Copious Notes

The Opera House's new look

Go into many towns in the United States and you can find old theaters that were once the hub of activity sadly showing their age with paint peeling, curtains falling and creaky old seats breaking as an era slips into oblivion. That is not the case with Lexington’s 122-year-old Opera House. Even last year, visiting artists such as the Broadway seasoned cast and crew from 12 Angry Men were singing the theater’s praises.

If they could see it now.

Over the summer, the Lexington Opera House underwent a $2 million renovation, updating the seats, soundsystem, dressing rooms and many other accomodations. Patrons get their first look tonight as the UK Opera Theatre opens its production of La Boheme. But Tuesday afternoon, photographer David Perry and I got an advance tour with Opera House General Manager Luanne Franklin. Above, you can see a slide show from our visit.

Click here for a larger version of the slide show.

Click here for the whole story on the renovation.

Click here for more on La Boheme.

And click here for the Opera House’s upcoming schedule from LexGo.

The Pavarotti look

Tenor Jeremy Cady rehearses the role of Rudolfo in the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre's production of La Boheme in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Center on Oct. 7., 2008. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo. Below: Luciano Pavarotti.

Tuesday night, I went over to the Scmidt Vocal Arts Center at UK to shoot some photos for a feature we’re running in Sunday morning’s paper about University of Kentucky Opera Theater tenor Jeremy Cady, who is singing the role of Rudolfo in La Boheme the next two weekends — he shares the role with tenor Phumzile Sojola.

As always, it’s fun to shoot artists at work. During this rehearsal, I had this particularly striking moment when I was looking at shots on my camera. There was one of Jeremy in the midst of singing Che gelida manina, eyes closed, mouth wide open, hands clutching at his chest.

“That looks like Pavarotti,” I thought.

Of course, it was Jeremy, a 34-year-old doctoral student at UK, who is racking up and impressive string of leading tenor roles, as well as leads and supporting parts in regional opera companies such as Kentucky Opera in Louisville and Cincinnati Opera. But with that image in mind, it was interesting to sit down with Jeremy the next afternoon and hear him start talking about how one of his early inspirations was a recording of Pavarotti singing Che gelida:

“Pavarotti was the first tenor for me that really sparked my imagination and amazed me with the power of the human voice to just soar over the orchestra.”

During that interview, Jeremy also said that rehearsal was the night that the opera, his favorite, really came together for him. That was the result of lots of listening, lots of work, and maybe he was channeling a little something too.

Here are a few other shots from that rehearsal:

Top to bottom: Director Michael Ehrman; David Baker as Schaunard, Mark Elliot Golson II as Colline and Eric Brown as Marcello; Jeremy Cady, Mark Elliot Golson II, Christopher Baker and Eric Brown; Jeremy Cady as Rudolfo and Amelia Groetsch as Mimi.

Met Live HD: Richard Strauss' 'Salome'

Karita Mattila in the title role of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Salome, which shows in movie theaters across America this weekend. Photo by Ken Howard | The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Live HD series gets started this weekend — more than a month and a half earlier than last year — with a live broadcast of Richard Strauss’ Salome at 1 p.m. Saturday. It will show in Lexington at the Lexington Green Movies 8 and the Regal Hamburg Pavilion 16, and repeat at both locations at 7 p.m. Oct. 22.

We’ll be seeing the new modern-dress production by German Jürgen Flimm with set and costume designs by Santo Loquasto.

According to the New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini though, the reason to see the show is Karita Mattila in the title role.

“Given the physical and emotional toll of her portrayal, that she could also sing this daunting role with such gleaming power, eerie expressivity and, most remarkably of all, beguiling lyricism was stunning. When the opera ended and Ms. Mattila appeared alone before a black curtain, looking spent and dazed, she seemed almost frightened by the vehemence of the audience’s applause and shouts of ‘Bravo!”’

Salome, considered a 20th Century masterpiece by many, is the story of King Herod’s beguiling stepdaughter and her infamous role in the execution of John the Baptist. In the already emotionally unbalanced world of opera, Salome does outdo itself in eroticism — including the dance of the seven veils, which ends with Salome naked — and grisliness. It is not to be missed, though you may want to leave the younger kids at home. It is also a one-act opera that clocks in at a tidy 90-or-so minutes.

Met Live HD is getting off to a modern, er, relatively modern start, with John Adams’ Dr. Atomic Nov. 8.

Review: '1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die' by Tom Moon

This is a book for those of us who have the Beatles next to Beethoven on our CD shelves, maybe with Sidney Bechet and Beck in between.

Tom Moon made his name as a pop music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rolling Stone, NPR and other outlets. But his new book, 1,000 ­Recordings to Hear Before You Die, reveals the mind of a pure music fan who likes anything, as long as it’s good.

That’s a profile a lot of music fans like to have. But most of us have some holes in our passion, often “I hate country” or “that rap crap.”

With Moon, it is hard to find any holes.

Modern classical music?

There’s Steve Reich’s ­Music for 18 Musicians, along with discs of Elliott Carter, Charles Ives and others.

Bluegrass?

He’s got yer Bill ­Monroe, along with yer Flatt & Scruggs and deeper cuts.

Jazz?

Moon (photo, right, from Workman Publishing) was in Maynard Ferguson’s big band, and he touches all the greats, and many you haven’t heard of.

Maybe the most ­impressive thing about Moon’s selections is his command of a wide swath of world music, pulling in favorites from around the globe.

But what really makes the book indispensable is the writing. Moon is a critic at the top of his game, ­intricately exploring what makes these greats great.

The UK Symphony's growing discography

UK Symphony Orchestra conductor John Nardolillo conducted the National Symphony Orchestra with Arlo Guthrie earlier this month in the same program the UK Symphony recorded last year. Photo courtesy of the National Symphony Orchestra.

Friday night is the season-opening concert by one of Lexington’s most active recording artists: the University of Kentucky’s student orchestra.

The student designation for the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra seems like a mere technicality as it has made several world premier recordings in the past year that have made it to the desks of influential critics.

“Playing Pasatieri’s skillful orchestrations under the assured leadership of conductor John Nardolillo, they sound more like a professional orchestra than a student one,” Opera News critic Joshua Rosenblum wrote in a review of the UK Opera Theatre and UK Symphony’s recording of Thomas Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca.

Recommending the same recording, “with enthusiasm,” FanFare magazine critic Henry Fogel wrote, “It is wonderfully encouraging that this production is from a university’s opera program, and that their student orchestra plays at such a high level as well.”

In 2006, it seemed like a pretty huge deal when the UKSO recorded Music of the Horse for Keeneland.
Since then, the orchestra has recorded three more albums: In Times Like These with folk legend Arlo Guthrie, the world premier recording of Epoch: An American Dance Symphony by George Frederick McKay, and the Hotel Casablanca recording, also a world premier.

Discussing an upcoming project -- a production of George Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess to be presented during the World Equestrian Games in 2010 -- UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey called Nardolillo, “My soul mate in big ideas.”

Indeed, the University of Kentucky Symphony director is pursuing the same sorts of projects that helped the opera programs’ star begin to rise in the late 1990s and early 2000s:

■ Bringing in big name talent to work with students.
■ Pursuing high profile projects.
■ Getting the group on stages outside of Central Kentucky.
■ Getting the group recorded, so even if I’m in some far-flung locale with Bill Kurtis, as long as I have a wi-fi connection, I can listen to UK’s musicians.

George Zack's grand finale: Pictures and notes

 "It's an easier job when you're playing for friends," George Zack told the audience in the Singletary Center for the Arts before conducting his final piece with the orchestra. "It's an easier job when you're performing with friends."

It is not often a conductor steps down from the podium after 37 years on the job conducting the same orchestra in the same town. Zack's grand finale turned out to be a warm evening -- not just due the humid weather that's invaded Lexington -- with a few unusual moments.

• After the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Zack and soloist Aaron Rosand received a standing ovation. Applause between movements is getting to be more common, but the standing O seemed to be a reflection of the evening's high emotions.
• Before going onstage for the second half, Zack noticed Rosand's chair was still onstage. He told orchestra manager Shannon Cline it needed to be removed, but little did he know it was there for him. Zack was treated to a performance of Aaron Copland's Celebration Fanfare, conducted by Philharmonic violist Paul Englebrecht. After that, he was presented with the score, signed by Copland in 1977.
• After the first movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 1, Zack momentarily left the stage. Overcome with emotion? Not quite. He left his glasses in his dressing room.
• At the end of the second movement, he and everyone in the hall stopped because of musical tones that were filtering into the hall. No one could identify the source, but Cline said they guessed it might be related to a resynchronization of clocks on the University of Kentucky campus at 9 p.m.

Zack was honored with a party after the concert in a tent next to the Singletary Center.The tables were adorned with figures in tails and music was provided by Jay Flippin, a frequent collaborator with the Phil. Our Howard Snyder went to the party and will have a report next week. Also, a photographer from our photo website, Snapped, was there.

Speaking of photos, here are the rest of Matt Goins' images from last night's concert.

 

 

Zack gets a hug from orchestra manger Shannon Cline as she presents him with roses.

 

Zack presents concertmaster Dan Mason a rose.

Finally, don't forget to read Loren Tice's review of the concert.

George Zack slide show

We visited the Lexington Philharmonic's rehearsal Monday night to talk to music director George Zack and some of the orchestra's musicians about his final concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Here's what we brought back.

To see a larger version of the slide show, click here.

The curtain rises on the 2008-09 arts season in Lexington

Cathy Rawlings plays journalist and activist Ida B. Wells and other characters in Actors Guild of Lexington's production of Taezwell Thompson's Constant Star. Photo by Rich Copley.

The 2008-09 arts season gets started this weekend with a rush of activity, including a milestone in Lexington arts history Friday night: George Zack's final concert conducting the Lexington Philharmonic as its music director. We have thoughts and some stats about Zack's 36-years with the orchestra here and at LexGo.

Two big plays open tonight:

~ Actors Guild of Lexington presents Tazewell Thompson's Constant Star, and the author will visit Saturday.

~ Studio Players bows with the British door-slamming comedy Don't Dress for Dinner.

Sunday, the University of Kentucky Art Museum opens its new exhibit, Masterworks by Kentucky Painters, 1819-1935.

And also Sunday, we publish our annual Fall Arts Guide. Get out your planners.

Chamber Music Festival slide show

As promised Sunday, here is our slide show from rehearsals of Daniel Thomas Davis' Book of Songs and Visions for Piano Quintet, a new work commissioned for this years Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. Davis was in town yesterday and will be back at the end of the week to work with the musicians on the piece which has its world premier Saturday night.

