Mar 17 Arts and Culture REVIEW: Louisville Orchestra Looks For Jazz In Festival Of American Music The collaborative concert blended classical music with jazz, but was light on narrative. By Daniel Gilliam Mar 17 Arts and Culture REVIEW: Louisville Orchestra Looks For Jazz In Festival Of American Music Daniel Gilliam
Dec 3 Arts and Culture Dutch Composer Joël Bons Wins The 2019 Grawemeyer In Music Composition Bons' work "Nomaden" moves between folk and dance-like music, improvisation and a wide range of contemporary sounds, with the cello as a unifying force. By Daniel Gilliam Dec 3 Arts and Culture Dutch Composer Joël Bons Wins 2019 Grawemeyer In Music Composition Daniel Gilliam
Nov 27 Arts and Culture Danish Composer Wins 2018 Grawemeyer Award In Music Composition Danish composer Bent Sørensen has won the prestigious award for his piece “L’isola della Città,” or “The Island in the City.” By Daniel Gilliam Nov 27 Arts and Culture Danish Composer Wins 2018 Grawemeyer Award In Music Composition Daniel Gilliam
Aug 14 Arts and Culture The Louisville Youth Orchestra’s New Director Wants To Go Big The newly appointed music director for the Louisville Youth Orchestra sees opportunity in big symphonies for young players. By Daniel Gilliam Aug 14 Arts and Culture The Louisville Youth Orchestra's New Director Wants To Go Big Daniel Gilliam
May 27 Arts and Culture Commentary: Diluting Art With ‘The Arts’ "We should be careful as a society, and city, not to blur the line between art and 'the arts,'" says Louisville Public Media's Daniel Gilliam. By Daniel Gilliam May 27 Arts and Culture Commentary: Diluting Art With 'The Arts' Daniel Gilliam
Jan 9 Arts and Culture Review: Mester’s Final Concerts with the Louisville Orchestra Colorful and Lyrical The first Louisville Orchestra concert of 2016 also represented Jorge Mester’s penultimate concert as director emeritus of the Louisville Orchestra. Before the concert, Brad Broecker, the orchestra’s former CEO who was crucial in securing the Maestro’s return to Louisville as music director following several tumultuous years, honored Mester’s two terms as music director. Though Mester’s […] By Daniel Gilliam Jan 9 Arts and Culture Review: Mester’s Final Concerts with the Louisville Orchestra Colorful and Lyrical Daniel Gilliam
May 15 Arts and Culture Kentucky Opera’s ‘A Woman in Morocco’ is Complex and Challenging Kentucky Opera concludes its 2014-15 season with a new production of the 2014 opera “A Woman in Morocco,” by composer Daron Hagen and librettist Barbara Grecki, as part of its Composer Workshop series. In partnership with the University of Louisville, the workshop series showcases new operas in early stages of development, giving composers a chance […] By Daniel Gilliam May 15 Arts and Culture Kentucky Opera’s ‘A Woman in Morocco’ is Complex and Challenging Daniel Gilliam
Apr 25 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Strikes the Right Balance With Beethoven The Louisville Orchestra concludes its 2014-2015 season this week featuring Time for Three, John Williams’ The Cowboys overture and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 67. The Cowboys overture is everything you want from a western film score and John Williams: driving string melodies, brass fanfares, evocative percussion and folksy woodwind tunes. The Louisville Orchestra played […] By Daniel Gilliam Apr 25 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Strikes the Right Balance With Beethoven Daniel Gilliam
Apr 14 Arts and Culture Long Breaks Zap Energy from Emerson String Quartet Performance in Louisville The celebrated Emerson String Quartet returned to Louisville on Sunday for their second performance in as many years, this time as part of the Chamber Music Society of Louisville’s concert series at Comstock Hall (their last performance was with the Louisville Orchestra). The first two movements of Mozart’s Quartet in G major, K. 387, provided […] By Daniel Gilliam Apr 14 Arts and Culture Long Breaks Zap Energy from Emerson String Quartet Performance in Louisville Daniel Gilliam
Apr 10 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Highlights Russian Masterworks Thursday morning, on the eve of his 80th birthday, Jorge Mester conducted his penultimate concert of the 2014-2015 Louisville Orchestra season with two major Russian works. To open the concert, the orchestra played Berlioz’s Roman Carnival with vigor and excitement, with some beautiful moments from the violas, and a tender English horn solo from Trevor […] By Daniel Gilliam Apr 10 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Highlights Russian Masterworks Daniel Gilliam
Mar 10 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Offers Discovery in the Old and New Teddy Abrams continues to show that orchestra concerts don’t have to be formulaic, and that discovery manifest in different ways. This past Friday and Saturday evening, we discovered, for example, that a conductor doesn’t have to wear a tuxedo or black socks. We discovered that hearing a 5-7 minute harpsichord improvisation could be interesting and […] By Daniel Gilliam Mar 10 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Offers Discovery in the Old and New Daniel Gilliam
Feb 24 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Shows Intrepid Choice and Command For those weary of the cold and ice, the Brown Theater was a respite for shovel-worn backs on Saturday evening. Jorge Mester, very aware of the light crowd, was grateful for the “intrepid” audience and musicians in attendance. Perhaps as intrepid was his choice, and command, of three contrasting works: William Schuman’s New England Triptych, Dmitri […] By Daniel Gilliam Feb 24 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Shows Intrepid Choice and Command Daniel Gilliam
Feb 1 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Presents World Premiere of Chang Symphony Teddy Abrams led the Louisville Orchestra on Thursday and Friday in two symphonies: one premiere and the other one of the most performed since its premiere in 1876. The new work by Sebastian Chang—and commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra—is his first major composition, clocking in at around 30 minutes. Titled “Classical Symphony,” it’s modeled on […] By Daniel Gilliam Feb 1 Arts and Culture Louisville Orchestra Presents World Premiere of Chang Symphony Daniel Gilliam
Jan 30 Arts and Culture Here Are the Plans For the Louisville Orchestra’s 2015-16 Season The second season of Teddy Abrams’ music directorship was announced Friday night at the Kentucky Center. Where last season was programmed, roughly, half by Abrams and half by Music Director Emeritus Jorge Mester, 2015-2016 is mostly Abrams, with two concerts led by Mester. There is nothing restrained or timid next season—this is not an orchestra […] By Daniel Gilliam Jan 30 Arts and Culture Here Are the Plans For the Louisville Orchestra’s 2015-16 Season Daniel Gilliam
Jan 15 Arts and Culture Review: Louisville Orchestra’s Ravel and Shostakovich, and Mozart with Chu-Fang Huang All good art has a superficial layer that is adequate for enjoyment. What appears beneath the surface, however, is detail, revelation and honesty. The Louisville Orchestra’s first concert in 2015, conducted by Music Director Emeritus Jorge Mester, featured Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite,” Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 18” and Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 6” — each capable […] By Daniel Gilliam Jan 15 Arts and Culture Review: Louisville Orchestra’s Ravel and Shostakovich, and Mozart with Chu-Fang Huang Daniel Gilliam