Copious Notes

Scott Terrell conducts the Lexington Philharmonic in the 2009 Fourth of July concert. Copyrighted Herald-Leader photo by Mark Cornelison.

The Lexington Philharmonic has released the program for its Fourth of July Concert – A Celebration of American Music, which will be presented July 2 at 8 p.m. at the Old Morrison Building at Transylvania University and Gratz Park and July 4 in Versailles.

Like last year, new Philharmonic music director Scott Terrell says he wants to broaden the concept of American music, complementing patriotic standards with other fare, primarily film scores and jazz, this year.

“It’s an even blend of various things,” Terrell said of the show, in an interview this afternoon. “It is something for everybody.” Here’s the lineup.

PROGRAM

Star Spangled Banner (Please Sing Along) – Key, arr. David Miller (World Premiere)

Lexington Singers

My Old Kentucky Home (Please Sing Along) – Foster arr. Wright

Lexington Singers

Olympic Fanfare and Theme – Williams

Selections from Ragtime – Flaherty arr. Kessler

Armed Forces Salute – Lowden

Lexington Singers

Funeral March of the Marionette – Gounoud

Annie Laurie – Luck

Lexington Singers

God Bless America – Ringwald

Lexington Singers

INTERMISSION (20 minutes)

Raiders of the Lost Ark: March – Williams

The Wizard of Oz  - Arlen, arr. Sayre

Pirates of the Caribbean – Klaus Badelt, arr. Ricketts

Across the Stars – Williams

Satchmo! Tribute to Louis Armstrong  - arr. Ricketts

Hello Dolly

St. Louis Blues

What a Wonderful World

When the Saints Go Marching In

National Emblem March – Bagley

Stars and Stripes Forever – Sousa

Read more about the concert Thursday at LexGo and in the Weekender section of Friday’s Herald-Leader.

Resident Harry Potter geek Heather Chapman informs me I am a little behind on this – hey, I was on vacation last week – but thanks to a Time tweet, I just took my first look at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer. It looks pretty awesome.

One thing I really liked seeing were glimpses of the final showdown scenes between Voldermort and Harry, because reading the book, it seemed like those moments had the makings for a good ol’ act off between Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Radcliffe. The thing I can imagine could be really cool is watching parts one and two together when they are all out on home video in the Fall of 2011.

Arts Kentucky, a statewide arts advocacy organization, announced last week that its board of directors has voted to dissolve the organization.

During its 15 years, Arts Kentucky functioned as a group that advocated for the arts with government and other officials and served the arts community as a whole with information from events to opportunities. The organization was a member of Americans for the Arts and was behind events such as Arts Advocacy Day during sessions of the State Legislature.

In recent years, the group has been buffeted by financial difficulties the group attributed to the faltering economy. In February, it eliminated its executive director position, held by David Cupps, saying it hoped to continue as an all-volunteer organization. Its email newsletter last week stated:

“As the economy has struggled, so has Arts Kentucky’s ability to provide relevant and continuous services for our members and friends. We have worked through the loss of full-time staff and we have made adjustments in our delivery of services. But unfortunately, the grant and sponsorship dollars have not been available to allow us to maintain a level of service that we feel is necessary to provide our members with the tools they need.”

In that note, it said 50 percent of membership dues will be refunded to all individuals and organizations that joined after Jan. 1, 2010. Anyone seeking further information should email info@artsky.org before Wednesday.

I am on vacation this week, so Copious Notes will be on hiatus until June 28. Until then, make sure to keep an eye on LexGo and Walter Tunis’ Musical Box blog for your Central Kentucky arts and entertainment info.

The cast of SummerFest's production of "Rent" practiced with music director Mark Caulkins June 9, 2010 in the movement studio of the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Building in Lexington, Ky. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

At a Wednesday evening rehearsal of Rent, Johnny Dawson has just finished singing Your Eyes and wails “Mimi!” and Musetta’s Waltz, a classic tune from from La Boheme plays.

