ISO presents Beethoven’s Fifth & Thibaudet plays Gershwin

Featuring conductor Jun Märkl & pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, June 21 & 22

Superstar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Gershwin’s jazzy Piano Concerto in F. The concert also includes Hannah Kendall’s The Spark Catchers, a new piece composed in 2017. The season ends with Fate knocking on the door one more time when the newly appointed music director of the ISO Jun Märkl conducts Beethoven’s immortal Fifth Symphony.

Arrive 50 minutes prior to the concert start time to hear Words on Music, a behind-the-scenes conversation about the music.

Click here to buy tickets to the concert. Performances begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 21 and at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.

For more information regarding the policies of the Hilbert Circle Theatre, please click here.

About Jun Märkl
Jun Märkl will assume his duties as Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in September 2024, having previously acted as the ISO’s Artistic Advisor from 2021 to 2024.

This new appointment celebrates the culmination of Mr. Märkl’s nearly 25-year-long collaboration with the ISO. Märkl currently serves as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, as Principal Guest Conductor of the Oregon Symphony, and was recently named Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague beginning with the 2025-2026 season.

Maestro Märkl is a highly respected interpreter of both symphonic and operatic Germanic repertoire, and for his idiomatic explorations of the French impressionists. His long-standing relationships with the great opera houses and orchestras of Europe have been highlighted by his leadership as General Music Director of the National Theater Mannheim (1994-2000), and as Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon (2005-2011), the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig (2007-2012) and the Basque National Orchestra (2014-2017). He has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de Paris in Europe, the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony in North America, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, and the Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia among many others.

About Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Over the course of three decades, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has performed worldwide, recorded more than 50 albums, and built a reputation as one of today’s finest pianists. From the start of his career, he delighted in music beyond the standard repertoire, from jazz to opera, which he transcribed himself to play on the piano. His profound professional friendships crisscross the globe and have led to spontaneous and fruitful collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art.

Thibaudet has a lifelong passion for education and fostering young musical talent. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he makes his home. In 2017, the school announced the Jean-Yves Thibaudet Scholarships, funded by members of Colburn’s donor community, to provide aid for Music Academy students, whom Thibaudet selects for the merit-based awards, regardless of their instrument choice.

Click here to learn more about Jean-Yves Thibaudet.