Indianapolis Symphony Releases New Classical Holiday CD

INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF NEWEST HOLIDAY COMPACT DISC, A CHRISTMAS GREETING, BY RAYMOND LEPPARD

ISO’Äôs First Classical Holiday Recording Features Soprano Elizabeth Futral

INDIANAPOLIS ’Äì The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate Raymond Leppard announced the release of the Orchestra’Äôs limited edition recording of holiday classical works, English folksongs and Medieval carols that have been performed in the ISO’Äôs annual Classical Christmas concerts over the past ten years. The disc, which was recorded in June at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, is the tenth recording by the Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Leppard and the 39^th album in the ISO’Äôs rich recording history that dates back to 1941. This recording was made possible through the generous support of Christel DeHaan and The Christel DeHaan Family Foundation and donors to the ISO’Äôs Maestro Society and Conductor Laureate Endowment Fund.

The nine works featured on this compact disc span nearly 400 years of music, from Medieval times to the early 20^th century, were all orchestrated or adapted for chamber orchestral performance by Maestro Leppard, who is internationally renowned as a musician, conductor, composer, arranger, and music scholar and has earned numerous honors for his artistry, including five Grammy Awards and the esteemed Edison Prize, among others. The classical works include Sir Edward Elgar’Äôs A Christmas Greeting, Joachim Raff’Äôs Lullaby from the Octet for Strings featuring lyrics by Leppard and sung by soprano Elizabeth Futral, and Claudio Monteverdi’Äôs Currite populi: In Praise of St. Nicholas sung by tenor Alan Bennett.

Other traditional folksongs and Medieval carols that have been arranged by Leppard include A Child’Äôs Christmas by Peter Cornelius and Past Three O’ÄôClock: A Sequence of Carols, both featuring Miss Futral as soloist, Percy Grainger’Äôs The Sussex Mummer’Äôs Carol that spotlights ISO Principal Horn Robert Danforth, Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day with baritone Kenneth Pereira, the Fantasia on Old Words and Tunes for Christmas with soprano Carolina Castells and mezzo-soprano Julie Grindle, and the Medieval carol Angelus ad Virginem with baritone Adam Ewing. All of the works feature the Apollo’Äôs Voice Chamber Chorus, who have performed in many of the annual Classical Christmas concerts over the past ten years under the direction of Jan Harrington.

Commenting on the disc, Leppard said, ’ÄúIn 1998 I created a new program for the Christmas season that was intended, in conjunction with the ISO, to complement the usual commercial holiday fare by offering perhaps a different way to consider the season. I’Äôve put together a variety of tunes that we have performed in these concerts over the past 10 years, some known and others not so well known, but all to do with Christmas and as with the gifts we give each other at this time, there may be a few delightful surprises.’Äù

The ISO’Äôs Classical Christmas compact disc is priced at $19 each, and are on sale now by visiting the Orchestra’Äôs Symphony Store at any ISO concert, or by ordering on-line at www.IndianapolisSymphony.org/store. In the future, other local outlets may carry the recording, and those locations will be announced in the future.