Copious Notes

Kayoko Dan takes a bow with the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra Concert Orchestra Sunday night at the Lexington Opera House. Photos by Rich Copley.

Since I am a Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra parent, I stay away from writing about CKYO for the paper — sort of an obvious conflict of interest there.

Dan addresses the audience.

But it is certainly worth noting that the Kayoko Dan era officially got underway Sunday night with the Youth Orchestra’s season-opening concert at the Lexington Opera House. The group’s Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra played a tidy program of just over 90 minutes that included music from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” for the Concert players and the third movement Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1 in D Major ‘Titan’” for the Symphony. That was some challenging stuff, to say the least.

Also debuting was CKYO assistant conductor Daniel Chetel, who was actually a candidate for the top spot and ended up coming to Lexington to pursue a doctorate in musical arts and conducting at the University of Kentucky, where he also serves as assistant conductor of the UK Symphony. Chetel, who holds a bachelors from Harvard and a masters from the University of Maryland, was offered the Kentucky post by UK Symphony director John Nardolillo after he interviewed for the CKYO job. Sunday night, Chetel conducted the Concert Orchestra in an arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s “The Great Gate of Kiev” and the Symphony in the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7 in A Major.”

Assistant conductor Dan Chetel greets Concert Orchestra concertmaster Laura Saikawa after conducting Mussorgsky

The Symphony’s program was a bit of an introduction to Dan as she said from the stage it was her favorite movements from symphonies. Bookending the Beethoven and the Mahler on that program called “Symphonic Progression” were the first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Symphony No. 104 in D Major ‘London’” and the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in f minor.”

When Dan auditioned for the Lexington Philharmonic’s music director post, Tchaikovsky was also a centerpiece of her LPO concert with music from “Swan Lake.” So, judging by her programming — Tchaikovsky’s “Russian Choral and Overture” opened the concert — and comments from the stage Sunday, it looks like CKYO kids will be getting used to Peter I.

Chetel’s presence also drove home the fact the Philharmonic and Youth Orchestra’s recent music director searches yielded two new conductors each: new Philharmonic music director Scott Terrell and Dan, who first came here as an LPO candidate, and Dan and Chetel at the CKYO. So Lexington’s conductor pool is enhanced with a trio of new talent, which is certainly worth noting.

Mark O'Connor rehearses with University of Kentucky graduate student Jessica Miskelly and the UK Symphpny Orchestra on Oct. 28, 2009. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

It’s a typical rehearsal two days before a concert.

The University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra is on the stage in the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall with conductor John Nardolillo stopping occasionally to tweak parts, but mostly letting the music flow.

Centerstage two violinists trade increasingly virtuosic, knee bending phrases, somewhat reminiscent of a  little Peach State fiddle duel Charlie Daniels once sang about.

This is where things become less typical.

O'Connor and cellist Geoffrey Hershberger rehearse O'Connor's "Double Concerto for Violin and Cello."

One of the violinists is UK graduate student Jessica Miskelly. The other is Mark O’Connor, a classical music star who has distinguished himself by successfully bridging traditional classical music and American folk. He’s currently in the midst of a short residency at UK which will culminate in a Friday night concert featuring O’Connor, several of his compositions, the UK Choirs and several students sharing his spotlight.

“I’ve been doing more residencies the last couple of years at institutions,” O’Connor said in his dressing room, a few minutes before Wednesday’s rehearsal began. “Every time I show up at performances around the country, there’s all kinds of questions about, ‘Where’s this music going?’ and what your background is. There’s always some kind of educational component to it, so I just decided to expand that.”

In addition to UK, O’Connor works with students at the School for Creative and Performing Arts and the UK String Project, a primary school program, this week.

O’Connor has done his mini-residencies at prestigious schools such as the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the University of California, Los Angeles.

But he wanted to come to Kentucky.

In part, it was because of a growing relationship between O’Connor and the orchestra, which included another visit several years ago and a performance in February with the UK Symphony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Our Lincoln production.

“John Nardolillo has put a great emphasis on performance and getting the material ready,” O’Connor said, referring the UK Symphony’s director. “It’s just fantastic to see and hear . . . It’s going to be a darned good show for the audience.”

This visit also brings O’Connor close to Appalachia, a region he is strongly identified with thanks to his own music and several celebrated albums of Appalachian music with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer.

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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.

Cynthia Lawrence rehearses Richard Strauss Four Last Songs with conductor John Nardolillo and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Friday night is diva night in Downtown Lexington.

On one side of town, we have Angela Brown kicking off First Presbyterian Church’s new philanthropic concert series. On the other side, we have the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra opening its season with new voice faculty member Cynthia Lawrence singing Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs.

