Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

In my youth I was a bit intimidated by wine and by orchestra music. One must be very knowledgeable to attend a symphony or a wine tasting, I thought. Oh, how wrong I was. Sure, a little knowledge is a good thing, but the best way to learn about wine or music is to dive in and sample it, preferably together in my book. Enter Symphony on the Prairie — a lovely way to relax with close friends, share a picnic (go all out, or bring in a pizza) and listen to Indy’s classy Symphony Orchestra while sipping your adult beverage of choice.
Picnicking not your thing? The symphony offers lots of other fun events:
Yuletide Celebration is a Christmas extravaganza with music, song, dancing and other performances. Save room for a Christmas cookie and a glass of bubbly at intermission.
Or try the summer lunch series. At $ 5.00 a ticket it is an inexpensive way to hear great music on your lunch break. And yes, you can pack a lunch and eat it during the performance.
Lastly, the Happy Hour series is just plain fun. I highly recommend it for youngish professionals… it is not your grandmas symphony for sure!

Over the Indy bar scene and looking for a more sophisticated night out? This is your answer.
I’ve attended many of the Classical Pops series concerts and most recently, attended the Happy Hour at the Symphony featuring Time for Three, an amazing violin, viola, bass trio, accompanied by the ISO (which is what I’ll review here).
Kids, this Happy Hour is seriously fantastic. Tickets are $ 25 a piece (½ price for Forte members) and include a variety of appetizers/​desserts (served by local restaurants such as Adobo Grill and Harry and Izzy’s), cocktail samples, and 4oz. beer pours of four varieties featured by Stella Artois. Audience is primarily young professionals, dressed semi dressy/​business causal given Happy Hour starts immediately after work at 5pm.
The venue is like I’d never seen it before– super vibrant, energetic, nearly club-​like (wait a sec, this is the ISO, right??)… But really.
The performance — amazing. This particular Happy Hour was a 55-​minute mix of classical music interlaced with hits from today and generations past — Stand By Me, Sam Smith’s I’m Not the Only One, Stairway to Heaven, etc.
Overall, awesome event and definitely one that young professionals in Indy should check out. (Great date night idea, fellas. Score some points. You’re welcome.)

Our small city is fortunate to count the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra among its residents. The ISO actively promotes new means for exposing Hoosiers to classical music drawing in some who may otherwise never attend. In its Back to the Future feature — appropriately on 2015’s Back to the Future Day — the audience was treated to a viewing of the first installment of the movie alongside its live melodies. The themed event was complete with costumes, a DeLorean, and «Martini McFly» cocktails. Their summertime series offers a short set and a venue to eat lunch for just $ 5. They also travel around the Indy suburbs over the summer for various Symphonies in the Park where classical music sets are performed to a sea of lawn chairs, blankets, and coolers, and end with the Star Spangled Banner and a finale complete with fireworks. Although I mention them last, I was initially drawn to the ISO by their Artists-​in-​Residence, Time for Three, a string trio that puts a bluegrass/​rock twist on classical music. Go see one of their productions at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

You MUST (I repeat: MUST) get yourself to see IPL’s Yuletide Celebration each December. This year was the 30^th anniversary and I’m sorry to report it was only my first time going. Why have I been missing out on this classic Indy holiday tradition for so long?
The lobby is festive with a monumental (#puns) Christmas tree and organist playing tunes, as well as Christmas mascots roaming about taking selfies with kids. You can pet a reindeer outside Hilbert Circle Theatre before showtime, too!
From start to finish, this was an incredible production. It wasn’t too long (a little over two hours with intermission) and had a nice variety of Broadway pizzazz and slower songs. Each performer is high caliber and can sing, dance, and act with ease. Oh, and those costumes! Where can I get one?
Sandi Patty is an energetic host, accompanied by the ISO and Jack Everly. Expect traditional renditions of songs like O Holy Night but some newer arrangements (Jingle Bells) to add some spice to the performance. This year’s highlights for me were Yuletide Jukebox, the Frozen medley, and of course the one and only tap-​dancing Santas!
My toes were tapping the whole time and I left in awe of the divine musical talent of this cast. What a treat it was to spend an evening at the ISO and get in the holiday spirit!

We just watched ISO’s production of Back to the Future. It was an amazing experience. You could see the joy on the musician’s faces as they played the score.