• Click here for a larger version of the show
• here for our story about the composition
• and here for Sunday's post including an audio sample from the piece

Daniel Thomas Davis' new piece for the chamber fest

In only its second year, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington has commissioned a new work for the event. Daniel Thomas Davis's Book of Visions and Songs will premier Aug. 30 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion. It's an 18-minute work for Piano Quintet that was created based on Davis' visits to Central Kentucky earlier this year and written in Italy, Virginia and his current home of Ann Arbor, Mich., where he teaches composition at the University of Michigan.

These days, of course, a lot of that work is done on computers, including creating facsimiles of the piece to give the composer an idea what the piece sounds like. As of today, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington ensemble has not played the piece, but Davis has given us permission to post the sample version of the second movement of the piece. Keep in mind, this is just a sample of what it will sound like. (Click the play button to hear it.)

Read about the piece at LexGo, and this one from our first chat with Davis.

Photo of Davis, above, by Rich Copley.

Norton Center 2008-09 lineup features Tony Bennett, NY Phil

Joshua Bell will perform Jan. 26 at the Norton Center. Photo by Chris Lee.

The Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College in Danville is coming off its most successful season ever and appears poised to top itself in 2008-09.

Season subscribers will soon receive a brochure with a lineup topped by legendary standards singer Tony Bennett; pop music legend Little Richard; the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Lorin Maazel at the podium; the Kentucky premiere of The Drowsy Chaperone, the 2006 Tony Award winning hit; and arguably the hottest violinist in the world, Joshua Bell.

Here’s the complete lineup, in chronological order. All performances are at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

Sept. 20: Little Richard.
Sept. 30: Olga Kern, pianist.
Oct. 3-5: Smoke on the Mountain, Bluegrass gospel musical, 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 4; 3 p.m. Oct. 4, 5.
Oct. 12: Spanish Brass, 3 p.m.
Oct. 14: Altar Boyz, off-Broadway musical.
Oct. 21: Cirque d’Or, Chinese acrobats.
Oct. 24: The Beach Boys, 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 12: Soweto Gospel Choir.
Nov. 18: Al Green.
Dec. 4: The King’s Singers.
Dec. 11: Movin’ Out, Broadway musical.
Jan. 12: 100 Years of Broadway, musical revue with Broadway veterans.
Jan. 13: Giselle by the State Ballet of Russia.
Jan. 16: Tony Bennett.
Jan. 26: Joshua Bell, violin.
Feb. 10: Drumline Live, African-American band show.
Feb. 17: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Broadway musical.
Feb. 19: Red Priest, irreverent early music group.
Feb. 26: Kodo, Japanese percussion ensemble.
Feb. 28: Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, oratorio presented with visiting and local musicans.
March 1: Tempesta di Mare, early music ensemble.
March 5: New York Philharmonic with Lorin Maazel, conductor.
March 11: St. Petersburg Male Choir.
March 12: Moscow Cats Theatre, acrobatic cat show.
March 15: Orion String Quartet, 3 p.m.
April 11: The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway musical.
April 15: Annie, Broadway musical.
April 23: Garrison Keillor.
April 27: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Broadway musical.
May 30-31: Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, presented at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

The performances are sold in a variety of season ticket packages costing $966 to $177, depending on performances. Single tickets already are available for some shows. Single tickets for others will go on sale later, depending on availability. Call 1-877-448-7469 or visit the Norton Center's website for information and tickets.

Video: Grand Night for Singing

A Grand Night for Singing opens this weekend at the Singletary Center for the Arts. In our story for today's paper, we talked about the talented "brain trust" that puts Grand Night together from scratch, every year. To compliment that, photographer and producer Emily Spence and I went out to talk to some of the singers about the tunes they get to share and the town and gown camaraderie of Grand Night.

Country music

Concertgoers arrive at Meadow View Barn in the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill for Saturday afternoon's concert in the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass. Below: Sibling violinists Todd and Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet perform Saturday afternoon. Copyrighted LexGo photos by Rich Copley.

SHAKERTOWN -- Classical music is something we normally associate with the city. There are those big orchestras in New York, Chicago and just about every other metropolis worth its salt. Even here, in the heart of the Bluegrass, our major concert hall is in the middle of a wide web of asphalt.

Meadow View Barn isn't.

The old tobacco barn at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill lives up to its name, nestled atop a hill that looks out upon vast expanses of green valley or trees from every direction.

For the second Memorial Day weekend in a row, the barn and Shakertown are hosting the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, produced by Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts. Featuring the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, direct from the asphalt jungle of NYC, it is one of the most sublime concert experiences you will ever have.

The string musicians' instruments probably haven't been played this close to their natural elements -- i.e. trees and horse hair -- and sounded this at home in a long time. Somehow the cellos sound more woody, the strains of the violins twirl in the air like a lark dancing, and the violas sound like old souls taking it all in.

This year, the chamber music society brought along four musicians of its own: co directors Wu Han, piano,  and David Finckel, cello, and emerging artists Arnaud Sussman, violin, and Beth Guterman, viola, who were new to the festival. Han and Finckel also invited along the Orion String Quartet, which is performing in its own right and splintering off to perform with the Lincoln Center artists as well.

That was an added bonus with Saturday evening's concert in the Meadow View Barn: We got these world-class musicians mixing and matching for more variety than you usually get from a chamber concert.

UK Wind Ensemble update: depature delayed

The University of Wind Ensemble's flight from Cincinnati to Chicago, United Flight 191, was canceled this morning, and the ensemble will spend an extra day in Cincinnati before departing Tuesday morning for Chicago and then Shanghai.

Cindy Stewart-Birdwell, wife of ensemble director John Cody Birdwell, addressed the delay and cancellation of their first concert due to China's three-day mourning period for victims of last Monday's earthquake in a post on her blog:

" . . . not to worry. We must simply stay another day in our rather comfy hotel here in Cincinnati...not a bad deal really, extra rest is now possible, and we have beautiful surroundings in which to idle the day away . . . all we're really missing is an extra day of sightseeing in and around Shanghai, and that's unfortunate, but it could have been worse. We will arrive at 2 p.m. with a free day and evening in front of us. Tired, needing to stretch and anxious to get into our hotel, we'll just take it easy and go with the flow."

The UK Wind Ensemble, bound for China

In this video, UK Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell and a couple of students discuss the group's upcoming trip to China. Video by Amy Jones, courtesy of UK Public Relations.

This morning, 67 students faculty and friends of the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble are winging their way west -- Or, should we say far east? -- to China. The journey will take the UK band on a six city tour of the country that is eagerly anticipating the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics while simultaneously mourning the devastating earthquake that struck Central China a week ago today.

We've got a story about the trip, how it came about and what's going to happen, in today's paper and at LexGo.com.

We've added a photo album of pictures taken by the Herald-Leader's Whitney Waters at events leading up to the trip.

If you'd like to follow along, Cindy Stewart-Birdwell, wife of Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell, is blogging about the experience.

Click the play button below to hear John Mackey's Turbine from the UK Wind Ensemble's Distilled in Kentucky, the CD that was a key to earning the offer to play in China.

Click here to hear UK President Lee Todd's interview of Birdwell for WUKY's UK Perspectives program.

Interview: David Finckel and Wu Han on the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass

Wu Han (center) and David Finckel (right) at Shaker Village last year with their daughter Lilian. Photo courtesy of Finckel and Han.

Last year, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center participated in a pioneering effort: The first Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass.

Presented by the Norton Center for the Arts and its director, George Foreman, the fest was held at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, off the beaten path for most concert goers, in a renovated tobacco barn, an atypical venue for musicians more accustomed to cozy concert halls.

And it was a smashing success.

The concerts were sold out, and the chamber music society’s press representative says the musicians haven’t stopped talking about Kentucky.

So, with the second edition upon us, we got on the phone with cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-directors of the Chamber Music Society, to talk about the second edition of the festival and their return to the Bluegrass.

Herald-Leader: Tell us about your trip here last year and what made it so great.

David Fickel: The most wonderful thing, besides being in Kentucky, and in such a beautiful place and having such beautiful weather and meeting all the new people and playing for a new audience was being present at the birth of a really exciting new project. These days, when classical music takes root in a new location and blossoms, it’s wonderful news for everybody involved. We also look at our involvement at the Shaker Village there as being something that the Chamber Society is good at, something that we should do, being the kind of organization we are, we should go around and help people start new things because we can present great art in great programs and get people excited.

In the end, we all had a marvelous time. We made a lot of new friends, and we’ve really been thinking about it ever since.

Wu Han: In a regular concert, we usually hit a city and play for an audience of 500 to 2,000 and then we probably split the next morning and hit the next town. That’s a performer’s life.

So, to have the opportunity to base in such a gorgeous environment – it’s inspiring to be in such a pure and spiritual place like the Shaker Village – and to have the opportunity to be involved in a festival is incredibly satisfying. Festival is a place you come to meet people to have exploration, to have a community that has the opportunity to mingle, to eat meals together, to talk and to share a space and exchange ideas. At the end of the festival, we know the presenters very, very well, we get to know the audience, we get to know where to eat locally, we get to hike a little bit and the audience bonded with us. We have so much to share and it’s a very different sensation from just traveling from city to city and doing one night stands. The setting of the Shaker Village is fantastic. I don’t have the TV to distract me with CNN and 30 minutes of updating in my hotel room. And everyday I would wake up in the same place and it is very close to nature and I get to meet my audience in the daytime.

That’s unusual for musicians and I think it’s unusal for the audience to be that close to the musicians.

And playing the tobacco barn is so unusual. It’s very close to the earthiness of what we do using the chamber music form and its intimacy. It’s a project I really treasure.

Q: Last year, before you came, you said you were curious as to what the venue was going to look like. How did the tobacco barn turn out as a place to play?

WH: I loved it. To have a little bit of cowbell and the birds flying around the Dvorak Piano Quintet is not a bad thing at all.

Following the UK Winds to China

University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell is taking his wife and kids along on the group's forthcoming trip to China, and said wife, Cindy Stewart-Birdwell (photo, right), is contributing to the effort by maintaining a blog about the experience.

Thus far, Stewart-Birdwell's HigherView blog has been about the stresses of prepping for the trip around the world that starts Sunday night.

But in view of recent events in China, her Monday post had the chilling note that according to an original schedule for the trip, when Monday's earthquake occurred, the Wind Ensemble would have been in Chengdu, about 60 miles from the epicenter. She writes:

"Life is fragile, this we know, so in the words of Leonard Bernstein, 'This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.'"

Click here to read Stewart-Birdwell's blog. I'll also set a link to it in the left-hand column here for the duration of the trip, May 19-29.

Over the weekend, we'll have a full report on the trip in the Herald-Leader and at LexGo.

UK Wind Ensemble still needs money for its trip to China

University of Kentucky trumpet professor Mark Clodfelter (left) performs with the UK Wind Ensemble, conducted by Cody Birdwell (right), at a April 20 concert previewing the Ensemble's upcoming trip to China. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Whitney Waters.