Whether you head to Singletary or not, Lawrence is someone Lexington music lovers will be getting to know as she settles in to teach aspiring divas and divos, and turns in the occasion performance herself.

Click the play button to hear our podcast with Cynthia Lawrence:

Copious Notes podcasts are available on iTunes.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” is one of those works everyone has heard, at least in part, whether they know it or not.

If you’ve ever hummed the tune Ode to Joy — in your church hymnal, it may be Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee — you have the basic theme.

And portions are scattered everywhere. Most recently, MSNBC personality Keith Olbermann co-opted a bit of the second movement as the theme for his show Countdown.

People who really know the piece tend to characterize it in lofty terms.

“This is one of the great works of man, one of the great achievements of civilization,” says University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra director John Nardolillo, who will conduct the orchestra in the Ninth on Friday night. “For us to get to play it, for many of these students, it’s the first time, and that’s an incredible discovery. It’s really extraordinary.”

Like any great work, the appeal is multifaceted for students, from the intricacies of Beethoven’s score to the sheer mood of the piece.

“It’s the Ode to Joy,” says John-Morgan Bush, 22, a senior from Madisonville who plays French horn. “It really is a message of joy and fulfillment or inner fulfillment. When we play it, and we come to the main theme in the fourth movement, it really is a culmination and inner resolution. You can’t play that melody and be sad.”

Now, playing it can be a whole other matter.

“I grossly underestimated my part,” says trumpeter Julian Kaplan, 21, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. “We play an incredible amount of time, and when you listen to it, it doesn’t seem like that much, but when you sit down to play it, it’s very taxing physically.”

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The Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra will announce its choice for its new music director at Friday night’s concert, bringing to a close a two-year search for the successor to George Zack.

George Zack, whose successor will be named Friday. Photo by Matt Goins.

“This is the way we always wanted to make the announcement, and it looks like we’re on track to do it,” said Larry C. Deener, President of the Lexington Philharmonic Society, Inc.

Zack announced his retirement in December 2006, setting in motion a two-season search that saw 10 candidates conduct the Philharmonic between October 2007 and last month. Two candidates withdrew from the race after visiting — February auditioner Alastair Willis and March candidate Mei-Ann Chen.

That leaves eight candidates in contention for the spot:

• Kayoko Dan, assistant conductor of the Phoenix Symphony
• Alexander Platt, music director of the Waukesha Symphony in Wisconsin, resident conductor of the Chicago Opera Theatre and several other posts
• Darryl One, music director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in Texas
• Daniel Meyer, music director of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina, resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and several other posts
• Alfred Savia, music director of the Evansville Symphony Orchestra in Indiana
• Scott Terrell, resident conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina
• Jeffrey Pollock, last post was assistant conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas
• Morihiko Nakahara, music director of the South Carolina Philharmonic

Deener said the announcement will come just before intermission of Friday’s concert, which will feature the Lexington Singers and Lexington Philharmonic performing works by Gabriel Faure and Ludwig Van Beethoven. Lexington Singers music director Jefferson Johnson and University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra director John Nardolillo will co-conduct the concert.

At the concert, Deener said plans are to have brochures available with the programs for next season’s Masterclassics series, which will be the new conductor’s first season with the Philharmonic.

Cindi Lindsay of Lexington stood in line last year to get bottles commemorating UK's 1978 NCAA basketball championship signed by coach Joe B. Hall and other. Photo by Tom Eblen | Kentucky.com.

I will never again see news of the Keeneland-Maker’s Mark commemorative bottle events without thinking of how Tom Eblen succinctly summed up the Central Kentucky rite of spring last year:

It has to be one of Kentucky’s stranger traditions: Buy a couple of expensive bottles of bourbon you would never think of opening and stand in line all night so famous people can sign the labels.

Strange? Yes.

But if you are into arts philanthropy, you’ll want to pay attention to this year’s bottle, which goes on sale Friday. Proceeds from the commemorative bottles, which feature images from University of Kentucky athletics, have always gone to support programs at UK. This year’s bottle, featuring football coach Rich Brooks, will benefit an extension program designed to bring UK Symphony Orchestra musicians and other School of Music students into public schools throughout Kentucky.

Maker’s Mark estimates that proceeds from sales of this year’s run of 18,000 bottles will be $200,000. With matching grants, UK estimates $1.2 million could be generated for the the three-part project, designed by UK Symphony director John Nardolillo and geared toward third- and fourth-grade students.

The suggested retail price for the bottles, which will go on sale Friday across the state, is $45-$49. The signing with Coach Brooks,  Maker’s Mark President Bill Samuels and Keeneland President Nick Nicholson will be at 6:30 a.m. April 10. Nardolillo will probably find some football-and-symphony fans — they do exist — wanting his signature too.