ISO is a true asset to the city. They play a wide range of music at a numbers of venues across the city. Whether they are playing at their home base of the Hilbert Circle Theatre or Conner Prairie for symphony on the prairie it is always a good show. Time for Three during Happy Hour is a must see.

Was fortunate enough to attend the 2015 – 2016 preview concert and was reminded of why I like the ISO so much! First of all, just walking into the Circle Hilbert Theater can be an event in itself. The architecture and artistry of the of the building is worth seeing alone. The range from classical pieces to movie themes performed by the symphony provides a strong variety for all tastes in music. Throw in a libation available from the lobby bar, and we’ve got ourselves a very entertaining and enjoyable evening. Come on, support the arts!

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is a great place to go when you just need to relax and enjoy some beautiful music in a beautiful setting. Inside the venue was absolutely gorgeous. The music resonated well, no matter where you sat. The musicians really do enjoy their craft and the sound and the enthusiasm they play really shows. If you have younger family members or friends, then the Pop series would be a perfect way to introduce them to the wonders of the Symphony. Symphony on the Prairie is also another avenue to introduce those not familiar with the sounds and beauty of the symphony.
I introduced the symphony to my children through there Black History program in February. A great free program, the Black History program offers up great sounds in not only the Symphony but in Opera and gospel Choir. It has shone light on an area of music often considered elite.

Brittany sent me a heads up about free tickets to see the ISO preview of the upcoming 2015 – 2016 season. We tried out a few seats but settled on the center upper balcony. Beautiful venue for the best symphony around. It was nice to look down on them to view the entire group. So many times we are on blankets just looking at the string players in the first row. It looks to be a good season and we may go see the tribute to our planets which features 2001 space odyssey.

Words can’t describe my appreciation for this symphony, and I’m not just talking about the ever popular Happy Hours (which I’m also a fan of). There’s just a lot of heart and talent here, and every show they’ve put on that I’ve had the pleasure of attending was an absolute dream. I’m constantly trying to influence people I know who haven’t been to show here to come along with me (as I often attend solo), and thankfully I’m very persuasive because they always end up loving the ISO as much as I do. Dress up, get some champagne, and indulge in some culture and class. Highly recommended.

Just saw the performance at Conner prairie and it was THE highlight of my day! I have seen/​heard them perform before and loved it. I am a big music lover and could not have been more impressed with the music they played for this July 4^th symphony celebration. Wonderful music! Made me really capture the «American pride» and made a memorable moment! Thank you, to all musicians in the orchestra! Your hard work and talent should be highly rewarded!

The venue is beautiful and the music never disappoints. I love the lounge area during intermissions and after performances. The champagne/​truffle offerings during intermission are a must do!

This is a review for the ISO Happy Hours. The lines for food and drinks have been consistently been getting longer. It’s to the point that it takes longer than 30 minutes to get 1 drink and a couple of appetizers (3 – 4 bites total). So, the ticket price is essentially for a 1 hour performance, 1 drink, and maybe a small sized plate of food.

This was our first trip to the Indianapolis Symphony, and we were very impressed. We saw a few empty seats, but overall the place was very full on a Saturday evening. We came to see Tchaikovsky’s Fifth featuring Han-​Na Chang and Vadym Kholodenko. Our hope is that cultural experiences like this will resonate with our 12-​year-​old son, who is a very good piano player. After having listed to this performance, he came home and played all night.

Very impressive! I wasn’t expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. In fact, at the Christmas special I was blown away. They had gingerbread and sugar cookies, hot chocolate, hot apple cider and wine for purchase.
The ISO even gave us free tickets to the event! We tweeted, won a contest and got to enjoy the evening for free! Our seats were mid-​to-​rear in the left section and the view was great! In fact, I don’t know if there’s a bad seat in the house.

Hard to believe that NO ONE has reviewed the ISO? I guess since it’s not a restaurant…
Went to the Saturday performance of the Russian Midwinter Festival, and the place was packed. I did not see many empty seats. It is great that the ISO thought to include Unilocal in their social media campaign, we are a very sophisticated group eh?
So this concert was billed as Scheherazade and yes that was the crowning achievement of the night. I thought the Russian Overture was not to be overlooked. A little quirky but if you read about it’s history it makes sense.
Theater is fantastic and well maintained and with great parking in the Express parking garage, full bar for intermission, a great evening.