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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ann Rutledge (Amanda Balltrip) and Abraham Lincoln (Nick Provenzale) at a town dance in New Salem, Ill., in the world premier production of Joe Baber's "River of Time." Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Note: Space is finite in newspapers, really more finite than ever. This being a new opera, I wrote a bit longer than a usual review, and a little bit longer than the printed page in Saturday’s paper will hold. This posting of our River of Time review contains portions that will not be in the print edition.

No one in Abraham Lincoln’s home state has celebrated the bicentennial of the 16th president’s birth as well as the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.

At the start of the celebration in 2008, the Opera Theatre teamed with the Kentucky Humanities Council to present Our Lincoln, a multi-faceted tribute to the Hodgenville native that eventually traveled to Washington, D.C.

Before that show was even conceived, UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey had commissioned an opera about Lincoln from composer Joe Baber and librettist Jim Rodgers.

That opera, River of Time, had its world premiere Thursday night at the Lexington Opera House. It’s not the unqualified success of Our Lincoln, but there is much to like and even potential for Baber’s opera to endure as a portrait of the president before he was presidential.

River of Time’s story takes Lincoln from birth through the death of his first true love, Ann Rutledge. Along the way, he fights with his dad, becomes a bookworm, grieves the deaths of the three most important women in his life and even wrestles.

That story makes for some great moments, including a slave auction in New Orleans where Lincoln declares that if he gets a chance to fight slavery, “I’m gonna hit it hard.” The scene, with a heavy dose of spirituals, is the grand opera spectacle of the show.

But for the most part, this opera strives for a soothing — sometimes too soothing — Midwestern feel, in the spirit of Aaron Copland or Samuel Barber. That’s exemplified in a small-town dance scene in which Lincoln and Ann realize that regardless of whether she is engaged to another guy, they are in love. Read the rest of this entry »

University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra director John Nardolillo, shown conducting a rehearsal in March. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

More than a decade ago, Everett McCorvey started building the University of Kentucky’s opera program into a nationally recognized boutique for training young voices and presenting exciting programs. The middle of this decade, John Nardolillo took over the UK Symphony Orchestra and a similar ascension quickly began.

Friday night, those two success stories came together as the voice department’s newest teacher stepped in front of the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra for its season opener in the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

Soprano Cynthia Lawrence, shown at a rehearsal on Tuesday.

Soprano Cynthia Lawrence took the stage to open the second half of Friday’s concert in a billowy black gown which sparkled like this was Live from Lincoln Center or something. And when she opened her mouth for a performance of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, it sounded that way.

Though Lawrence, who now holds UK’s endowed chair in music (voice), was making her big debut as a faculty member, Four Last Songs is not a diva show-off piece in the sense of rafter-rattling high notes, ornamental trills and the like. It doesn’t even give the soprano a big finish, as the orchestra closes the piece as if the sun has set on the voice.

But if you are looking for interpretive skills, Strauss gives the singer a chance to put those on full display, and Lawrence did. She encourages listeners to read the work’s poetic text, but the poetry was in her voice Friday night. Through masterful phrasing and control, she gave the audience a very clear idea where this piece was going. And yes, she did have moments of spectacle and sublime beauty that left you marveling that this woman was not an imported guest soloist. She is UK faculty.

What’s more, she aggressively went after the job after spending a few weeks here working with singers at UK last fall. That an artist of Lawrence’s caliber — a celebrated soprano at the Metropolitan Opera and many, many other stages — vigorously pursued a post here says as much about the growth of the School of Music as the Met audition wins and concerts at Carnegie Hall.

What was really striking was how the orchestra responded to Lawrence. Her performance followed good though unremarkable performances of W.A. Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro overture and Symphony No. 39 in the first half.

When Lawrence started singing though, the orchestra followed her lead, including several passionate solos from violinist Jessica Tzou, flutist Aaron Sexton and others.

And the passion continued into the concert closer, Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration. With all hands on deck, the orchestra unleased a powerful performance that convinced you that its Dec. 3 performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 “Titan” should not be missed.

Then again, the way things have been going, you could say that about the whole season.