Due to the popularity of the event, Keenland has introduced some new guidelines to the signing. According a press release from UK:

“Security officials will begin distributing tickets Thursday evening, April 9, to fans in line who are 21 years or older. The ticket will allow each holder to have up to two of the 2009 commemorative bottles signed. Tickets will not be numbered and will not dictate a place in line, but will assure the holder up to two bottles will be signed. Anyone leaving the line after receiving a ticket will have to return to the end of the line. All ticket holders should be in line by 6:30 a.m. on Friday, April 10.

“A concession stand will be open to serve beverages and snacks throughout the night before the signings. No coolers and no alcohol, other than the 2009 commemorative bottle, will be allowed inside the gates.”

• Here’s our slide show from the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Mouse over the bottom to get controls. Click on the little comment cloud to the left to activate captions. If you click on a photo, it will take you to a larger version of it at Picasa, and you can click the link at the bottom left for a larger version of the whole show.

The University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra rehearsed the UK Opera Theatre's production of Lucia di Lammermoor March 4, 2009 at the Lexington Opera House. Photos by Rich Copley.

Considering the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and Women’s Chorus’ recording of George Frederick Mckay’s Epoch: An American Dance Symphony came out five months ago, you’d think all the reviews would be in.

But orchestra director John Nardolillo, chorus director Lori Hetzel and the student musicians got a pleasant surprise late last week with yet another rave review, this one from Fanfare, one of the leading classical music publications.

John Nardolillo

“The performance by Nardolillo and his presumably student orchestra is first-rate,” wrote critic Ronald E. Grames. “If I had not known, I would have assumed both the orchestra and chorus to be professional.”

Grames also gave McKay’s piece a ringing endorsement.

“The fourth CD of McKay’s music, issued as part of Naxos’s American Classics label, is arguably the most important to date,” he writes. “Forgotten since its highly successful premiere, Epoch , An American Dance Symphony was conceived as an ambitious theater piece evoking, through music, vivid staging, and dance, the work of four American poets: Edgar Allen Poe, Sidney Lanier, Walt Whitman, and Carl Sandburg.”

The album was recorded in the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall in 2007 and released on Naxos Records in September 2008.

He could have spent Valentine’s night with anyone.

Good looking. Talented. Sought after. Gil Shaham could have taken himself and his 1699 Countess Polignac Stradivarius to any town in the world and gotten a gig playing for happy-loving couples on the 14th of February. But he didn’t go for any of the obvious hotties.

Instead, he picked an unlikely Valentine’s date: a university orchestra in a small Southern or Midwestern (depending on how you like to define Lexington) city. Granted, the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra is not the Chicago Symphony or the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. But it is on a pretty good run having played Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, recorded several CDs and performed with cello legend Lynn Harrell and folk legend Arlo Guthrie in the past couple of years.

Whether it was that track record, good fortune, or a combination of the two, the UK Symphony won a date with violin superstar Gil Shaham Valentine’s night, and from the moment he stepped on stage, it was obvious he was happy to be here.

Shaham wore a big grin as he tore into the first few phrases of Igor Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D. Not only did UK get the hot date, he was a lot more fun than you might have ever expected. He would finish passages and then look at conductor John Nardolillo — who he stood much closer to than many violin soloists get to the conductor — and bob his head to the beat.

The violinist’s Strad sang, his fingers and bow shaping phrases with that 17th Century wood easier than most of us articulate statements with our mouths. Shaham’s eyebrows slanted forward and his lips slightly puckered right before he did cool things like slashing staccato fiddling in the concerto’s fourth movement.

For its part, the UK Symphony was more than well prepared for this night out, expertly supporting Shaham’s joyful performance and chiming in with numerous sterling solos. The highlight of the evening had to be late in the concerto, when Shaham leaned down and traded phrases with concertmaster Ella Chang, like a couple discovering they have things in common over coffee: “Really! Me too!” “Really. Me too!”

Then, after a coordinated encore of Fritz Kreisler’s Schön Rosmarin, Shaham effectively said, “enough about me, let’s talk about you,” taking a seat in the back of the violin section to participate in a performance of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Op. 36.

In that performance, the UK Symphony demonstrated to anyone who has not been tuned in to its explosive growth over the last few years that it does not have to have an international superstar center stage to sound drop-dead gorgeous. Enigma was imbued with the same emotion and sensitivity the Stravinsky received with radiant solo shots from all over the stage.

Yes, the UK Symphony was an unlikely Valentine’s date for Gil Shaham. But when they met, they did what most couples hope to accomplish: they made beautiful music together.