ISO season: Cole Porter, Sandi Patty, Mario Venzago

The most surprising thing on the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s lineup isn’t the mix of classics and pops or the name of a guest violinist or pianist. Rather, it’s the return of former Music Director Mario Venzago who, now that the previous regime is largely gone, will be coming back to Indy to conduct a concert of Mahler and Schumann in November.

Current Music Director Krzysztof Urbanski will get the season started for an opening night concert Sept. 20 with violinist Hilary Hahn. He’ll stick around for more fall concerts, including Verdi’s “Requiem” in October. He’ll also be leading most of the winter and spring classical concerts, including a world premiere by Wojciech Kilar Feb. 28 to March 1, Stravinksy’s “The Firebird” in March, and Dvorak’s “New World” with violinist Joshua Bell in June.

On the pops front, we’ll get a screening of “Singin’ in the Rain” with live musical accompaniment, Ann-Hampton Callaway singing the Barbra Streisand songbook, and a world premiere concert version of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.” This year’s Yuletide Celebration will welcome back Sandi Patty as host with The von Trapps as special guests. The group will also stage an ISO-less concert during its stint here. Prepare to yodel.

And for something completely different, there’s April’s “Quantum: Music at the Frontier of Science,” a multimedia piece created by Edwin Outwater and the Institute of Quantum Computing.

See the full schedule here.

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