This highly anticipated opening night of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-2025 season will pay tribute to the legendary composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Conducted by Damien Geter, and featuring soloists from the Indianapolis Opera, the CSO will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, including Ode to Joy and Les Preludes by Franz Liszt Saturday, October 5th at 7:30 pm at the Palladium.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, completed in 1824, was his final major work. It premiered in Vienna when that city had become a police state and historians have noted that Beethoven wrote this inspirational work to serve as a cry for unity, freedom and brotherhood. The piece is the first example of a composer scoring vocal parts in a symphony and it is one of the most frequently performed in the world. The final (4th) movement of the symphony, commonly known as the Ode to Joy, features four vocal soloists and a chorus in the parallel key of D major. The poem by Friedrich Schiller inspired Beethoven’s choral component of this symphony.

What makes this piece so remarkable is that it was written when Beethoven’s deafness meant he would never hear this work performed or the thundering applause from the audiences who experienced it. He would have had to imagine what it would sound like based on his auditory memory. 

Four soloists from the Indianapolis Opera will be performing with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Ode to Joy. They are:

Rachel Purvis, Soprano

Lyndsay Moy, Mezzo-soprano

Will Upham, Lyric Tenor

Jake Surzyn, Baritone

Conductor Damien Geter

The conductor for the October 5th performance will be the accomplished Damien Geter, an Indiana favorite, who will bring the perspective of a vocalist and composer to his direction of this show. He is an acclaimed composer, having created Chamber, vocal, orchestral and full operatic works. An accomplished bass-baritone, Geter started his career as a resident artist with the Indianapolis Opera and later with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has performed in various venues from the operatic stage to television. Geter also has ties to the Carmel community, having taught music classes at University High School from 2004-2015.