Prior to the concert, Narolillo and UK President Lee Todd announced a gift from the family of Jan Karon, a master violinist and violin maker who died last year, which will add $400,000 to the orchestra’s endowment established by Keeneland and Maker’s Mark. Karon was a native of Poland who survived Nazi concentration camps in World War II and played in orchestras in Warsaw, Krakow and Houston, where he was concertmaster. After retirement, he settled in Lexington. The gift from his daughter Dr. Magdalene Karon and her husband Dr. John Stewart, will underwrite the concertmaster’s position, which has been renamed the Jan Karon Concertmaster. Tzou is the first to hold that chair.

UK Opera singers Everett McCorvey, Reginald Smith, Jr., Luther Lewis, Catherine Clarke, Julie LaDouceur and Tedrin Blair Lindsay at the entrance to the Kentucky Village at the Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championship. Photo courtesy of Everett McCorvey.

So, earlier last week, I started getting notes from University of Kentucky Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey about the UK Singers, Muhammad Ali and England. They and other dignitaries hopped across the pond for the Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championship, and some other events. McCorvey sent along a pretty detailed account Saturday, so I thought I’d share:

Last evening the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the UK Opera Program and Muhammad Ali were the featured guests at the Windsor Castle Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championship Gala Celebration held on the grounds of Windsor Castle. It was an exciting event as the 8 disciplines that will be featured at the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games were presented to the European crowd. Governor Steve Beshear and his wife Jane Beshear along with Kentucky Horse Park officials, the city of Lexington officials, WEG Board Members and many others from Kentucky were present to celebrate the gala affair.

UK Opera students were the featured performers during the evening. Held in the main arena, the singers were positioned on a stage in the middle of the large arena. Thanks to fabulous arrangements and orchestrations prepared and taped by our own Johnie Dean, the singers sang several songs during the evening.

This is one of the most important trips that UKOT has ever taken. I think that the benefits from this trip will be huge in terms of exposure, opportunities for the students and exposure of the program to a European audience. The crowd was spectacular. I served as host for the evening as well as one of the singing performers. At the end of the evening, I introduced each one of our singers individually and the crowd gave each of them an amazing ovation. It was very clear that in addition to Ali, they were the stars of the evening. The high point certainly was the introduction of Muhammad Ali. As he made his way around the stadium in an open air Range Rover (which is the Queen’s personal car and was offered by her to Ali for the occasion), we sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before an emotional and enthusiastically charged crowd. It was a spine-tingling moment in the evenings show. I was so proud of how professional the students were. Everyone here was amazed that they were students!

The singers have been presenting two shows a day at the Alltech Kentucky Village since Wednesday. They have 4 different programs prepared which they are rotating each day. After more shows on Saturday and Sunday we will leave for Dublin, Ireland on Monday to perform at a Gala Event in the evening and then on Tuesday we travel to Ennis, Ireland and then Dromoland Castle in the Southwest of Ireland to perform. These appearances are also with Muhammad Ali. The folks in Ennis, Ireland are comparing the visit of Ali with the visit of Gandhi! Quite amazing. It’s a pretty exciting trip for everyone and a huge Kentucky success!

It’s late summer at the University of Kentucky, which can only mean one thing: It’s A Grand Night for Singing.

For 17 years, UK opera singers have joined voices with leading singers and dancers from the Lexington community to give music lovers ringing renditions of Broadway classics, exuberant performances of pop hits, and vice versa.

This year’s edition will take you all the way back to classics such as George M. Cohan’s Give My Regards to Broadway and Roger Miller’s Worlds Apart from Big River to recent hits such as Mel Brooks’ rousing Transylvania Mania from Young Frankenstein. The show runs the next two weekends at UK’s Singletary Center for the Arts.

Gregory Turay's (right) last Lexington performance was a benefit production of La Traviata on October 2006. He sang the role of Alfredo opposite Darla Diltz (left) as Violetta. Photo by Joseph Rey Au.

Gregory Turay, the tenor who helped put the University of Kentucky’s voice program on the map, will be back at UK next year.

According to UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey, Turay will be an artist-in-residence at the school, teaching master classes, giving recitals and even possibly performing in some of next year’s opera productions. Turay will also have some national and international engagements while he is working here.

“They get to work with someone who is currently out in the field having a career,” McCorvey said of the UK students. “They are pretty excited.”

When Turay won the Metropoilitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1995, it sort of fast-tracked his career. So, while he started work on a masters degree, he has not had the time to complete it. He will be working on that degree while at UK next academic year. UK has had numerous internationally acclaimed singers and directors in to work with students for short durations. Turay’s stay will be the first time the opera program has had a year-long artist-in-residence.