As the University of Kentucky Wind ­Ensemble is gearing up for its tour of China, from May 19 to 29, it is still in the process of raising funds for the journey.

“This is obviously not the best year to be trying to raise additional funds for a trip like this,” UK bands director John Cody Birdwell said, referring to the faltering economy and budget-tightening at the university.

But it’s also the one chance for the band to go be part of a cultural event leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

The trip will take place regardless of the state of fund-raising at take-off, but the band is still seeking donations. Tax deductible contributions can be made to the University of Kentucky Bands Alumni and Friends, 33 Fine Arts Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0022. For more information, call the band office at (859) 257-2263.

Chamber fest gets a composer

Daniel Thomas Davis sat down for a chat at Third Street Stuff to discuss a new piece he is writing for the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

After a successful debut in 2007 with works by masters such as Mozart and Beethoven, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington will have a composition of its own this year.

Musician Daniel Thomas Davis will be the composer-in-residence at the festival, Aug. 27 to 31, and his new piano quintet will premiere Aug. 30.

"The idea was for me to come down here and ­somehow be prompted by the people and the place," Davis said over coffee at Third Street Stuff.

To that end, he came to Lexington in February and spent a week with festival creator Charlie Stone, who ferried him around the region to soak up local color and sound.

"We had gone to Shakertown," Davis recalled, "and the Shakers have a long musical history.    

"It was a frighteningly cold morning, and no one was there. And I remember this incident: I was standing in the meetinghouse all by myself, and I whistled. I got this amazing echo — not a big stadium echo, but far more colorful. It came back with a very different color from where it started."

Davis initially met Stone in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where the composer was an artist-in-residence at the ­legendary Yaddo Colony ­artists' retreat.    

It was the latest in a ­career of numerous honors for the composer, who has bachelor's degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Johns Hopkins University and a master's from the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has studied composition with well-known writers such as William Bolcom, Peter Maxwell Davies and Jennifer Higdon. His most successful composition to date is To Canaan's fair and happy land, which has been ­performed more than 75 times and has been excerpted on radio in the United States and Europe.

Tickets on sale for UK's new concert series

Manhattan Transfer -- (L-R) Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne and Alan Paul -- will perform a Christmas show with conductor John Nardolillo and a small local Orchestra as part of the  Singletary Center's Signature Series.

A jazz legend and another marquee soloist for the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra are highlights of the Signature Series lineup at UK’s Singletary Center for the Arts. If the name sounds new, center director Michael Grice says that’s because he aimed to combine some of the best elements of the center’s several series — Corner on Classics, Turning the Corner and even Spotlight Jazz — into one series that would offer a broad spectrum of artists.

Leading off the season will be trumpet celebrity Wynton Marsalis (photo, left) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, on Oct. 4. For Valentine’s Day, the UK Symphony Orchestra will perform with hot young violinist Gil Shaham (photo, right), who will play Igor Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D, which he will perform five days later with the Cleveland Orchestra.

“If we can get artists here, not just to perform, but also match them with students and faculty, that’s nurturing the arts in our community,” said Grice, who paired the UK Symphony with cello legend Lynn Harrell last season.

Grice said that UK Symphony director John Nardolillo and a small orchestra of local musicians will accompany The Manhattan Transfer in its Christmas concert here, on Dec. 20.

Here’s the full schedule of concerts, most of which are on weekend nights:

• Oct. 4: Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
• Oct. 23: Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa.
• Nov. 8: Andrea ­Marcovicci’s Love Songs of World War II.
• Nov. 12: José Porcel and Ballet Flamenco.
• Dec. 20: Manhattan Transfer holiday concert.
• Jan. 30: Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Feb. 14: Violinist Gil Shaham with the UK ­Symphony Orchestra.
• March 13: Blue Note Jazz Tour.

Tickets for the series go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, May 5, at the Singletary Center ticket office. Call (859) 257-4929 or go to www.singletarytickets.com. The center has changed its fee structure for the series, pricing tickets according to seat location instead of by status such as student, UK faculty and staff, etc.

“All the same prices are still available,” Grice said. “It’s just according to where you sit now.” He said that brings the Singletary Center’s pricing policies in line with most other performing arts centers and even groups that use the Singletary Center, such as the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.
The center will offer five ticket packages, from all eight concerts to three shows, and ranging in price from $88 to $272. For complete pricing information and an order form, go to the Singletary Center website.

Philharmonic notebook: The 9th and the final 5

Lexington Philharmonic music director George Zack soaks in a roaring ovation during his third curtain call after conducting his final performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Below: Zack and pre-show interrogator Joe Tackett. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Don't miss our audio slide show of Zack and the Singers.

Read Loren Tice's review of Friday's Philharmonic concert.

Notes from an emotional and exciting night in the Singletary Center:

~ Conducting his next to last concert as music director of the Lexington Philharmonic and his last with longtime collaborators the Lexington Singers, George Zack worked hard to main his composure during the evening. Speaking both at a reception before the concert to announce the final slate of candidates to succeed him and in remarks to the pre-show and concert audience, Zack choked up, particularly when talking about his wife Kerry.

At the reception, he credited her as being the key to his success and said, "every day has been a honeymoon."

Asked by pre-show audience member Dennis Potts what his favorite piece to conduct was, he replied, "It would be the program that thrills my wife. Anytime I conduct a slow movement, I'm singing to her."

When he took the stage for the concert, Zack was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation. When it had quieted down, he demurely asked, "Have we played the concert, yet?" Zack than deferred to the orchestra saying, "We all have to work together, or we make no music," and attributed the orchestra's success to the community.

This is not to say there weren't moments of joy and levity. Zack said he chose the evening's program, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Choral" because they were happy joyful pieces, and he wanted to go out on an up note.

Philharmonic music director search: The Next 5

The Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra has unveiled a list of five well-traveled conductors who will be vying to succeed George Zack as its music director.

The four men and one woman, whose names were announced Friday night, will join the quintet of candidates who auditioned this past season, bring the total field to 10.

“Both this and next season have very strong groups of candidates,” said Larry C. Deener, president of the Philharmonic's Board of Directors.

Most musicians in the 2008-09 slate have experience as assistant conductors or similar posts with major metropolitan orchestras, worked with marquee conductors and participated in the American Symphony Orchestra League’s National Conductor Preview.

“They’re all early in their careers and on their way up,” said search committee co-chairman John Carpenter Jr.

Zack, who worked with all of the candidates to schedule the repertoire for next season, said, “The committee has done an extremely good job for this season and for next. Each of the candidates is extremely courteous, easy to work with, positive and intelligent.”

The orchestra announced the five hopefuls at an event prior to Friday night’s season finale concert, which featured Zack conducting the philharmonic and Lexington Singers in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, “Choral.”

They are:

■ Scott Terrell, who will conduct on Oct. 24: Terrell is the resident conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, and has conducted numerous times at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, one of the nation’s leading multi-disciplinary arts festivals; and its companion, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He is also director of education programs for the orchestra and has extensive experience conducting opera.

■ Jeffrey Pollock, who will conduct Nov. 21: Pollock is the associate conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas and is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. He also served as assistant conductor of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra in Raleigh and was the founder and music director of San Francisco’s Amphion Ensemble.

■ Morihiko Nakahara, who will conduct Jan. 23: Nakahara currently serves as associate conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida and the Spokane Symphony in Washington. He previously was music director of the Holland Symphony Orchestra in Michigan. Nakahara is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has received a Bruno Walter Associate Conductor Chair and Career Development grant for Spokane.

■ Alastair Willis, who will conduct Feb. 13: Jobs in Cincinnati appear frequently on Willis’ resume: He is a past associate conductor of Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras and music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. He also served as assistant and resident conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 2000 to 2003, has conducted orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic and conducted for Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project at Ma’s invitation.

■ Mei-Ann Chen, who will conduct March 27: Chen assumed the post of assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra last fall and also had guest conducting gigs with the Baltimore and Colorado symphonies. She served four seasons as music director of Oregon’s  Portland Youth Philharmonic and two seasons as assistant conductor of the Oregon Symphony. Chen made history at the New England Conservatory of Music by becoming the first student to receive dual master’s degrees, in conducting and violin.

The conductors who auditioned this past season were:

■ Kayoko Dan, assistant conductor of Arizona’s Phoenix Symphony.

■ Alexander Platt, whose primary post is music director of Wisconsin’s Waukesha Symphony Orchestra.

■ Darryl One, music director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in Texas.

■ Daniel Meyer, whose primary post resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

■ Alfred Savia, music director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana.

The 2008-09 season will be bookended by Zack’s final concert as conductor of the philharmonic, on Sept. 12; and an April 17 concert with the Lexington Singers that currently does not have a conductor scheduled.

Carpenter said the April concert is the target date for announcing the winning conductor.

“We would like to be able to announce and have on stage that night the winning candidate,” Carpenter said.

“Right now, we’re asking for flexibility from our board, our musicians and our audience on that concert,” Deener said. “We want to make the search exciting to the end.”

Flagstaff leaves LexPhil candidates alone

Two of the the Lexington Philharmonic's music director candidates were also in the running for the podium at the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. But the Arizona orchestra left Alexander Platt and Darryl One alone, opting instead to go with Elizabeth Schulze (photo, left), conductor of the Maryland Symphony. Interesting crossing of paths here: If you Google Schulze, you find that last year she was also a candidate for music director of the Erie Philharmonic in Pennsylvania, a post that was eventually won by Daniel Meyer, Mr. February in the Lexington Philharmonic's search.

This all goes to the point that even if One or Platt had been tapped by Flagstaff, it does not take them out of the running here. But, it also means neither is adding something to their plate at the moment making them less available, should Lexington come calling next Spring.

By the way, the Philharmonic's next slate of candidates will be revealed Friday night prior to the season finale concert.

Beethoven's Ninth

The fourth movement of Leonard Bernstein's historic performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Berlin in 1989. This video is in four parts. The other portions should appear as options after the first part finishes playing.

Click here for an outstanding audio tour of Beethoven's Ninth by Rob Kapilow for WNYC. It's nearly an hour, but it is well worth the time.

The question is one of the Rorschach tests of popular culture: If you were dropped on a desert island for the rest of your life and could only have one album to listen to, what would it be?

That was a tough question back in my school days.
Which Talking Heads album to take? Or R.E.M., U2 or someone else?

That was then.

Now, it’s easy to answer, though it’s none of the answers I had before.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, “Choral” — aka the Ode to Joy.

No other answer makes sense when you can pack the greatest piece of music in the world.

We all get another chance to hear the masterpiece on Friday night, when the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and Lexington Singers perform the Ninth under the baton of music director George Zack.
It will be Zack’s last time conducting the philharmonic with the Lexington Singers. The retiring maestro’s final concert as music director of the Phil won’t be until Sept. 12, but he couldn’t leave without taking another crack at this masterpiece.

