Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Zach De Pue leaves after more than a decade

 Longtime Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Zach De Pue, who’s held the title since 2007, is leaving the orchestra effective immediately, the ISO has announced.

De Pue, 38, resigned after 11 years as the orchestra’s principal violinist and concert coordinator. No reason was given for his departure.  

Not Another One:Arts Council of Indianapolis CEO steps down: "It was something I couldn't pass up"

Here's Some Good News:With Bryan Fonseca's new theater, the near west is growing into a major arts hub

“It’s been an extraordinary honor to be part of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra,” De Pue said in the news release. “I am grateful to have shared the musical experience with countless audiences who appreciate how transformative music can be and how it enriches and enhances our lives. I’m looking forward to seeing where new journeys take me.”  

De Pue became one of the youngest concertmasters in the country when he was appointed. He spearheaded the ISO string section, but also was the link between the entire orchestra and conductors Krzysztof Urbanski and Jack Everly. He was the ISO’s second in command on stage, behind Urbanski, and the face of the orchestra in the community.

The baby-faced violin virtuoso made national headlines in 2014 when a bandmate's video of him playing a lilting Bach aria on the Charlotte Douglas International Airport tarmac, clad in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt and backed by the roar of jet engines, went viral. He’d been barred from his flight to Arkansas for a Time for Three show because he refused to entrust his precious violin, hand-crafted in 1757 and worth more than $250,000, to the cargo hold. After a Twitter outcry, he and fellow violinist Nick Kendall were booked on a later flight.

De Pue was a founding member of Time for Three, the combo classical-jazz-bluegrass string trio he formed with classmates Kendall and double bassist Ranaan Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2003 before departing in 2016 to focus more fully on his duties as ISO concertmaster. He’d been with the group, which became the ISO’s first resident ensemble in 2009, for 15 years.

De Pue was devoted to music from an early age, practicing three hours a day — “an hour before school, an hour during lunchtime, and an hour after finishing homework" — he told the IndyStar in 2015.

Chan also shared the story of a melody De Pue composed at age 6, three months after his mother died in a car crash, which De Pue characterized as “a musical portrait of my mother.” The tune, “Mama’s Waltz,” was later used for an ISO concerto composed by principal trombonist and Pulitzer-nominated composer Jim Beckel in 2014.

De Pue joined the ISO as concertmaster in 2007 after a joint Time for Three-ISO New Year’s performance led the orchestra to consider him for its open concertmaster role.

He packed up, trekked 650 miles to Indianapolis, and has been with the ISO ever since.

The organization he’s called family for the last decade wishes him well.

“Zach’s musical talent has been well known by fans near and far,” ISO CEO James Johnson said in the release. “We wish Zach the very best.”

The ISO said a search will begin soon for a replacement.

Email IndyStar Pulliam Fellow Sarah Bahr at sbahr@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @smbahr14.