Carmel Symphony Orchestra presents Symphonic Odyssey

On Saturday, April 18, at 7 p.m., the Carmel Symphony Orchestra (CSO) wraps up its 2025 – 2026 season with a journey through four exciting and meaningful works for a full symphony orchestra. The night will include pieces by Antonín Dvořák, Cristina Spinei, Gustav Mahler and Felix Mendelssohn. The CSO will be under the direction of guest conductor Kelly Corcoran. The concert will be at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts.

The full repertoire will include:

– Antonín Dvořák – Carnival Overture, op. 92

– Cristina Spinei – …throes of increasing wonder

– Gustav Mahler – Adagietto from Symphony No. 5

– Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 5, op. 107, “Reformation”

“This exciting season finale is the perfect way to get inspired by the lively and joyfulpieces in the repertoire. Nothing compares to the experience of attending a live concert performance by a full symphony in a concert hall like the Payne Mencias Palladium.

Dvořák’s Carnival Overture celebrates the bountiful joy we find in life. It shimmers with delight, imbued with life from the first note to the last. Written in 1891, Carnival was composed just two years before Dvořák set sail for America. The piece is meant to depict a lively scene at a traditional Czech carnival, an illustration of what it means to be alive in his native land.

Spinei’s work …throes of increasing wonder (originally composed for ballet performance) is shimmery, light, and lavish in its own way. Spinei is an up-and-coming composer out of Nashville, Tennessee. She studied composition at The Juilliard School with composer Christopher Rouse. Spinei’s …throes of increasing wonder was commissioned by The Pacific Northwest Ballet company in celebration of their 50th  anniversary season.

Mahler’s Adagietto for strings and harp reminds us of our own stories of boundless love for those closest to us. This piece flows slowly with complete loving adoration, enjoying the passing of time. The origin of the piece is born out of the composer’s love for his wife, Alma Schindler, the socialite of her day – the “It Girl” of Austrian culture. She was a composer and musician in her own right, but upon falling in love with Mahler in 1901, she relinquished her musical career in service of his.

Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, “Reformation,” is its own wonder of composition, contemplating the great themes of faith and life. Mendelssohn’s masterwork will surely leave you in awe, juxtaposing “old style” polyphony (featuring two or more simultaneous, independent melodic lines that interact harmoniously) and his own ubiquitous style. The piece was received poorly when it was first performed, but it would be found and published decades after Mendelssohn’s death. The “Reformation” symphony has posthumously earned a lasting space in the orchestral canon.

Tickets can be purchased for CSO’s Symphonic Odyssey online at TheCenterPresents.org or by calling the Fifth Third Bank Box Office at (317) 843-3800.