Q&A: Band composer David Holsinger

Composer David Holsinger, whose latest work will be premiered by the Tiger Symphonic Band at Georgetown College April 24. Photo courtesy of David Holsinger.

David Holsinger’s name might not rank up there with Gershwin or Copland in the household name department, but mention it to almost anyone in the world of concert bands, and their eyes light up.
That’s why Georgetown College’s Tiger Symphonic Band is giddy that it is playing the world premiere of Holsinger’s latest composition, Legacy Music, at its spring concert Thursday. Because of a prior commitment, the composer, based at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., can’t be in Georgetown for the concert. But we asked him a few questions via e-mail.

Q: How did you become interested in composing band music?

A: A few years ago I had the privilege of writing a chapter in the first volume of a book set entitled:  Composers on Composing for Band from GIA in Chicago.  Your first question can probably be best answered if I simply extract a portion of that chapter:

I've attended Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri, Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, and the University of Kansas at Lawrence.  At the last two the study of composition was my primary goal.  However, it was an incident at that first small college that set me on the course I travel today.

In the 1950's and 60's, Central Methodist College was a hotbed for music education graduates.  Although very small, with fewer than 1000 students, the college seemed to produce an inordinate number of very good instrumental and vocal educators for the state's public schools.  Almost every music teacher I had in public school had been a graduate of CMC.  Somewhere along the way, I just knew it was the place for me.  I went to Central Methodist to become “the music teacher.”

However, I discovered one thing about my career choice very early in my education.  In comparison to all my classmates, their desire to be a music teacher was CONSIDERABLY GREATER than my desire to be a music teacher.  But, music was all I knew and, of course, everyone back home DID have my future all figured out.  Who was I to argue?  I was having a great time being a college guy, so why buck the system? In the spring of my junior year, everything changed.

Philharmonic '08-09 music and soloists

The Lexington Philharmonic's 2008-09 season will include music by Osvaldo Golijov, Feb. 13, the first time the popular contemporary composer's work has appeared on a Philharmonic program. Photo by Sebastien Chambert from osvaldogolijov.com.

It feels somewhat appropriate the Lexington Philharmonic went up against Gypsy this weekend, because the orchestra has been slowly revealing its 2008-09 season. First, we got concert dates, then we found out about the program for George Zack's final concert on the podium as music director. Now, we get the music and soloists for all but one concert.

A lot of this year's candidates have talked about balancing seasons of new music and standard repertoire, and several of next season's concerts do that, including the programming of music by Japanese composer Akira Ifukube, who is known for his scores of Godzilla movies, and Osvaldo Golijov, whose work is often performed by Kronos Quartet and who recently scored Francis ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth. Fans of the traditional classical canon won't want to miss the March 27 lineup of Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms.

The season's final layer will be removed April 25, when the remaining candidates to succeed George Zack will be unveiled. The hopefuls will be conducting all but two of next season's concerts, with the  announcement of the winner, and our next music director, expected to come next spring. Here's what they will be playing, and who they will be performing with:

Sept. 12: George Zack, conductor; Aaron Rosand, violin -- Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto; Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 1.

Oct. 24: Hai-Ye Ni (photo, right), cello -- Ottorino Respighi, The Birds; Franz Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto; Sir Edward Elgar, Serenade in e minor; Zoltan Kodaly, Dances of Galanta.

Nov. 21: Conrad Tao, piano -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, selections from Idomeneo: ballet music;  Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1; Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 (Eroica).

Dec. 19: Jefferson Johnson, conductor; Lexington Singers and soloists -- George Frideric Handel, Messiah.

Jan. 23: Daniel Mason, violin, and viola soloist TBA -- Akira Ifukube, Ballata Sinfonica; Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola; Antonin Dvorak, Symphony No. 6.

Feb. 13: Yolanda Kondonassis (photo, right), harp -- Osvaldo Golijov, Last Round; Alberto Ginastera, Harp Concerto; Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale).

March 27: Andre Laplante, piano -- Beethoven, Leonore Overture No. 3; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 21; Brahms, Symphony No. 4.

April 17: Lexington Singers -- Gabriel Faure Pavane and Requiem; Beethoven Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus and Choral Fantasy.

Contact the Philharmonic for season ticket information.

Concert notes: Alfred Savia

Alfred Savia takes questions from the audience in a pre-concert chat prior to his conducting gig with the Lexington Philharmonic. (Below) Moderator Joe Tackett finally got an answer he liked on the bass concerto question. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | Lexington Herald-Leader.

Think Alfred Savia was scared last night, conducting a concert with the Lexington Philharmonic that was essentially an audition to become the orchestra's new music director?

Well, consider this from early in Savia's career: At 22, when he was in graduate school, he conducted at a festival of Leonard Bernstein's music, with Bernstein in attendance.

"One of the first public performances I ever had was conducting one of Bernstein's pieces with him in the audience, looking over my left shoulder," Savia recalled at last night's pre-concert chat. "No pressure."

Are you talking about this Lexington gig? Because, you know, conducting Lenny for Lenny would seem to raise the bar for pressure pretty darned high. Like all his predecessors in the search for George Zack's successor, Savia sat for a chat with LPO bassist and librarian Joe Tackett to answer questions before the concert. Out of this season's five contenders, he came across as the least scripted, pulling memories from a career that only appears to be confined to the South and Midwest.

"Tell us about your studies in Siena," a member of the audience asked.

"Ah, now you've tapped another one of my passions, which is Italy," Savia responded. "It's one of those great Tuscan hill towns."

He went on to talk about the Siena, its history and his work there in terms as clear and concise as the concert he conducted an hour later, even drawing a comparison to the town he's vying to become a part of: "The one thing Siena has in common with Lexington is horses. You have the Kentucky Derby, and you raise all these horses here. And at the Piazza del Campo, which has all these cobblestones, they pack dirt around the whole perimeter of the piazza, which is a huge piazza, and they put barriers around the inside of the piazza, and on the outside are all the buildings. And on that pathway, they have this horse race. But it's more than a horse race. It's medieval pageantry, and they dress as they would have in medieval times, and its opulent costumes . . . The race only takes a minute or two, but there's all the pageantry."

In our compressed American sense of time, it sounds somewhat akin to donning a seersucker suit or a wild hat sipping a julep.

On the podium, Savia cut the figure of the football player he once was before a coach told him to choose between the gridiron or clarinet. He usually worked the edges of the stand toward the orchestra, rarely spending more than a second in the middle as he conducted. Make sure to read Loren Tice's review at LexGo.

Savia proved to have the best solution to the question of when to talk to the audience, utilizing the stage changeover time between the first and second pieces on the first half of the concert. He relayed some interesting information about the configuration of the orchestra for Ralph Vaughn Williams'  Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and gave the Niles Quartet the recognition it richly deserved. Using the changeover, when we're usually left to watch stagehands work, was an effective approach to talking to the crowd. But if Savia is hired or comes back, he and the orchestra might want to choreograph it better. Giving the hands room to work made Savia prowl the dark edge of the stage. Some people I was sitting near seemed oblivious to the fact someone was in front of the crowd with a microphone and kept on chattering with each other. A spotlight may have highlighted that Savia was back out front.

There was one great moment for pre-show emcee Tackett. After a season of being stymied on his question about how many bass concertos each candidate will program, Savia said, "Ask who my first soloist was in Evansville, this season."

The answer was bassist extraordinaire Edgar Meyer, who played two concertos. Regardless of how anyone else felt, Savia undoubtedly earned some bass cred last night.

Click here to tell the Phil what you thought of Savia.

See the acclaimed UK Women's Choir, Sunday

The University of Kentucky Women’s Choir will present a benefit concert at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Hillary Boone Center to support its trip to the Music Educators National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.
The invitation to perform at the conference is one of two prestigious honors that director Lori Hetzel and the Women’s Choir have received this year. The group also has been invited to perform for the Southern Region Division of the American Choral Directors Association.

The fund-raiser will feature UK Opera Theatre star Brandy Lynn Hawkins, performing selections from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, and Megan McCauley, one of the winners of the 2007 Alltech competition. The concert also will feature a new spiritual by Roger Holland II, renowned composer for the Harlem Boys and Girls choirs, and UK professor Noemi Lugo singing two unpublished Venezuelan works.

In the copyrighted 2003 file photo, above, Hetzel readied the Women's Choir for a trip to sing at Carnegie Hall. Want any more evidence these ladies are good?

Introducing Alfred Savia

Alfred Savia conducts the Lexington Philharmonic in a Tuesday night rehearsal. Copyrighted Herald-Leader photos by David Stephenson.

Tonight, Lexington gets to meet candidate No. 5 to succeed George Zack as music director of the Lexington Philharmonic, and he's the closest neighbor of the first audition season.

Alfred Savia hails from Evansville, Ind., where he has been the music director of the Evansville Philharmonic  Orchestra for 19 years. In fact, some mutual players between the Evansville and Lexington Phils were among those who tipped Savia to the Lexington gig, and suggested he might be good for the group.

This evening, he'll take the Lexington Philharmonic out for a test drive at the Singletary Center for the Arts, conducting Gioacchino Rossini's Semiramide Overture, Ralph Vaughan Williams Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 8.

Earlier this week, we sat down with Savia at Buddy's for a chat about his music and his interest in Lexington. Here's a transcript of a portion of that interview.

Copious Notes: You easily have the longest tenure at one post of any of the candidates that have come through this season.

Alfred Savia: It's worked out that way. It's fortunate for me to have had a lot of other activities to balance with that. For six of those years, I was the associate conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony.
For three years, I was involved in bringing the orchestra in Orlando back to life. I was associate conductor many years ago when they had a full-time orchestra there, and I was the artistic director as they were emerging. In Indianapolis, even though there were six years formally as associate conductor, I continue to conduct quite frequently there. I was just on the phone with them about some of their summer programs. I do at least half of their summer season, still.

And I have sort of reconnected with the orchestra in New Orleans, where I was resident conductor before Evansville and Indianapolis. I just came back from my third time there since Katrina. Evansville has been a really wonderful base. It's a position that gives me time to do a lot of other things, as well.

CN: How has the New Orleans orchestra fared since Katrina?

AS: It actually had a rough time before Katrina, and one could have thought Katrina would have been the ultimate blow, but it's actually been the opposite. They've really rallied. When I was resident conductor in New Orleans, it was called the New Orleans Symphony. I went there really with the knowledge that things were precarious financially. The executive director was very open. He was a friend of mine and really wanted me to come and the orchestra wanted me there. But he also warned me, and his warnings turned out to be quite true. Fortunately, for myself, I found another position. But that orchestra was teetering many years and eventually did fold. The last concert they gave as the New Orleans Symphony -- before they had a hiatus of 14 months and then began playing again and eventually went under -- I conducted a family series and we added the the Farewell Symphony and had the musicians leave one by one. CNN covered it, and there was all kinds of national attention for that.

