ambivalence of the Finale’s conclusion with “Play Dead,” and the exoticism of the folk melodies throughout the piece with “Hunter.” Three virtuoso female solo vocalists join the full orchestra.
Tchaikovsky x Drake - Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. A symphonic synthesis that blends the music of two composer-romanticists separated by almost a century. Twenty-two songs of Drake are woven into Tchaikovsky’s epic Fifth Symphony, as the lyrics of the former serve to advance the narrative program of the latter. We hear Drake’s melodies soaring in tandem with Tchaikovsky’s; his raps motoring almost impossibly with Tchaikovsky’s rhythmic figures; then vignettes of Drake’s music with Tchaikovsky’s motives and melodies superimposed over top. Every possibility of synthesis is joyfully and beautifully explored. The Drake selections range from his most popular hits (“God’s Plan,” “One Dance,” “Controlla,” “Nice For What,” “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “In My Feelings,” “Take Care,” and “Find Your Love”) to deep cuts (“Marvin’s Room,” “5AM in Toronto,” “Worst Behavior,” “Over My Dead Body,” “All Me”). Joining the ISO are three singers, one rapper, drummer and bassist; the piece truly alternates between a romantic orchestral sound and a contemporary hip-hop/classical fusion. Conductor/creator Steve Hackman also plays piano for several interludes and segments.
TICKETS AND FULL SCHEDULE: Purchase tickets by visiting IndianapolisSymphony.org, by phone at 317-639-4300, by mail, or in person at the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box Office.