Copious Notes

Musicians in the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Singers and UK Chorale settle onto the stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Our Lincoln performance Feb. 2, 2009. Photo by Jonathan Palmer.

The presentation of Our Lincoln at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in February was undeniably a big deal for Kentucky arts and humanities.

Artists who live and work here were presented on one of the nation’s most ­prestigious stages along with hometown kids who have made good and a few international stars, such as violinist Mark O’Connor. A production conceived and produced in Central Kentucky went to an international arts showplace and acquitted itself admirably.

I sat with a Washington cameraman who went on at length about how great the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra is. It was one of numerous anecdotes about seasoned Washington arts observers who were impressed with Our Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln played by Jim Sayre of Lawrenceburg, left, and Henry Clay played by George MGee of Georgetown put the finishing touches on their costumes outside the entrance to the Kennedy Center.

But it is understandable that this might be lost on people who weren’t among the 1,463 people who saw the ­performance, given while the state was in the throes of an ice storm. ­Overseeing recovery ­efforts forced Gov. Steve Beshear to cancel his plans to attend.

But now Beshear and anyone else who would like to see the show can catch it in Michael Breeding’s PBS-quality DVD, which has just been released.

After raising the money to get the program to ­Washington, the Kentucky Humanities Council had to go back to the well for an ­additional $6,500 to produce the DVD, with the total costs to be recouped through sales.

What we can now see is that Breeding and his crew captured the proceedings in stunning detail, with shots that take the viewer onto the stage with the performers and also relay the grandeur of the occasion.

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Julie Schindall (right) shows 8-year-old Isadora Koch the proper way to hold marimba mallets Saturday at the WEKU event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

After Lexington Philharmonic bassist Joe Tackett finished his chat with WEKU Morning Classics host Michael Carter at Joseph-Beth Booksellers Saturday, he pointed something out.

During the chat, part of a WEKU/Joseph-Beth Gives Back event at the book store, Carter had played several musical selections like one of Maurice Ravel’s Slavonic Dances.

“Every time Michael played a piece, kids would come over and stand,” Tackett said. “Some of them even started to dance. Kids innately recognize great art.” Then, noting some adults he saw rush their kids along, he added, “It the parents that try to tear them away from it.”

Particpating in the WEKU event were (clockwise from top, left) Joe Tackett, Julie Schindall, Michael Carter and Roger Duvall.

Did we mention Joe is the Phil’s education director, too?

Certainly there were some serious blocks of time in the afternoon event devoted to adults talking about music. I discovered both Joe and I share the same roots in our love for classical music. John Williams’ music caught Joe’s ear when his father took him to see The Empire Strikes Back (1980). So, when I sat down to chat with WEKU station manager Roger Duvall, I had to share my similar experience when my parents gave me the soundtrack to Star Wars (1977).

Classical music probably owes a lot to George Lucas commissioning those iconic scores.

Roger called our conversation Dancing about Architecture, a reference to the oft quoted but hard to attribute aphorism that writing and talking about music is sort of like dancing about architecture. And indeed, while we did have a good conversation about this highly transitory time in Lexington music, from my seat, the most fun was trading short passages of favorite works with Roger. He kicked it off with a segment of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and I got to answer with Dawn Upshaw singing the opening passage of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 – if there’s a more perfect representation of a Southern summer evening, I am not aware of it.

Michael and Joe also had a great chat, zeroing in on the idea that enjoying classical music is not so much something you learn as it is something that comes naturally.

And the best demonstration of that came in those children who wandered over from the kids book section to hear, and later in ones who were brave enough to step up and try their hand at marimba with musical guests Julie Schindall and Ian Meiman.

We came in to talk about the future of classical music. But in their faces, we got to see it.

Ian Meiman gives 5-year-old Annika Koch a high-five after she plays the marimba.