But eventually the orchestra reformed and is run as a cooperative orchestra. The board is 50 percent musicians, 50 percent business leaders and community leaders. With most orchestras, the board is non musicians. In this case, it's a cooperative. It took them a while to get a season going. They would just say, 'We're going to get as much work as we can put together and subdivide the pie.' Then Katrina hit, and of course they canceled a major part of the season, the whole first part of 2005 and '06, and they started it up again, I think, around March, and that's when I went in . . . They subsequently invited me back last season and just again this season.

CN: What has made Evansville a great base for you?

AS: Well, first, it's a great orchestra.

Zack on Zack's last concert

George Zack, shown conducting his last performance of Handel's Messiah, just announced the lineup for his last concert. Copyrighted Herald-Leader photo by Charles Bertram.

Last week, we got word on who will play and what will be played on George Zack's final concert conducting the Lexington Philharmonic as its music director, on Sept. 12: violinist Aaron Rosand playing Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68.

So, why those pieces and this soloist? We asked Maestro Zack if he could talk about his choices in an e-mail. Here is his reply:

Why Aaron Rosand?: He was a very young artist when I was in school at Wichita State University in the late sixties. His performance was with the Wichita Symphony under James P. Robertson and he played the Sibelius Violin Concerto. He so impressed me with his musicianship and violin skills that I vowed one day to have an orchestra worthy of his appearance. I arrived in Lexington in September 1972 but all the soloists for the coming season had already been selected by the artistic committee. That was necessary in order to secure dates for artists that usually worked a year or two in advance of the coming season. That meant 1973-74 was the first time I was able to hire artists of my choice. The spring of 1973, I attended the Symphony League's national conference and studied the rosters of artist managements looking for Mr. Rosand. I found him and approached his management with the following introduction: "I would like to hire the finest violinist in the world for next season!" Jacques Leisser, his manager, quickly replied, "that would be Aaron Rosand." I answered back, "you're right, now let's talk dates and fee." Since I was new to my position, Jacques made Aaron available to us at a very low fee that would not cripple the LPO budget. We settled on a date and fee and Jacques asked what piece I would select. "Sibelius."  He agreed and away we went on a history that included all the major concerti covering three centuries. We have since become fast friends and share many mutual friends here in Lexington and Florida.

Why the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto?: When I realized that my last concert was going to be this September, I called Aaron personally and asked him if he would consider playing with us again for my final appearance on the podium. He immediately agreed. I gave him his choice of works to perform and his immediate answer was "Tchaikovsky." That, in short, was the way that came about.

Why the Brahms First Symphony?: As to the selection of the major symphony on the program, Brahms First Symphony in C Minor for me was the obvious choice! When I arrived in February/March of 1972 to guest conduct as a candidate for the position with the LPO, my program consisted of The Freischutz Overture of Weber, the Bruch Violin Concerto, and Brahms First. I wanted to add a bit of Greek symmetry to my career here by ending my last concert with what I started with, hence, Brahms. I have always felt the work gave the orchestra a magnificent vehicle with which to demonstrate musicianship as well as technical prowess. It also would give me an opportunity to hear just what I was getting into as far as the  ensemble's willingness to work, ability to perform a major work, and to assess the various sections of the orchestra. With this as my last work, the audience can  now hear this marvelous ensemble they have in their midst and know that is more than worthy of support into the future.

The Philharmonic's busy candidates

This week, we’ll see Alfred Savia of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana, the fifth and final candidate this season for music director of the Lexington Philharmonic. The two-year search will end next spring after  another season with up to six auditions.

But it’s not as if the four candidates we’ve already seen went home and are sitting by their phones, waiting for Lexington to call. They’ve been busy conducting, announcing seasons, even trying out for other jobs. Here’s a rundown of what’s been up with them:

Kayoko Dan: In terms of media coverage of her activities, Dan, who auditioned in October, has been the quietest candidate. According to a short profile published in January in The ­Arizona Republic, Dan’s primary duties as assistant conductor of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra have been leading school and “People’s Pops” concerts.

Alexander Platt: The November guest conductor just signed a five-year contract extension with the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin that will take him through the 2012-13 season. We should note that in the orchestra conducting world, music directors often hold more than one post, and his new contract in Wisconsin in no way puts him out of the running for the Lexington job.

He is also in the running for the music directorship of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra in Arizona, where on March 7 he conducted a program including Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3, which he also conducted here. Platt also has continued his first season as principal conductor of the Boca Raton Symphonia.

Darryl One: Three other orchestras are considering One, who auditioned this season in Flagstaff; Midland, Mich.; and Beaumont, Texas. All of those orchestras are making decisions this spring. At his current post, One wraps up another season with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in Texas in late April.
Daniel Meyer: The candidate who ­auditioned in February has been announced as a finalist for two music director posts in Virginia — Fairfax and Richmond — as well as in Fort Wayne, Ind.

He also is continuing his regular duties as music director of the Asheville Symphony in North Carolina and Erie Philharmonic in Pennsylvania and as resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Alfred Savia: This week, in Lexington, he’ll conduct an all-orchestra concert of Giacchino Rossini’s Semiramide Overture, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

Earlier this month, Savia was back in an old stomping ground, conducting the ­Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He once was resident conductor of the New Orleans ­Symphony Orchestra.

We’ll have more on Savia, as we have with the other conductor candidates, later this week at LexGo.com and in Friday’s Weekender.

Meanwhile, what else is up with our conductor search?

The names of the remaining candidates will be revealed at an event before the April 25 season finale, featuring outgoing director George Zack conducting the Philharmonic and Lexington Singers inWolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Zack’s final concert will be Sept. 12, with violin soloist Aaron Rosand, and the program will feature Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. The rest of the season is expected to feature guest conductors, save for the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah in December, to be conducted by Lexington Singers music director Jefferson Johnson. By this time next year, we should be close to knowing who will succeed Zack.

Interview: Yo-Yo Ma

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is one of classic music’s few marquee names among those who aren’t ardent fans of the genre. He’s become an unqualified star through frequent appearances on television and in movie scores, and a number of cross-genre recordings, including a pair of Appalachian projects (Appalachian Journey and Appalachia Waltz) with fiddler Mark O’Connor and bassist Edgar Meyer.

Ma comes to Danville on Sunday, but not to sit in the spotlight alone. He’ll be the cellist in a quartet made up of longtime colleagues Jonathan Gandelsman, Colin Jacobsen and Nicholas Cords. They will perform a concert of works from Central Europe and the Mediterranean, including Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 and works by contemporary composers such as Giovanni Sollima and Tigran Mansurian.

We took the opportunity of having Ma (photo, above, by Steven Danelian) on the phone last week to talk about a number of things regarding his work and music. Here are excerpts from that chat.

The photos, below, in descending order are Jonathan Gandelsman by Amber Darragh, Colin Jacobsen by Todd Rosenberg and Nicholas Cords by Ingrid Hertfelder.

Q: Being here in Central Kentucky,  I think a lot of people know and love the Appalachian projects you recorded with Edgar Meyer and Mark O’Connor.

A: I love those people and I learned so much from them. The music is so fabulous, I feel really lucky to have had a chance to work with them in depth and over a good period of time. I obviously still keep in touch with them.

Q: Did that bring you to this part of the country very much?

A: Yes, to Tennessee and Texas, but not to Kentucky. But early in my career, I spent a lot of time going to Louisville to work with the orchestra, at first with Jorge Mester, and of course the native-son pianist, Lee Luvisi. I used to see him at a summer festival we played in Vermont, and he was a beautiful, beautiful musician, and very loyal to the state.

Q: What has been the enduring effect of the Appalachian projects in your music and your playing?

A: It opened so many new worlds to me. The idea of two things: One is trans-national music, the whole idea which Edgar and Mark explained to me is that you have the Scottish-Irish music going down to Canada, to Cape Breton, to Appalachia, to Texas fiddling style. It’s an unbroken line where the music is performed differently and in different times, but really, it’s that kind of flow of music for hundreds of years. The second thing is the oral-tradition part, learned and passed on from generation to generation with such devotion and fun and passion.

Q: Was that a jumping-off point? Because certainly you have done numerous other cultural explorations. When did you get interested in exploring distinctive cultural music?

A: I was always interested in exploring all music. I never thought in terms of categories, I just thought within classical music there are so many different styles in terms of both time and geography. How do you go back 300 years and advocate for someone who was writing in that particular voice? What kind of context is it?

NY Phil in NK

This CNN clip, an interview with Christiane Amanpour, is a good wrapup of the event, the music and the politics surrounding it.

Classical music fans had to love hearing a steady stream of CNN promos over the weekend for coverage of the New York Philharmonic. The original 24-hour news station put ace foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour on the story of the orchestra's historic visit to Pyongyang this week, telling you just what a big deal this event was.

News outlets around the world were all over the story, bringing the sounds of Georgie Gershwin and Antonin Dvorak to news broadcasts. And it was covered in a variety of ways. Trying to soak up coverage, her were some of my favorite takes:

~ The New York Times' classical music reporter Dan Wakin has been filing thorough blog posts on the visit.

~ Writer and critic Steve Smith has been filing for his own Night After Night blog as well as links to his coverage for Symphony magazine and Time Out New York. I particularly like the wide-eyed nature of these posts from a reporter who never thought he'd be on an assignment like this.

~ NPR Music has been covering the event, including an excellent report from Anthony Kuhn for Tuesday's edition of All Things Considered.

Philharmonic candidate's 'icy' reception

At the pre-show chat before Friday night's Lexington Philharmonic concert, a member of the audience asked guest conductor Daniel Meyer what his impression of Lexington was.

"Slick," he said with a grin.

"When I left my home in Pittsburgh, I thought, 'You don't need your hat and gloves, you're going to Lexington,'" said Meyer (photo, left, by Rich Copley). "And I've been freezing."

Chat moderator Joe Tackett demurred, "We do have summer."

Indeed, this week's icy weather played havoc with the rehearsal schedule for Meyer's concert with the LPO, essentially an audition to succeed George Zack as music director or the orchestra. The winter  weather Thursday night, which had WLEX boasting it had more than 400 closings and cancellations up on its website, also torpedoed the dress rehearsal for Friday's concert, as well as several other events.

So, Friday at 5 p.m., just three hours before the downbeat, Meyer was on stage at the Singletary Center conducting that final dress.

"That's a lot of playing for one day," Tackett, a Philharmonic bass player and frequent Copious Notes commenter said before the concert. "We'll see how it goes."

Check Loren Tice's review for his take on how it went.

It was a concert of familiar works with the Barber Adagio and Dvorak New World Symphony on the program, as well as a dramatic take on the Schumann Piano Concerto, with soloist Sara Buechner kicking off her shoes to play the piece.

