The Indian River Symphonic Association is offering up another remarkable season of national and international orchestras, each featuring incomparable soloists.
National visitors include the Cleveland Orchestra, ranked among the top 10 orchestras in the world, and the National Symphony Orchestra, whose primary venue is the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The violin soloist with the NSO is Hilary Hahn, a multiple Grammy Award winner named by Classic FM as one of the 25 greatest violinists of all time. Before going on to take the world by storm, Hahn was introduced to Vero audiences as a 13-year-old soloist with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, continuing those visits over the next eight years.
Another featured soloist is IRSA board member Andrew Galuska, director of Music and Fine Arts at the Community Church of Vero Beach, who will perform the Camille Saint-Saens “Symphony No. 3 Organ” with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra.
“The Saint-Saens Organ Symphony is one of the great symphonies of the world, and one of the only ones to feature an organ. It’s a monumental work known and loved throughout the world,” says Galuska, who spoke with Vero Beach 32963 about the upcoming season.
The only other time the Saint-Saens has been performed locally was at the dedication of the church’s magnificent Lively Fulcher Pipe Organ in 2010.
“It’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful performance,” says Galuska, who obtained his undergraduate degree at Rhode Island College, his master’s at the University of Houston and studied post-grad at Rice University.
“Not only is it a monumental work in the world of symphonies, but the fact that it does use an organ sets it apart from anything, even to this day. An organ is not normally included in an orchestra; it’s just a very rare thing.”
The schedule for the Indian River Symphonic Association’s 2025 season is as follows:
Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moravia, Sunday, Jan. 12
Pavel Šnajdr, Conductor; Gregorio Nieto, Cello Soloist
Program: Antonín Dvořák: My Home Op. 62
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major Op. 33
Bedřich Smetana: Triumphal Symphony Op. 6
The Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moravia, consistently ranked among the world’s top 20, played its first concert under its current name in 1896. Antonín Dvořák conducted his own compositions that evening and, fittingly, one of his pieces opens the program.
Venezuelan cellist Gregorio Nieto, who attended the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, will perform Tchaikovsky’s wonderful Variations on a Rococo Theme, a style inspired by Mozart, which Galuska says is not to be missed.
“And Smetana’s Triumphal Symphony is one that is not performed often, but it’s really a huge masterpiece. Smetana comes in and out of popularity and all of a sudden we’ve seen a resurgence, so it’s incredibly wonderful to see this unusual programming,” says Galuska.
Cleveland Orchestra, Sunday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.
Stéphane Denève, Conductor; Maria Dueñas, Violin Soloist
Program: Georges Bizet: Suite from L’Arlésienne
Édouard Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Opus 21
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Opus 88
“And then we go to Cleveland, one of the great orchestras of the world, and one of the great conductors of the world, Stéphane Denève,” says Galuska.
“We have Édouard Lalo, who we don’t hear a lot of these days. Again, a composer that’s on the outskirts but who is seeing a resurgence, and Maria Dueñas is a wonderful violinist.”
The Symphonie Espagnole features the 21-year-old Maria Duenas, cited by the New York Times as a “prodigious talent.”
The program closes with another Dvořák piece, this time the Symphony No. 8 in G major.
“Dvorak is so wonderfully listenable with great soaring melodies and is really an underrated composer, I think,” says Galuska.
Polish Chamber Orchestra of Sinfonia Varsovia, Sunday, Feb. 23
Daniel Hope, Conductor and Violin Soloist
Program: Journey to Mozart
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Dance of the Furies from Orfeo
Joseph Haydn: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in G Major
Wojciech Kilar: Orawa Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 3 in G Major
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F Minor “La Passione”
‘What we see here is a tribute to the classical era, except for the middle piece, Kilar’s Orawa.
What’s very interesting, though, is it’s a classical program with a new composer stuck right in the middle. So I think that’s quite a clever program,” says Galuska.
“We start with Gluck, then Haydn; great names of the classical era. A Haydn concerto and also a Mozart concerto on the same program is monumental. That is hugely taxing for a performer. And then a Haydn symphony to end. I mean, it is the pinnacle of classical music greatness. It’s exactly what it says, Journey to Mozart, or a wonderful exploration of the classical period.”
Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Friday, March 14
Christopher Confessore, Conductor; Andrew Galuska, Organ Soloist
Program: George Frideric Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Tomaso Albinoni: Adagio in G Minor
Patrick Brill: Royal Coronation Overture (World Premiere)
Camille Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 Organ
Galuska will play the organ in each work except Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.
“The orchestra was put on barges and the music was designed to accompany fireworks. It’s quite long; there’s a lot of movements,” he explains.
“The Albinoni, Adagio for Strings, is world famous. We don’t hear it all the time with organ, so this is going to be a great experience. And we will be premiering Patrick Brill’s Royal Coronation Overture for full orchestra and organ. It has a little bit of a Baroque feel to it rather than modern.
It’s modeled on the 19th century genre; so, 1800s, but composed in the 21st century. It does have an 1800s feel to it,” says Galuska of the Brill work, written in 2009 and published in 2024.
“And then we end with the Saint-Saëns; this wonderful, great piece. The addition of the organ makes it really one of the truly unique symphonies of the world. And beloved; beloved by people who love symphonic music and organists alike. Its every movement is incredibly magical, and you can’t say that about every composer,” says Galuska.
National Symphony Orchestra, Thursday, March 20
Gianandrea Noseda, Music Director; Hilary Hahn, Violin Soloist
Program: Carlos Simon: Four Black American Dances
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
The program opens with a piece by Carlos Simon commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and that incorporates Black musical traditions into contemporary classical music.
Hahn will be playing the romantic Korngold Violin Concerto.
“Korngold is, again, one of those composers that’s kind of on the fringe but absolutely brilliant.
He wrote a lot of music for films and just these wonderful, soaring, lush melodies that just transform you. And the violin concerto sings. If you can imagine the best expression of the violin soaring and singing, it would be the Korngold Violin Concerto,” says Galuska.
“And then it ends with the famous ‘da-da-da-dum, da-da-da-dum’ – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, which is beloved by the world over. I don’t think that needs an explanation.”
With the exception of the Cleveland Orchestra concert, which begins at 5 p.m., all concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Vero Beach Community Church of Vero Beach. For tickets and more information, visit IRSymphonic.org or call 772-778-1070.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
