April 27, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, DePauw University and the City of Greencastle will partner to host an informal and interactive "Meet the Artist" program featuring ISO concertmaster Zach De Pue and principal violist Michael Isaac Strauss on Tuesday, May 3, at 6 p.m. The Indianapolis Symphony will then present a free concert featuring these artists as soloists on Thursday, May 12, at 8 p.m. at the Green Center for the Performing Arts on the DePauw campus.
These two events will kick off a multi-year education and community outreach partnership between the ISO, the University and the city as a result of Greencastle being designated a Stellar Community by the State of Indiana last month. This collaboration will evolve to include more free concerts and master classes, the
potential formation of a youth orchestra and other educational programs.
Held in the Great Hall of the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts, "Meet the Artist" on May 3 will feature De Pue and Strauss exploring two classical masterpieces -- Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and Mozart's Sinfonia concertante for Violin and Viola -- that they will perform in the May 12 concert with the Orchestra. The artists also will perform selected passages from these pieces to illustrate their points and will answer questions from the audience. This is a free event and the general public is welcome to attend.
The Orchestra's concert on May 12, which will be led by De Pue, will open with De Pue and Strauss as soloists in the Mozart Sinfonia concertante, an emotional and expressive work that features a buoyant and lyrical first movement highlighted by alternating passages between the soloists and the orchestra. The final movement starkly contrasts from the first via a subdued yet passionate tone that spotlights the musical voices
of the violin and viola. Following intermission, De Pue and the Indianapolis Symphony will perform Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, considered to be one of the greatest works and the composer's best known. Each of the four movements' distinctive themes musically represent the sounds of a particular season (birds in spring or a warm crackling fire in winter), as well as the beautiful and the inclement qualities that define them. It has remained a popular staple in the concerto repertoire since its creation in 1723. The concert will take place in the Kresge Auditorium at the Green Center for the Performing Arts and is free and open to the public.
Zach De Pue (pictured at left) was appointed concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and began his tenure in September 2007. Previously, he was a violinist in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Since 1985, he and his three violin-playing brothers have performed together as The De Pue Brothers, and he is a founding member of the chamber group Time for Three, which currently serves as the ISO's ensemble-in-residence. A native of Bowling Green, Ohio, De Pue graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2002, where his mentors included Jaime Laredo and Ida Kavafian. Prior to that, he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with William Preucil. In 1998, he received third prize in both the International Stulberg String Competition and the senior division of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. An avid chamber musician, De Pue has performed across the United States and in Israel. 
Michael Isaac Strauss has served as principal viola of the Indianapolis Symphony since 1994 and has appeared on numerous occasions as a soloist, including his acclaimed performances of Harold in Italy in 1999 with Raymond Leppard conducting. Prior to his arrival, he was principal violist for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Philly Pops, as well as co-principal of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. In addition to his symphonic work, he performs regularly as a soloist and as a chamber musician in other cities and annually appears on chamber music series throughout the United States. He has received numerous honors both here and in other parts of America for his artistry, served on numerous university and college faculties as a teacher and is an advisor to the American Viola Society. Strauss also is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.
For more information, visit the websites of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra or the DePauw University School of Music. Founded in 1884, the DePauw University School of Music is one of the nation's oldest private institutions for
post-secondary music instruction and the longest-running in Indiana.