The tension of the afternoon rehearsal didn't really show on Meyer, 36, when he took the Singletary stage for the pre-show chat.

The resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and music director of the orchestras in Erie, Penn., and Ashville, N.C., breezily talked about his background, growing up the son of a music educator in Cleveland. In fact, Meyer's mom and other family members from Ohio were in the hall Friday night for the concert.

Tackett joked that a famous musician had once written, "Beware the conductor who brings his own audience."

Meyer did also give Tackett the most decisive rebuff to his standard question of how many bass concertos the prospective conductor would program: "Bass concertos are a scourge, and should never be played," Meyer said with an evil grin.

Meyer did address the concert audience briefly after intermission, mainly talking about the high points of the New World Symphony, and even giving the audience a taste of his trained singing voice by singing a few bars of the spiritual Goin' Home, the central tune of Dvorak's American masterpiece.

While the weather outside was frightful, Meyer clearly had warmed to Lexington and its orchestra, closing the pre-show saying, "Lexington is rich not only in wealth, but also in great human beings."

Weigh in: Did you go to the show? Click here to tell the Phil what you thought of Meyer.

Do you watch the orchestra?

Henry Fogel is the president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, an amazingly well traveled expert on symphonic music and he writes a heckuva a thought provoking blog. Last week, he offered a post about the visual aspect of watching an orchestra, and how that is an occasionally controversial topic in the world of classical music. The idea is the old school feels people are in the concert hall to hear, not see, but newer audiences expect a visual aspect to the music. We're not necessarily looking for choreographed movement or any kind of "show," but we are expecting to see musicians visibly engaged in the music they are presenting. The video, above, is Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, which Fogel cites in his post as an example of an invigorating performance.

I'm not going to attempt to regurgitate Fogel's post, because he covers the topic very well, and I encourage you to click the link and read what he had to say. Reading the post took me both back and forward. Thinking about engaged orchestral musicians reminded me of last Friday night's concert with the University of Kentucky Symphony and cellist Lynn Harrell, which was as animated a symphonic performance as I've seen in a while. It also made me think about the current conductor search the Lexington Philharmonic is engaged in, which continues with tonight's performance conducted by Daniel Meyer. We're now seeing a variety of conducting styles, and the ways in which the orchestra responds. While we obviously want to discuss if we like what we're hearing, isn't it also valid to ask if we like what we're seeing?

UPDATE: Interesting that Fogel returns to the subject in his post today. Also interesting that he addresses Yo-Yo Ma, because Copious Notes talked to Ma yesterday, to advance his March 2 concert in Danville, and he had interesting things to say about the objective of performance. More on that next week.

Introducing Daniel Meyer

Daniel Meyer conducts this Lexington Philharmonic in a rehearsal Feb. 18 at the Singletary Center for the Arts. Copyrighted LexGo photos by David Stephenson.

Daniel Meyer has had a transitory relationship with Kentucky. Namely, he's mostly seen the Commonwealth while passing through en route from Knoxville, where he was once the assistant conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, to his family home of Ohio. So, when hot browns came up over lunch at Dudley's Tuesday afternoon, he wasn't familiar with the Bluegrass State's No. 1 comfort food.

But when it came time to order, Meyer dove in, ordering the Downtown Debbie Brown, Dudley's variation on the Hot Brown, and in true Kentuckian fashion, he promised to eat light for dinner.

This week, Meyer has been getting a heaping helping of the state he used to just pass through as he is the fourth candidate to to succeed George Zack as music director of the Lexington Philharmonic. Friday night, he'll conduct the orchestra in Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony and Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto with soloist Sara Buechner.

Meyer's current gigs include resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and music director of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. During our lunchtime chat, in between bites of ham, turkey, cheese, etc., Meyer talked about his career, passion for music eduction and desire to settle down. Here's a lightly edited transcript of our interview:

Q: What attracted you to Lexington?

A: I’ve always had an interest in Lexington because I used to drive by it all the time. I used to be the assistant conductor of the Knoxville Symphony and my family lives in Ohio. I have family in Cincinnati and Columbus and Cleveland. And I’d always drive past Lexington in order to get to Knoxville.
I knew about the Philharmonic, and I knew about its reputation and I knew it was a beautiful community and I knew about the connection to UK School of Music, which is really highly regarded. These were all factors that made this an interesting spot. Not to mention that my wife (Mary Persin, photo, right, courtesy of the Biava Quartet) and I are newly married and looking for a place to put down some roots and start a family, somewhere with a decent airport, where we can get to the places that we need to go, because she’s a performing artist, too. She’s a violist in the Biava String Quartet. So, we’re looking for a base of operations. Right now, I have residency in Pittsburgh and she has an apartment in New York City, so we’re looking to consolidate our efforts.

Lexington had a lot of interesting potential.

Q: Driving through, have you had any chances to stop and look around?

A: Just superficially. Nothing substantial.

Q: How did you get interested in music?

A: My mother was a music teacher in public schools. She taught K through six outside of Cleveland. She started all of us singing when were old enough to sing. I’m the oldest of four kids and we all took piano when were in kindergarten or first grade, and we could take up another instrument when we were in third grade. I took up the violin. My sister took the flute, my other sister took the cello and my other brother took the violin.

Artsy TV (video included)

The cast of the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, which originated at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park. Photo by Joe Sinnott, courtesy of Thirteen/WNET.

I had the best of intentions of screening the Great Performances film of the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, which airs at 9 tonight on PBS. But, to paraphrase one of my favorite Lyle Lovett tunes, "He wasn't good, but he had good intentions."

SO, life happened, and I haven't gotten to it. But the word is this is a first rate film of a first rate performance, featuring Raul Esparza in a production that has the singers playing their own instruments. If this is a Sondheim you've missed, then you must be in front of the tube tonight (It does repeat at 1 a.m. and airs again at 3 a.m. Friday and Monday, for night owls and those of you with video recorders). Years ago, back in the Dick Pardy era, a touring production rolled through the Opera House. Pardy told me one of his great frustrations was that shows needed a movie version to help sell them, and Company was a hard sell because there was no film of it. But it was a gem, and I'm really glad he badgered me to make sure I saw it. I can already hear the opening in my head -- "Bobby . . . Bobby . . . "

This version originated at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park, and the Cincy Enquirer's Jackie Demaline gave the Great Performances version a rave, writing:

"This Company revival was spellbinding in its original staging at Playhouse. It remained wonderful in its Broadway transfer, although adapting from a thrust to a proscenium noticeably flattened the staging. For television, 10 cameras have gone a long way to restoring the magic as friends swirl around an emotionally isolated Bobby."

Click here for Jackie's complete review.

Also, read about ABC's film version of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald.

Speaking of great arts television, if you missed the 60 Minutes profile of Gustavo Dudamel, check this out:

 

CBS is the only major network that still devotes quality time to covering performing arts, primarily on 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning, and Bob Simon's piece on the conducting prodigy is a prime example. It conveys the excitement swirling around the 26-year-old conductor who took New York by storm in the fall and will be taking over the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I don't normally sit in front of my computer for 12-minute video clips, but this is well worth it (there is a commercial before the segment, but it wraps up quickly).

Advice: Don't wash your mp3 player

"I don't know how to tell you this," is never a good way to start a conversation, particularly when it comes from my wife. She's not the type to grimly say, "I don't know how to tell you this," and then scream, "WE JUST WON A MILLION DOLLARS!"

That's my shtick, not hers.

So, when she called me at work Tuesday and said, "I don't know how to tell you this," I knew something had died, been broken, Milli Vanilli reunited, or something like that.

"Do you want me to tell you what I found in the pocket of your pants that were in the washing machine?" she asked.

What?! My mind raced. I hadn't done anything recently that would leave incriminating evidence. Did one of the kids give me something I was supposed to take care of, that now had the consistency of tissue paper? Did I leave a pen in my pocket, thereby creating a tie-dye effect on some clothes but, you know, not in a way that looked groovy?

I couldn't think of anything, so I asked, "What?"

"You know your mp3 player . . . " Kate asked.

"Oh nooooo," I thought.

It was Tuesday. Snow day. I was trying to do some work at home and get some laundry done,  including my thick black corduroy trousers that I had put my player in the night before. But, as I put them in the wash, I probably hadn't felt the mp3 in the pocket because, you know, they're big . . . thick . . . corduroy . . . "Oh nooooo!"

"I've tried everything," she said, "It's not doing anything."

I said, "Thanks for telling me," and hung up.

Last year, I finally joined the mp3 generation. When you're married with two late elementary school kids, your money takes other priorities. I don't go out and buy the latest gadget the way I did when I was the first of my friends to own a CD player and a VCR.

But, when I finally got an mp3, I was serious about it, and not just for fun. Recent playlists include "UKSO Harrell Concert" (Music that's being played on the University of Kentucky Symphony concert, Friday, with cellist Lynn Harrell). Pretty much any story on this blog or in the paper about music in the past several months I've reported using my mp3. I was seriously considering writing it off on my taxes.

So, how was I going to live without it.

Show goes on for UK musical group

Above: Luther Lewis and Patrick Joel Martin sing Lily's Eyes from The Secret Garden at the debut production by the UK Musical and Operetta Organization. Below: Rachel Farrar and Christopher Baker in Masochism Tango from TomFoolery. LexGo photos by Rich Copley.

Musical theater has been an undercurrent of the University of Kentucky voice program for years.

The annual Grand Night for Singing Broadway revue was developed to give students a taste of musicals, because UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey believed it was important for students to have more than just opera in their repertoire.

The opera program has collaborated with the UK Theatre Department on several musicals and produced its own musical, Carousel, in 2006. Some genuine musical theater talents have rolled through the program, including Michael Turay, Gregory’s brother. But no formal musical program or organization has been established, until now.

Monday night, as snow and sleet piled up on the street outside of Natasha’s Cafe, the University of Kentucky Musical and Operetta Organization made its debut.

No, it’s not a degree program. It’s a club, made up of UK students who want to present musicals and operetta. Think of the scene at Cambridge in Chariots of Fire where Harold Abrahams is shopping for campus organizations to join and hooks up with the Gonville and Caius Gilbert & Sullivan Society to a rousing chorus of, “If everybody’s somebody, than no one’s anybody.”

Just two-and-a-half months ago, the group was merely a concept in the minds of graduate student Susan Rahmsdorff and several other UK voice students. Three weeks before Monday, it became an official club and set a date at Natasha’s for its debut.

Our Lincoln: art of record and rememberance

Nicholas Provenzale portrayed young Abraham Lincoln in a few selections from Joseph Baber's forthcoming opera River of Time, at the Our Lincoln program Sunday night at the Singletary Center for the Arts. Below: Jim Sayre delivered The Gettysburg Address as Lincoln. Copyrighted LexGo photos by Joseph Rey Au.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Kentucky) opened Sunday night's Our Lincoln presentation at the Singletary Center for the Arts saying, "The arts are how we tell our story."