“I get chills when I hear that La Boheme music,” says Mark Calkins, music director for Summerfest’s production of Rent.

Opera is where Calkins spends much of his time as an associate professor of voice at Centre College and Berea College. Music directing Rent is Calkins’ highest profile gig since moving to Central Kentucky last year with his wife, University of Kentucky endowed chair in voice Cynthia Lawrence.

Johnny Dawson as Roger, Immanuel Williams as Angel, Nick Vannoy as Collins, Chip Becker as Mark and Caroline Griffeth as Maureen rehearse "La Vie Boheme" from "Rent."

And Rent gives Calkins a much wider variety of voices to deal with than the budding opera singers he usually works with. The cast ranges from potential opera stars to rockers, capturing the full-range of the spirit of the rock show which was based on La Boheme.

“It’s just as vocally rangy as most operas,” Calkins says of Rent.

Part of director Tracey Bonner’s intent in hiring Calkins to be the music director was getting someone who would know how to care for the voices in the show, which can do a number on the throat, particularly if you add in singing outdoors amidst the foliage of the Arboretum.

Calkins points out that both the main male and female roles have singers in ranges that are not usually comfortable for their genders. So he talks to the actors a lot about how to sing to make their most of their voices, and how to take care of them.

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Switchfoot - Tim Foreman, Jon Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas and Drew Shirley, say goodnight - but, as it turns out, not for long - after their Ichthus set. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

We got a chance to talk to Tim Foreman and Drew Shirley of Switchfoot before their set Thursday night at the Ichthus Festival. Click play to hear our chat. (Btw, the guy who walks through toward the end of the interview is Relient K’s Matt Thiessen.)

[podcast]http://copiousnotes.bloginky.com/files/2010/06/100617switchfoot.mp3[/podcast]

By the way, the line-up for Questapalooza was announced this morning, and Switchfoot tops the bill, which includes fellow Ichthus 2010 artists Newsboys, for their third Lexington-area show this year, and last year’s Questapalooza opener Group 1 Crew. The show is Sept. 5, and tickets go on sale July 4.

Lauren Barlow of BarlowGirl performs on the Main Stage at the Ichthus Festival. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Ichthus stayed true to the form of recent years, ending the festival on a worshipful note Saturday with the Main Stage pairing of Casting Crowns and BarlowGirl.

One of the things many people were commenting on over the weekend was the strong pairings of evening headliners – the rock night of Skillet and Red, modern rock of Switchfoot and Relient K -and the Saturday night duo had sort of a worship/traditional contemporary Christian music vibe.

Saturday’s headliners had tough acts to follow.

TobyMac and Switchfoot fielded big, lively bands Wednesday and Thursday respectively, and then Skillet came with that and Fourth of July-worthy pyrotechnic show.

Mark Hall on stage at Ichthus.

Crowns, by comparison, put most of the responsibility for filling the amphitheater on the shoulders of lead singer Mark Hall. Barlow Girl, which in previous daytime Main Stage outings (they were one of the bands that braved the snow day in 2005)  was packed to the center of the stage by the equipment of later acts, seemed a little lost spread out across the entire main stage, Saturday night.

Sanctus Real, playing earlier in the afternoon, delivered the most lively set I got to sample on the Main Stage Saturday.

For those who wanted to rock a little more before going home, there were offerings on other stages such as Disciple and Pillar on the Deep End, and many took in those shows. This year, the Deep End really did claim the title of Main Stage Jr. as much as it ever has.

And this was as complete a festival as Ichthus has put together. From this perspective, it was a little like going to New York: Not enough time to do everything you want to do, even with the extra day. It hardly feels like a weekend in rural Kentucky, until you look around at the hills and cows – and we don’t mean the Chik-fil-a cow.

Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com

Except for a Saturday morning thunderstorm, Ichthus was hot and dry this year. Festivalgoers had to figure out how to beat the heat.

We caught up with Wilmore’s own Rookie at one of their four sets at Ichthus on Saturday.