Romantic Legacy: Schumann and Brahms

Romantic Legacy: Schumann and Brahms comes to the Hilbert Circle Theatre on Friday, January 21, as part of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's 2026-27 Classical Series. The season is led by Music Director Jun Märkl, who has put Beethoven at the center of the year's programming, pairing all seven of his concertos with landmark works by Mahler, Brahms, Schumann, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky. Along the way, the orchestra is exploring the revolutionary legacy of the Ballets Russes and reaffirming its commitment to living composers.

The program opens with Supermaximum by Kenji Bunch, the season's "Composer in the Spotlight." It's a taut, high-energy work that sets a contemporary sense of intensity before the Romantic masterworks take over. The rest of the afternoon focuses on the legacy of Schumann and Brahms, two of the most influential figures of the Romantic era, whose music defined the sound of the 19th century.

This concert is part of the ISO's Coffee Classical Series, which brings masterworks to the stage during the day rather than the evening. The series often features composers who are underrepresented in orchestras today, and it's designed to give patrons the same experience as an evening performance, just at a different time of day. If you're more of a daytime listener than a night owl, it's a good way to catch a full orchestral program without having to clear your whole evening.

Between the contemporary energy of Bunch and the Romantic weight of Schumann and Brahms, there's a fair bit of ground covered in one sitting. The concert takes place at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Friday, January 21.