For the next two-and-a-half hours, a wide array of Kentucky artists proved that point.

Our Lincoln celebrated the Kentucky native who became one of the United States' most pivotal Presidents with primary source art, created in his day, and works that are being developed to this day in tribute to Abraham Lincoln. In two-and-a-half hours, the audience got to see how art can tell our story from the full gale of a symphony orchestra and chorus to the simplicity of words, read by a woman whose voice has been nurtured by her Central Kentucky roots.

Our Lincoln director James Rodgers constructed the evening so that pieces such as Kentucky Poet Laureate Jane Gentry Vance reading Edwin Markham's Lincoln, The Man of the People and the Lexington Philharmonic, Lexington Singers and Lexington Singers Children's Choirs' rendition of Jay Flippin and Rodgers new setting of Jesse Stuart's Kentucky is My Land informed the overall story. One of the best juxtapositions was  emcee Nick Clooney recounting the Battle of Perryville followed by Lexington native and Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Nathan Cole performing the mournful Ashokan Farewell with his wife and fellow CSO violinist Akiko Tarumoto.

And there was Kentucky Chautauqua performer Jim Sayre showing how life can become art, with a recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

This evening didn't have a lot of precedents. The closest thing to it in recent Lexington arts history was the Spirit of America Benefit Concert for the Victims of Sept. 11, 2001, which was held at Singletary Oct. 9, 2001, featuring the Philharmonic, Singers, the American Spiritual Ensemble and numerous other soloists and groups. Though Lincoln met a tragic end and presided over a tragic war, this event was a celebration of the fact that Kentucky produced a great President. And in that celebration, we were reminded that the Bluegrass has also produced a lot of great artists who can tell his story.

~ The American Spiritual Ensemble, definitely one of the highlights of Our Lincoln, will be part of festivities Tuesday, Feb. 12, in Hodgenville. This is the big Lincoln ceremony that will be attended by First Lady Laura Bush and all of that good stuff. If you want to watch, the ceremony will be carried on C-SPAN3 -- don't ask me where to get C-SPAN3 -- and streamed at c-span.org, starting at 10:30 a.m. EST.

Putting student musicians on the air

Joseph Hudson of Lexington played trombone at a December taping of From the Top. The show will be aired Sunday, Feb. 10. Photo courtesy of From the Top.

Most Sunday afternoons, it works out that the Copley family is in the car, headed from church to home or doing some errands, when this kids’ show comes on the radio.

On it, teens and pre-teens express their desires for Mini Coopers, talk about their admiration for Hannah Montana, play silly games and, on many occasions, giggle incessantly.

They also play classical music so amazingly well that if you tune in midway through a piece, you’ll probably be surprised to hear, when it’s over, that you were listening to a 12-year-old.

From the Top, heard locally at noon Sundays on WEKU-FM 88.9, is a weekly showcase of young musicians hosted by concert pianist Christopher O’Riley.

Sunday we have the chance to tune in and hear local kid-made-good Joseph Hudson, a trombone player from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. Hudson will play Arthur Pryor’s Thoughts of Love, and we’ll hear what else happens to him under O’Riley’s spotlight — or, we should say, happened, since the program was recorded in Cleveland on Dec. 14. His brother, trumpeter Caleb, could have briefed him on what to expect because Caleb appeared on the show several years ago.

One of the great things about From the Top, of course, is that it gives young musicians a national stage for their talent, on a weekly basis. We have plenty of pedestals like this for students who excel in sports and, once a year, in spelling. High-achieving kids in other academic and artistic areas rarely get this kind of exposure, though they work every bit as hard as student athletes.

Sweetening the deal is that From the Top works hard to bring out the regular kid in its guests.

Darryl One makes his case

Joe Tackett (yes, the Joe Tackett) moderated a pre-show chat with Lexington Philharmonic music director candidate Darryl One (right) before the Jan. 18 concert. Below: One accepts a standing ovation after the show. LexGo photos by Rich Copley.

Museum can be a dirty word in classical music circles.

In a genre struggling to assert its relevance to new audiences, museum usually represents an attitude that the masterworks are museum pieces, merely representative of another place and time.

But, at his pre-concert chat Friday night, Darryl One didn't hesitate to use the term when describing an orchestra's role in its community.

An orchestra, he said, is "a curator of a unique, very wonderful type of museum that doesn't exist in an exhibit, that doesn't exist in a building, but exists as the orchestra plays and makes the soundwaves move out. That's the product of the geniuses of our time, when we think of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and in the case of tonight's concert, Respighi, Poulenc and Tchaikovsky. These were exceptional men with skills and gifts beyond mere mortal men. And to have their minds exposed to us in these wonderful sonic landscapes, that's what an orchestra will get for you  . . . we're the caretakers of that history."

Lest any contemporary music fans fear One is a modern composer hater, he later expressed admiration for contemporary composers such as Michael Torke and film scorers such as John Williams.

One (pronounced OH-nay) was in town as one of the candidates to succeed George Zack as music director of the Philharmonic. He kept his stage patter to a minimum, greeting the audience at the beginning of the second half of the concert. He noted that, as he mainly circulates in Southern Texas and California, he hadn't experienced temperatures like this week's 30s and 20s in a while -- wait'll Sunday morning, Darryl -- but added he'd been warmed by our Kentucky hospitality.

In the first half of the concert, he had a good sense of occasion, making sure local talent and organ soloist Schulyer Robinson got his moment in the spotlight after his performance of Poulenc's Organ Concerto. And the audience gave One a spontaneous standing O at the end of the concert, after a hot rendition of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. Read Loren Tice's review.

Folks in the hall may have noted something missing from the stage Friday: a conductor's score. Asked about that by pre-show chat by moderator and Philharmonic bassist Joe Tackett, One said he memorizes the scores so, "I can be with the musicians as much as possible."

Nothing between the curator and the art.

Introducing Darryl One

Darryl One, the third candidate to succeed George Zack as music director of the Philharmonic, leads the orchestra in a rehearsal Monday night. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Joseph Rey Au.

Darryl One had an appointment to meet the press Tuesday, but something else came up: a pickup basketball game.

Invited to play a midday  game at the High Street YMCA, the conductor asked to delay a lunch date for 90 minutes.

Some around here might say the third aspirant to succeed George Zack as music director of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra has his priorities in the right order. And the maestro, who holds a master’s degree from Indiana University, talks enthusiastically about his excitement at being in yet another basketball hotbed.

But that’s only after a good two hours of chatter about conducting and music while sitting at Cheapside Bar and Grill.

One (pronounced Oh-nay) comes to Lexington from Modesto, Calif., where he was the music director of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Association until 2005. He still lives there with his wife and two teenage daughters. He is still music director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in Victoria, Texas. Prior to those jobs, One  was associate conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Denver Symphony and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. One of the big reasons he likes Lexington is its proximity to his family's home in Chicago and his wife's family in Atlanta.

Our chat was to preview the big concert Friday night, when One takes the podium at the Singletary Center for the Arts to conduct a program of Ottorino Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III, Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Organ and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.

Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

On how he got into music . . .

When I was in high school, math was my, ‘strong suit.’ So, I though that’s what I would want to major in. I was in the high school choir, but I didn’t know too much about music back then. I had played drums in a garage band. We played what was current at that time. This one guitarist liked the Edgar Winter Group, so we did Free Ride and things like that. We played Doobie Brothers. I liked Chicago, but of course, we needed horns like that. These guys wanted to make money, so we tried to be a wedding band and learned things like the Hokey Pokey. It was mostly an opportunity to sock your drums and turn your guitar up high.

In high school I played in the high school jazz band for a while. So, when I went to school, I thought I’d go as a math major and see what I could do with that.

But I wanted to learn more about music. I had drum lessons, but nothing about harmony or theory. So I went to the music department and asked if I could sign up for classes. They were giving placement exams, which were more aural than knowledge, and I scored higher than anybody. So I had to wait a year, because the major section of theory that was being offered that semester was level one, and the theory teacher thought I’d be bored with that. So I came in at level two, and I really liked it.

I thought, maybe I should think about being in music. But I didn’t know exactly what, since I wasn’t a virtuoso violinist or anything. I was a garage band drummer, so I couldn’t make a career at an instrument and performing on it. So I went into composition and liked that. My undergraduate degree was in theory and composition.

But by my senior year, I was assistant to the orchestra for two years and I had already conducted a staged version of Magic Flute. I had the understudy cast for the opera, so I coached them, and as a reward, the conductor gave me the orchestra to do a staged concert version of Magic Flute.
I was a little more enterprising and there was a chamber orchestra and I got wind that the conductor didn’t want to do it. So I went to the head of the music department, and he let me have the chamber orchestra. Now I had a class, and I didn’t have to beg people to play in a pick-up group.

One of the teachers there liked contemporary music, so he put together a contemporary chamber ensemble. But he didn’t want to conduct. He wanted someone else to do it. So, I was director of the contemporary chamber music ensemble, and I had the chamber orchestra, and I was assistant to the orchestra in my senior year, all while being a composition and theory major. Needless to say, I was thinking about conducting more than I was thinking about composing.

Great classical doubleheader on Charlie Rose tonight

Note: We're not sure what happened with KET2 last night. They ran a documentary well past 11:30, and then joined Charlie Rose in progress, well into the Alsop interview. Thanks to TiVo, I caught the 1 a.m. rerun (first run?) on KET and will post some highlights tomorrow.

This is a day when I'm happy to be on the Charlie Rose (photo, right) update list, because he's got a great lineup tonight classical music fans won't want to miss:

~ Alex Ross, the New Yorker critic whose new history of 20th Century Music, The Rest is Noise, is essential reading.

~ Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director Marin Alsop, the first woman to be named music director of a major American orchestra.

In Central Kentucky, Charlie's on KET2 (Insight Channel 15) at 11:30 p.m., and then it repeats at 1 a.m. on KET (Insight Channel 12).

The Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on KET

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in November. Copyrighted photo by Joe Sinnott for Thirteen/WNET.

One of the cultural events of 2007 in the United States was the Berlin Philharmonic's extended visit to New York in November.

Two posts ago, we were discussing Germany's fall from its status as a cultural cradle into evil during the World Wars. The 17-day Berlin in Lights festival celebrated the city's re-emergence as a cultural capitol. We get to see highlights of the event at 9 tonight on KET. Great Performances' Carnegie Hall Celebrates Berlin will feature the Philharmonic performing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9, as well as excerpts from a performance of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with 120 dancers from Manhattan Public schools. We'll also be treated to hotshot young conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who just made his debut conducting the New York Philharmonic and has been named the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leading his Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.

