INDIANA — The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will continue their artistic partnership this September with two conducting masterclasses and a concert featuring ISO Music Director Jun Märkl and pianist Spencer Myer. Myer is Professor of Piano and Chair of the Piano Department at the IU Jacobs School of Music, where he was named a recipient of the 2024 Trustees Teaching Award.
On September 24, Märkl and Myer will lead a conducting masterclass with students from the Jacobs School of Music orchestral conducting program. Centered on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, the masterclass will give conducting students the opportunity to work directly with a professional orchestra and receive coaching from Märkl and Myer.
Later that evening, Märkl, Myer, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will perform at IU’s Musical Arts Center. The program will feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
The collaboration reflects the longstanding relationship between the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and provides opportunities for students to engage directly with professional orchestral musicians and conductors.
The partnership began earlier this month, when Märkl worked with Jacobs conducting students and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on September 17 in a conducting masterclass featuring selections from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Students conducted the orchestra in a professionally recorded session while receiving coaching from Märkl.
“We are pleased to continue building opportunities for Jacobs students to work alongside the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and our artistic leadership,” said Jonathan Martin, interim chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. “These experiences allow students to connect their academic training with the realities of working with a professional orchestra.”
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will be performing The Rite of Spring and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 on Friday, September 25, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, September 26, at 5:30 p.m., at Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis.
For more information about the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, visit indianapolissymphony.org. For more information about the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, visit music.indiana.edu.
