Louisville Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra
in Louisville, Kentucky
and has been called the cornerstone of the Louisville arts scene. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs 71 full-time musicians, and offers a wide variety of concert series to the community, including classical programs featuring international guest artists, pops performances, and education and family concerts. Previously known as the Louisville Philharmonic Society, the orchestra is the resident performing group for the Louisville Ballet
and the Kentucky Opera
, and present several concerts across the Kentucky/Indiana area.
The orchestra performs its classical concerts at Whitney Hall, a large concert hall inside The Kentucky Center
. Pop concerts with guest stars are performed at The Louisville Palace
. Other programs are presented at The Brown Theatre
.
Among other things, the orchestra is internationally recognized for its performance of contemporary music by emerging classical composers.
The Louisville Orchestra has performed for many prestigious events including "A Festival for the Arts" at the White House
, the Inter-American Music Festival at the Kennedy Center, "Great Orchestras of the World" at Carnegie Hall
, and toured Mexico City. In 2001, the Louisville Orchestra received the Leonard Bernstein Award for Excellence in Educational Programming, presend annually by ASCAP and the American Symphony Orchestra League to one orchestra in North America. The Louisville Orchestra has earned nineteen ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Most recently the Orchestra was awarded large grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the National Endowment for the Arts
, both for the purpose of digitizing the master tapes and restoring the music scores for archiving the Orchestra's historic First Editions Recordings collections. Some of the recordings were re-released on CD by Santa Fe Music on the First Edition Music label. Unfortunately, the majority of the grant monies were used for this purpose instead of the grants' stated objectives. The Louisville Orchestra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 3, 2010.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and has been called the cornerstone of the Louisville arts scene. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs 71 full-time musicians, and offers a wide variety of concert series to the community, including classical programs featuring international guest artists, pops performances, and education and family concerts. Previously known as the Louisville Philharmonic Society, the orchestra is the resident performing group for the Louisville Ballet
Louisville Ballet
The Louisville Ballet is a ballet school and company based in Louisville, Kentucky and is the official state ballet of The Commonwealth of Kentucky. More than 100,000 people attend the company's productions annually of which most are accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra...
and the Kentucky Opera
Kentucky Opera
The Kentucky Opera is the state opera of Kentucky, located in Louisville. The operas are accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra. Founded in 1952 by Moritz von Bomhard, it is the twelfth oldest opera company in the United States and has a more than $2 million budget. The Kentucky Opera is an...
, and present several concerts across the Kentucky/Indiana area.
The orchestra performs its classical concerts at Whitney Hall, a large concert hall inside The Kentucky Center
The Kentucky Center
The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, located in Louisville, is a major performing arts center in Kentucky.The Kentucky Center also hosts artworks by Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, John Chamberlain, Jean Dubuffet and others....
. Pop concerts with guest stars are performed at The Louisville Palace
The Louisville Palace
The Louisville Palace is a theatre, in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, located in the city's theater district, on the east side of Fourth Street, between Broadway and Chestnut Street. It has a seating capacity of 2,700 people and is owned by Live Nation...
. Other programs are presented at The Brown Theatre
Brown Theatre
The Brown Theatre is a restored theatre dating back to 1925 that seats approximately 1,400 patrons in Louisville, Kentucky. The theatre still stands today and remains a testament to the glory days of Louisville’s theatre district.-History:...
.
Among other things, the orchestra is internationally recognized for its performance of contemporary music by emerging classical composers.
The Louisville Orchestra has performed for many prestigious events including "A Festival for the Arts" at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, the Inter-American Music Festival at the Kennedy Center, "Great Orchestras of the World" at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, and toured Mexico City. In 2001, the Louisville Orchestra received the Leonard Bernstein Award for Excellence in Educational Programming, presend annually by ASCAP and the American Symphony Orchestra League to one orchestra in North America. The Louisville Orchestra has earned nineteen ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Most recently the Orchestra was awarded large grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, both for the purpose of digitizing the master tapes and restoring the music scores for archiving the Orchestra's historic First Editions Recordings collections. Some of the recordings were re-released on CD by Santa Fe Music on the First Edition Music label. Unfortunately, the majority of the grant monies were used for this purpose instead of the grants' stated objectives. The Louisville Orchestra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 3, 2010.
Music Directors of the Louisville Orchestra
- Robert Whitney (1937–1967)
- Jorge MesterJorge MesterJorge Mester is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry.-Biography:He studied conducting with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School in New York, and worked with Leonard Bernstein at the Berkshire Music Center and with Albert Wolff...
(1967–1979) - Akira EndoAkira Endo (conductor)Akira Endo is a Japanese-American conductor and music educator. He studied violin and conducting at the University of Southern California where he earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree....
(1980–1982) - Lawrence Leighton SmithLawrence Leighton SmithLawrence Leighton Smith, a conductor and pianist, was born April 8, 1936 in Portland, Oregon.He studied piano with Ariel Rubstein in Portland and Leonard Shure in New York. He earned bachelor's degrees from Portland State University in 1956 and Mannes College of Music in 1959...
(1983–1994) - Max Bragado-Darman (1994–1998)
- Uriel Segal (1998–2004)
- Raymond LeppardRaymond LeppardRaymond "Def" Leppard, CBE is a British conductor and harpsichordist.He was born in London and grew up in Bath, where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys' School, now known as the Beechen Cliff School...
served as Artistic Advisor (2004–2006) - Jorge MesterJorge MesterJorge Mester is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry.-Biography:He studied conducting with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School in New York, and worked with Leonard Bernstein at the Berkshire Music Center and with Albert Wolff...
(2006–present)
External links
Listening
- Art of the States: Louisville Orchestra eight performances by the orchestra