Coverage of the festival made it sound amazing, so this sampler should be a treat.

(Rare) Book review: 'The Rest is Noise' by Alex Ross

Critic and impresario Joe Horowitz and critic Alex Ross speak at the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University in October.

No one could ever accuse me of being a prolific book reader.

I’m not a speed reader, and with a wife, two kids, a busy schedule and a job that demands a lot of reading, the large swaths of time needed to devour a book are few and far between for me.

I do have a pile of good intentions — books that were started but faded from mind as more fetching reads emerged.

So, when a book overcomes those hurdles and continues to reassert itself, I know I’ve found something special. “Special” is an understatement for Alex Ross’s The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century.

At this point, I might be the last journalist to sing this remarkable tome’s praises, but I’m going to sing them anyway because this book is essential for knowing and understanding the history of classical music in the 20th century. It’s an important period to understand for anyone who cares about the genre. The 20th century was the time in Western culture when classical music went from enjoying a prominent place in society to more of a niche genre that struggled to figure out whom, if anyone, it was supposed to address.

There are all kinds of theories as to why this happened.

2007: Top arts stories

Shakespeare at Equus Run was one of several events launched in the Summer of 2007 to fill the void left by the closing of the Lexington Shakespeare Festival. Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com photo by Matt Goins.

"This is a developing story . . . " is a fairly common phrase in the news biz, and it certainly applies to the arts in Lexington in 2007. When you start thinking back on the big stories of the past year, several of them were stories that carried over from 2006. And heck, some of them won't be resolved by the time this piece is being penned in 2008.

There's quite a bit of evolution and change taking place here, and that usually doesn't easily fit into a calendar year. But evolution and change are also exciting, so let's see what was going on.

Summer reboot: One of the late-breaking stories of 2006 was the dissolution of the Lexington Shakespeare Festival. The arts community responded big time, filling the summer with events including Actors Guild of Lexington's Shakespeare at Equus Run and another festival that swooped into the Arboretum to replace the Shakespeare Festival. The summer also saw the debut of new chamber music festivals at the beginning and end of the season: The Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, featuring the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at Shakertown and the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, featuring Lexington native and Chicago Symphony violinist Nathan Cole, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion.

This story will continue to develop in 2008. Actors Guild has already decided to pass on presenting a indoor musical, as it did with Kiss Me Kate, this year, and SummerFest will likely look different in its 2008 offerings than it did this year. We'll keep you posted.

The search begins: George Zack is an indisputable institution in the Lexington arts community. So it meant a major change was afoot late last year when he announced he was stepping down as music director of the Lexington Philharmonic after 35 years on the job. This year, the change started happening. Though Zack's final concert isn't until September 2008, and his successor won't be announced until 2009, we got a look at the first two candidates for his job -- Phoenix Symphony Orchestra assistant conductor Kayoko Dan and Alexander Platt, who has several orchestras under his baton -- and an idea what the Phil will look like without Zack. In 2008, we should see at least five more candidates for the job.

Laura Bell takes the lead: No, this did not happen in Lexington. But if you ever wanted a statement that you can be born and raised in Lexington, go to school here, sharpen your skills in local arts entities and go on to top the marquee in a major cultural capitol, Laura Bell Bundy's star turn in Legally Blonde -- the Musical was a strong one. The Lexington native and Lexington Catholic graduate culminated years of working through stage and film to grab the leading role in one of Broadway's hottest shows, and a Tony nomination for the performance. Bundy's a performer with a lot of irons in the fire, so we'll see where 2008 leads her.

Zirkel's passing spotlights his cause: Ross Zirkle's death from cancer robbed the University of Kentucky of one of its beloved art professors and Lexington of a strong and active member of its visual arts community. It also revived a cause that Zirkle had fought passionately for: Getting the University of Kentucky administration to pay attention to the deplorable conditions at the Reynolds Building where the art department is housed. Despite problems that prompted an accreditation  team to call the building, "a disaster waiting to happen," and previous problems including a collapsing staircase, the University of Kentucky administration has not made renovating the facility a top priority. We'll see if Zirkle's passing prompts any change of heart in '08.

The UK Symphony goes on the record and on the road: This year saw conductor John Nardolillo putting his orchestra on the national map with achievements including recording a CD for Naxos Records, the largest classical music label in the world, and playing Carnegie Hall with folk legend Arlo Guthrie. That CD of ballet music by George Frederick McKay should come out in 2008, and we'll see how else Nardolillo turns heads in the new year.

UK Opera joins forces with San Francisco Opera and composer: The University of Kentucky Opera Theatre increased its national profile joining with the San Francisco Opera's Merola Young Artist Program for the world premier of Thomas Pasatieri's comic opera Hotel Casablanca. It put the UK company in league with one of the nation's strongest opera companies, a prolific composer, and it stamped its name on a show that could wind up on stages around the world.

The Mayor issues a challenge: New Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry made the Lexington arts community nervous when he initially declined to declare a donation to the LexArts annual Campaign for the Arts as the effort got underway, breaking a tradition set by several of his predecessors. But he came back with an interesting proposal: He allocated $350,000 to the campaign and offered an additional $150,000, if LexArts could match the grant by coming up with new donors to pledge an additional $150,000, at no more than $1,000 each. LexArts rose to the challenge and acquired a new base of support, thanks to Newberry's visionary proposal that he hopes to apply to other concerns in the city. Now it's up to LexArts to build on the money and the new donor base.

Album review: Golijov's 'Youth Without Youth'

Osvaldo Golijov and Francis Ford Coppola working on the score of Youth Without Youth. Copyrighted photo by Anahid Nazarian for Deutsche Grammophon.

Osvaldo Golijov
Youth Without Youth - five out of five stars

A great film score simultaneously transports you back to the cinema and stands on its own. Osvaldo Golijov claims he is not a movie composer, but for Francis Ford Coppola's first feature in a decade, he has written a great film score.

Coppola certainly knows from great film scores. His father, Carmine Coppola, was an esteemed musician who even scored a few of his son's films. The late Nino Rota's music was a vital part of the first two Godfather movies. And Coppola  has a great ear for selecting music, making Richard Wagner and The Doors vital parts of Apocalypse Now. So being tapped to compose for Coppola has to be a humbling task.

But Golijov rises to it, delivering music as lush, dreamy and jarring as the film it accompanies. Based on a novella by Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade, Youth Without Youth is the story of a 70-year-old man who becomes young again and acquires extraordinary mental powers after being struck by lightning. Golijov's score is as diverse as you would expect for an Argentinian composer writing for a movie that takes place largely in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The music is augmented by indigenous instruments such as a Hungarian dulcimer and an Iranian spike fiddle. They provide intriguing contrasts to the Bucharest Metropolitan Orchestra, which performed the music. But the biggest thing that says Golijov, a Grammy-winning writer who frequently works with artists such as Kronos Quartet, is indeed a film composer are those purely orchestral passages that tell the story. Listen to the contrast between the aching beauty of Love Lost: Laura, a lament for the hero's failed engagement as a young man, and The Girl in Room 6, which suggests sinister nature of his hypersexual relationship with a woman who will betray him.

Youth Without Youth will never be as big as The Godfather. It's too thick and ambiguous for mass appeal. But for people who see it and embrace it, Golijov's music will be inseparable from the film, and this soundtrack recording  may become inseparable from your ears.

Note: Youth Without Youth, the film, is currently scheduled to open in Lexington in late January.

Review: Vaughan Williams' 'Hodie'

Conductor Hilary Davan Wetton led the new CD of Ralph Vaughan Williams Hodie. Photo from the Guilford Choral Society.

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Hodie/four out of five stars

One of the most frequent comments about Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Hodie (pronounced Ho-dee-yay) is the remarkable energy of the score for it having been written late in the composer’s life. Conductor Hilary Davan Wetton, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guilford Choral Society honor that legacy with their new recording of Vaughan Williams’ work, whose title had the vital translation “this day.” The day in question is that of Jesus Christ’s birth, and the tone is appropriately celebratory -- no dwelling on darker Easter themes here. The work is in a familiar Nine Lessons and Carols-type format, with the narrations coming in the sweet, rounded voices of the St. Catherine’s Middle School Choir. Exemplifying the youthful energy of Vaughan Williams’ late-life composition is its pairing on the disc with the composer’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols, written 42 years before Hodie. The 11-minute work is often paired with the cantata on recordings. Here, the Fantasia is given a gregarious reading, particularly by baritone Stephen Gadd, who also sings on Hodie, along with tenor Peter Hoare and soprano Janice Watson. The performances of all the artists and the glistening works, along with Naxos Records’ nice price tag of under $10, make this a Christmas keeper.

Rich Copley
rcopley@herald-leader.com

Check this out: Charles Bertram's fantastic photos from George Zack's final Messiah.

Zack's 'Messiah'

Tonight is probably Lexington Philharmonic music director George Zack's last time conducting George Frideric Handel's Messiah. It's a piece he clearly loves. In an interview a few weeks ago, he told us, "I keep reminding the singers and the orchestra, this is probably still, in my mind, the most creative and inspirational piece of music, or any art, we've ever had in the history of man's creation."

One of the things we talked about was how Messiah is such a big work, most conductors cut it to form their Messiah. So, tonight when Zack takes this stage, this will be his take on Handel's masterpiece:

Overture (Orchestra)
Comfort Ye, My People (Tenor)
Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted (Tenor)
And the Glory of the Lord (Chorus)
Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts (Baritone)
But Who May Abide (Baritone)
And He Shall Purify (Chorus)
Behold a Virgin Shall Conceive (Alto)
0 Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Alto)
0 Thou That Tellest Good Tidings (Chorus)
For Behold Darkness Shall Cover the Earth (Baritone)
The People That Walked In Darkness (Baritone)
For Unto Us A Child Is Born (Chorus)

Intermission

Pastoral Symphony (Orchestra)
There Were Shepherds Abiding in the Field (Soprano)
Glory to God in the Highest (Chorus)
Rejoice Greatly (Soprano)
Then Shall The Eyes of the Blind (Alto)
He Shall Feed His Flock (Alto/Soprano)
His Yoke Is Easy (Chorus)
He That Dwelleth In Heaven (Tenor)
Thou Shalt Break Them (Tenor)
Behold I Tell You A Mystery (Baritone)
The Trumpet Shall Sound (Baritone)
Hallelujah (Chorus)
Worthy Is The Lamb (Chorus)
Amen (Chorus)

One person to watch out for tonight will be 19-year-old baritone Reginald Smith Jr. He was knocking out Zack, the other soloists and members of the Messiah continuo at a rehearsal yesterday afternoon. This being the final Messiah for Zack, who retires from the podium in September, we'll be going behind the scenes tonight to give you a bit more than a review for tomorrow's paper.

In today's paper, check out our playlist of favorite jazz and classical Christmas music.