About Us
The Indiana Wind Symphony, founded in 1997, celebrates its 10th anniversary and its 100th concert this season. The IWS has as its mission the presentation of artistic performances of significant music for band and wind ensemble to the Central Indiana community. The ensemble is made up of seventy members, and includes professional musicians, music educators, and serious avocational musicians. The group has presented American premieres of several important works, including Save the Sea Symphony, Concerto for Four Saxophones and Band, and Concerto for Symphonic Band of Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas, Werner Bruggemann’s piano concerto Rike, Nocturne by Thomas Doss, and Hardy Mertens' Sinfoniches variaziones.
A highlight of the 2005-2006 season was the world premiere of Czech composer Jiri Laburda's Symphony #2, and in May, 2007 the IWS presented the premiere performance of David Sartor's Veni Emmanuel. In 1998, the Indiana Wind Symphony recorded original manuscripts from the John Philip Sousa archives. These works, featuring soprano soloist Ann Conrad, were received with high acclaim at the international conference of the Society for the Preservation and Investigation of Band Music (IGEB) in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.
The IWS was featured in a major festival commemorating the 150th anniversary of Sousa's birth in 2004 and in 2003 participated in the Circus Historical Society's National Conference, accompanying scholars Dr. Clifford Watkins and IWS Music Director Dr. Charles Conrad in historical circus music presentations. In June 2006, the IWS was featured at the Great American Brass Band Festival and the accompanying Band History Seminar in Danville, KY.
The IWS, in its eleventh season in 2009-2010 looks forward to offering you more great music this year! Highlights will include more of our acclaimed video presentations, inspiring soloists, interesting new works and performances at several new venues.
The Indiana Wind Symphony, founded in 1997, celebrates its 10th anniversary and its 100th concert this season. The IWS has as its
mission the presentation of artistic performances of significant music for band and wind ensemble to the Central Indiana community.
The ensemble is made up of seventy members, and includes professional musicians, music educators, and serious avocational musicians.
The group has presented American premieres of several important works, including Save the Sea Symphony, Concerto for Four Saxophones
and Band, and Concerto for Symphonic Band of Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas, Werner Bruggemann’s piano concerto Rike, Nocturne by
Thomas Doss, and Hardy Mertens' Sinfoniches variaziones. A highlight of the 2005-2006 season was the world premiere of Czech composer
Jiri Laburda's Symphony #2, and in May, 2007 the IWS presented the premiere performance of David Sartor's Veni Emmanuel. In 1998,
the Indiana Wind Symphony recorded original manuscripts from the John Philip Sousa archives. These works, featuring soprano soloist
Ann Conrad, were received with high acclaim at the international conference of the Society for the Preservation and Investigation
of Band Music (IGEB) in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. The IWS was featured in a major festival commemorating the 150th anniversary of
Sousa's birth in 2004 and in 2003 participated in the Circus Historical Society's National Conference, accompanying scholars Dr. Clifford
Watkins and IWS Music Director Dr. Charles Conrad in historical circus music presentations. In June 2006, the IWS was featured at
the Great American Brass Band Festival and the accompanying Band History Seminar in Danville, KY. The IWS also performs a series of
concerts of wind chamber music, and has presented American and world premieres of chamber works by Daniel Gall. Highlights of this
season include a concert commemorating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, a Halloween concert in costume and a season-ending
concert that celebrates highlights of our first ten years.
About the Music Director
IWS Music Director Charles P. Conrad is a lifelong
Indianapolis resident, having graduated from Arlington High School and attended the Indiana University School of Music, where he received
a Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet, studying with legendary trumpet professor William Adam. He earned a Master’s degree in Conducting
from Butler University and a Doctorate in Conducting from Ball State University, where his dissertation about Hoosier composer and
conductor Fred Jewell was named Distinguished Dissertation by the BSU Alumni Association. Dr. Conrad has conducted ensembles in many
states, Scotland, England, Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Italy, Poland, Holland, France, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. He has presented
papers at music history and performance conferences in the United States, Germany, Slovakia, Italy and Austria. In July 2008 he presented
a paper at the International Conference of the musicological society IGEB in Luxembourg. He is the Choir Director of John Knox Presbyterian
Church. He maintains a large private trumpet teaching studio and serves as a faculty artist and adjudicator for the National Trumpet
Competition. He is an author, having co-written Circus Songs: An Annotated Anthology as well as numerous articles for scholarly and
historical journals. He is writing a history of American Circus Music that will be published in 2010 by Scarecrow Press and has
written several articles for the upcoming edition of Groves Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians - American Edition. He is married
to Carmel High School Choral Director and soprano Ann Conrad in spite of the fact that he collects antique band instruments and photographs
of bands. They are the proud parents of Gracie, a one year old mixed breed which they suspect is part spider monkey.
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2010, The Indiana Wind Symphony. All Rights Reserved.
