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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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.

UK Voice Department graduate Gregory Turay, now an internationally acclaimed tenor, compares notes with UK vocal coach Tedrin Blair Lindsay at a rehearsal Sunday evening in Washington D.C. Photo by Jonathan Palmer.

If President Barack Obama comes to Monday night’s Our Lincoln performance at the Kennedy Center, it would be a dream come true for seemingly everyone involved in the production. It would also be a logistical nightmare for a show that has already had its share of logistical nightmares.

Last week’s ice and snow in Lexington scuttled one rehearsal for the show and made getting others together problematic. And those rehearsals were needed because Our Lincoln has changed significantly from its debut last February, with several new works and performers, including a whole new orchestra with the University of Kentucky Symphony stepping in for the Lexington Philharmonic.

Production director James W. Rodgers finally sees an opportunity for a full run-through rehearsal Monday afternoon at 2 at the Kennedy Center. But if Obama comes, the theater has to be cleared at 4. That could mean the show goes off at 7:30 p.m. with no complete run through, and some participants possibly not even rehearsing before the real thing . . . in front of the President.

If that happens though, Rodgers says the crew will make it work.

“This is a once in a lifetime event,” Rodgers says. “We’ll rise to the occassion.”

One person in this production who does know what it’s like to sing for the President is UK graduate Gregory Turay, a tenor at the Metropolitan Opera and on many other stages around the world. In 2006, he sang in the Kennedy Center Honors, attended by President George W. Bush.

“It’s people you see running our country and, yes, it’s intimidating,” Turay said after rehearsing his piece, a musical setting of The Gettysburg Address with the Lexington Singers and UK Symphony. “You go through the nerves you haven’t had in many, many years, maybe since college or high school. It’s an honor, and it’s exciting.”