ISO comes to celebrate 'Spring'

One hundred years ago, Igor Stravinksy’s “The Rite of Spring” nearly caused a riot. The Jacobs School of Music plans for next week to go much more smoothly.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert at 3 p.m. April 14 at the Musical Arts Center to celebrate the piece’s 100-year history.

“I’m delighted that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will once again head south to the IU Bloomington campus,” said Gary Ginstling, the orchestra’s new CEO, in a press release. “The ISO greatly values its association with the Jacobs School, and we see this concert as an opportunity to reconnect with its faculty, students and the general Bloomington community.”

At its 1913 debut show in Paris, the avant-garde nature of Stravinsky’s breakthrough work caused his audience to become physically uncomfortable. Its
experimental composition was one of the factors leading to The Rite of Spring’s acceptance and place as one of the 20th century’s most recorded works.

“It is always an event when the orchestra comes to IU, giving the community, our students and our faculty the opportunity to hear them in person and to interact with them,” Jacobs School Dean Gwyn Richards said. “It is so generous of them to fit such a concert into their crowded schedule and to share so freely of their gifts.”

The concert is free, and no tickets are required to attend.

— Jeff LaFave