Mark Feuerstein as Hank Lawson, Reshma Shetty as Divya Sharma, and Paul Costanzo as Evan Lawson in Royal Pains, premiering in USA June 4. Photo by Barbara Nitke | USA Network.

When she was on stage at the University of Kentucky early this decade, Reshma Shetty was known for playing ambitious young women such as Zelina in Don Giovanni and Musetta in La Boheme.

Reshma Shetty. Photo by Justin Stephens | USA Network.

Next week, the nation will get to know Shetty as an ambitious physician assistant in the new USA Network series, Royal Pains.

The series, which debuts at 10 p.m. June 4, centers on a doctor, Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), who retreats into private medicine for wealthy residents of the Hamptons after a career setback. Shetty plays a woman from a wealthy family who talks her way into being Hank’s assistant. It’s a gig she has to hide from her family, who would not approve.

After leaving UK, Shetty studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and had the lead role of Priya in the national tour of Bombay Dreams by A.R. Rahman, who went on to win two Oscars this year for his work on Slumdog Millionaire. Shetty is now based in New York, where she has worked with numerous theaters, made her Off-Broadway debut in Ayub Khan-Din’s Rafta Rafta, and has appeared in guest roles on shows such as 30 Rock.

Reshma Shetty as Dorine in UK Opera Theatre's 2001 production of Tartuffe. Photo by Dwayn Chambers.

In a 2006 article previewing UK Opera’s annual Grand Night for Singing showtune concert, director Everett McCorvey recalled suggesting Shetty be in the annual event and, “”She looked at me as if I just asked her to kill her mother,” McCorvey said.She has since become something of a poster child for how an opera student’s career can evolve away from the High C’s. Grand Night for Singing, by the way, is June 12-14 and 19-21 this year.

The Downtown Lexington Corporation’s Kentucky Star awards will be presented tonight to two well-known, active artists in Kentucky and a well-known entertainer from the early 20th Century.

The awards, which will be presented in a 6 p.m. ceremony at the Downtown Arts Center, will go to University of Kentucky Opera Theatre and American Spiritual Ensemble director Everett McCorvey; author, activist and playwright Silas House, and magician and hypnotist William Preston Slusher.

McCorvey, who lives in Lexington, has directed the opera program at UK since 1991. During his tenure, the opera program has risen to national prominence and UK Opera Theatre has become one of Lexington’s most popular performing arts groups. McCorvey is also a well-known tenor-soloist and founded the Spiritual Ensemble, which performs throughout the U.S. and Europe.

House, who lives in Lily, is a best-selling author of novels such as The Coal Tattoo and Clay’s Quilt. He has two forthcoming books: Something’s Rising: Appalachian’s Fighting Mountaintop Removal, due March 17, and Eli the Good, due in September. House is also a music journalist and anti-mountaintop removal activist. His second play, Long Time Traveling, produced by Actors Guild of Lexington, will open at the Downtown Arts Center April 23.

Slusher was born in Pineville in 1915 and became a self-taught magician, initially touring around Eastern Kentucky and eventually becoming known nationwide.  He also became known as a impressario, booking entertainers such as Bob Hope and Tex Ritter at Fort Meade, Maryland during World War II. He eventually helped launch some of the first summer outdoor musicals in Kentucky.

The stars will be honored with their names in stars on Main Street in front of the Downtown Arts Center.  The ceremony is free and open to the public.

The Lexington-based American Spiritual Ensemble, directed by University of Kentucky Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey, will be featured on the Bob Edwards Weekend show at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday on WEKU-FM 88.9.

This is the same interview that Edwards featured on his weekday morning show for XM and Sirius satellite radio March 13.

The American Spiritual Ensemble, based in Lexington and directed by University of Kentucky voice professor Everett McCorvey, will be on The Bob Edwards Show Friday morning on XM and Sirius satellite radio.

Bob Edwards.

Edwards, a Louisville native, invited the ensemble to appear on his show after hearing it perform on the UK Opera Theatre and Kentucky Humanities Council’s Our Lincoln performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on Feb. 2. The Spiritual Ensemble is dedicated to the preservation of the Spiritual, and it is made up of 25 singers from around the country, most professional singers, many with college posts. The group has several annual tours, including a summer trek to Spain.

Edwards’ show  airs 8-9 a.m. EST on XM Channel 133 and Sirius Channel 196. The show is also available for Download on Audible.