ISO welcomes conductor Gemma New & violinist Geneva Lewis for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

Also featuring music by young, gifted composer Alissa Firsova & popular “Enigma Variations” by Elgar

Join the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) and conductor Gemma New for a program that celebrates love and friendship.

Tchaikovsky’s only Violin Concerto, one of the most popular concertos of all time, was a collaborative labor of love between the composer and his student, the violinist Iosif Kotek. In Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the composer depicts his closest friends and loved ones in each of its 14 variations. The program begins with Alissa Firsova’s Bride of the Wind, inspired by Oskar Kokoschka’s tempestuous affair with Alma Mahler following the death of her husband, Gustav.

Concerts are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. Click here to purchase tickets.

Program 

• Die Windsbraut (Bride of the Wind), 38 – Alissa Firsova
• Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35 – Piotr Tchaikovsky
• Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 (“Enigma”) – Edward Elgar

About Gemma New

Known for her “unique sensitivity and a heightened attention to detail and texture” (The Washington Post) and “programming prowess” (Vancouver Sun), New Zealand-born Gemma New (ONZM) is Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and a highly sought-after guest conductor worldwide. She is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2024.

In her third season as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New conducts a string of fall 2024 performances in Wellington, Hastings, Auckland, and Christchurch, featuring Lyell Cresswell’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and the New Zealand premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Asteroid in the NZSO program The Planets: Elgar & Holst, also spotlighting violinist Christian Tetzlaff in a performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto.

Among her recent season highlights, New made subscription debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony and Orchestre National de France. In May 2024 she led two acclaimed programs after stepping in on short notice with the San Francisco Symphony, where she made her subscription debut, and with the Seattle Symphony. Her 2024 summer highlights included an engagement with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where she led the world premiere performances of Huang Ruo’s City of Floating Sounds, and a return to The BBC Proms for a second straight year with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

About Geneva Lewis

Kiwi/American violinist Geneva Lewis has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Lauded for “remarkable mastery of her instrument” (CVNC) and hailed as “clearly one to watch” (Musical America), she is the recipient of a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Additional accolades include Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize, being named a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, and Musical America’s New Artist of the Month. Most recently, she was named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists.

An advocate of community engagement and music education, Lewis was selected for the New England Conservatory’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program’s Ensemble Fellowship, through which her string quartet created interactive educational programs for audiences throughout Boston. Her quartet was also chosen for the Virginia Arts Festival Residency, during which they performed and presented masterclasses in elementary, middle, and high schools.

Lewis received her Artist Diploma and Bachelor of Music as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory, studying with Miriam Fried. Prior to that, she studied with Aimée Kreston at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. She is currently studying at Kronberg Academy with Professor Mihaela Martin. These studies are funded by the Strauss Family Patronage. Past summers have taken her to the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Workshop, International Holland Music Sessions, Taos School of Music, and the Heifetz International Music Institute.