April 16, 2024 –The Louisville Orchestra, under the visionary leadership of Music Director Teddy Abrams, is thrilled to announce the continuation of “In Harmony – The Commonwealth Tour” through 2024 to 2026, bolstered by a significant $4.3 million funding allocation from the Kentucky State Legislature. This landmark initiative, which began in 2022, has already made a profound impact, reaching over 27,000 Kentuckians across 38 counties through more than 125 events, and is now set to extend its reach further into the heart of Kentucky communities. This funding will enable the orchestra to deepen community engagement and enrich the cultural fabric across urban and rural divides throughout the state.
On April 8th, the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum is welcoming singing legend and health advocate, Renée Fleming. She will discuss her upcoming book, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness. Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
Renée Fleming is one of the most acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses and concert halls. Honored with five Grammy awards and the U.S. National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl. Fleming’s new book, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, draws upon her own experience as an advocate to showcase the breadth of this booming field.
The Kentucky Center opened in November of 1983 under the direction of Gov. John Y. Brown and a combined project budget from the state as well as local donors. Brown was quoted as saying there hasn’t been a more productive investment by the state than that of the arts center. He might be correct!
Over the years, The Kentucky Center has been the anchor for the arts and home to the major productions of Broadway in Louisville, the magical concerts of the Louisville Orchestra, the elegance of the Louisville Ballet and some of the biggest names in music, comedy, and entertainment. The Kentucky Center has hosted world leaders, presidential debates, and town halls on its stages. For 40 years, the flagship venue has proven to have been a great investment for the community, the city of Louisville and the entire commonwealth.
Looking back over the years, memories were made that will last a lifetime. We caught up with some friends of The Kentucky Center to find out what they love about the venue, as well as some of their favorite memories.
Is it Fate knocking at the door, or did Ludwig Van Beethoven have something else in mind entirely when he penned the startling opening notes of his famous “Symphony No. 5?”
Those three notes, then one: G-G-G, E-flat. Repeated one step down as F-F-F, D, and the stage is set in suspense for classical music’s most famous symphony.
Audiences will have a chance to hear those notes and feel the suspense once again as the Louisville Orchestra presents Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5” in concerts January 13 and 14 in Whitney Hall. The concerts also include Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 5,” with pianist Leonard Biss, in a program the symphony is calling “Fifths of Beethoven.”
Violinist Tessa Lark, who plays a violin that’s as old as any you’ll ever see, and is about as up-to-date a musical star as any you’ll find, appears with the Louisville Orchestra in the symphony’s season-opening concerts, September 16 and 17 in Whitney Hall.
Music director Teddy Abrams has the baton, with the orchestra also performing Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphony in Three Movements.” Abrams will also introduce three composers selected for the symphony’s new Creators Corps (read more about that below).
Lark is a vibrant young talent, with a raft of classical credits and an ambitious concert tour schedule. She studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and Juilliard, but also grew up in Richmond, Ky., playing with her dad in a gospel-bluegrass group called Narrow Road. So, she was just a hike away from Appalachian mountain music in Eastern Kentucky, and a few miles from formal classical violin study in Cincinnati.
