Copious Notes

Backstage at the 2006 auditions, Colleen Lauve pulled aside the curtin for contestant Brian Tierney. David Perry | Herald-Leader.

This year’s Kentucky District round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions will be an event of Wagnerian proportions, at least in length.

With 25 hopefuls, Saturday’s presentation of the Kentucky District Auditions at the University of Kentucky’s Memorial Hall will roll its start time back from 1 p.m. to 10 a.m.

The morning session will go to 12:30 p.m. After a half-hour break, the auditions will resume at 1 p.m. and go until their usual late-afternoon conclusion — just about the amount of time you might need to squeeze in a production of Die Walküre.

The district auditions are open to anyone who wants to give it a shot, and often feature 14-16 hopefuls. In the past, the Kentucky District has had as many as 20 auditioners.

Auditions chair Dr. Clifton Smith took the preponderance of Kentucky District applicants as a sign that word has gotten out that the Bluegrass State edition is well-run, attracts a strong panel of judges, and gives out attractive prizes. He noted that Saturday’s field will include singers from New York and Chicago, as well as hopefuls from Kentucky, Southern Ohio and Indiana. The three winners Saturday will get $1,500 each and they will advance to the Tri-State Regional Round Jan. 16 at Butler University in Indianapolis. Next stop after that is the National Semi-Final round at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Saturday’s judges will include Met luminaries including bass Richard Best, soprano Carol Vaness and tenor Douglas Ahlstedt.

Since moving to UK’s Memorial Hall in 2000, the auditions have proved popular among music fans who regularly pack Memorial Hall. Admission is free.

Lexington Philharmonic music director Scott Terrell conducts a combined rehearsal of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras' symphony orchestra and the Philharmonic Oct. 19. CKYO director Kayoko Dan stands at the back of the orchestra, in a black blouse. Photos by Matt Goins.

When I moved to Lexington in 1998, one thing that immediately struck me about the ­local arts scene was the prominence of children and organizations geared toward children.

The Lexington Children’s Theatre’s shows rated the same sort of attention as productions at Actors Guild of Lexington and other area stages.

The Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras’ events and personnel moves were prominent news. There were two institutions - the Explorium (then, the Lexington Children’s Museum) and the Living Arts and Science Center - geared toward children’s arts, particularly visual arts.

The School for Creative and Performing Arts had a prominent place in town, but there were stage, art and music programs at other schools also producing talented graduates who went on to arts careers.

Children’s Health magazine recently ranked Lexington No. 6 on its list of the 100 best places to raise a family. The criteria included crime and safety, education, economics, housing, cultural attractions and health.

I’d be willing to bet that if someone wanted to rank best places to be an artsy kid, Lexington would rate high on that list, too. By virtue of what is offered, we tell our children that the arts are something to do and be respected for doing.

Students Madelyn Nelson, left, Sara Arthur-Paratley, and Mary Rollins-Mathews rehearsed with the Lexington Ballet on Monday in preparation for Youth Arts Day.

The Lexington Philharmonic, the Horse Capitol of the World’s flagship arts organization, will celebrate young artists with its Youth Arts Day family concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Singletary Center for the Arts. It will include young singers from SCAPA, Fayette County Public Schools and the School of the Lexington Ballet.

The prominence of youth-oriented groups here is quite a bit more than other communities that I have lived in or observed. Over the nearly 12 years since I arrived, it has become clear that a big reason for that is quality.

Take the Children’s Theatre: In a town that has struggled with the concept of professional theater for adults, the Lexington Children’s Theatre has established itself with its own building on Short Street and a professional staff, including actors. What’s more, Larry and Vivian Snipes have developed a national reputation for the theater by being a venue that presents and creates new work. And the primary beneficiaries are kids.

And it really wasn’t terribly surprising that when the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras went looking for a new music director at the same time that the Lexington Philharmonic was trying to fill a similar job, it ended up attracting and hiring Kayoko Dan, also a candidate for the Philharmonic post.

CKYO has graduated numerous professional musicians, including Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Nathan Cole and hard-to-categorize cello soloist Ben Sollee.

Outside of groups directly geared toward kids, Lexington arts groups have been generous to kids.
Look at Paragon Music Theatre, which routinely loads the stage with kids, including Hello Dolly! this weekend, and even makes a place for them in its cabaret shows.

During years without a professional company, the Lexington Ballet featured its students in productions, and it and Kentucky Ballet Theatre, which has always had a pro troupe, always find ways to present students. Former Ballet Theatre dancer Adalhi Aranda Corn saw such value in Central Kentucky’s young artists she left and formed Bluegrass Youth Ballet and eventually built CulturArte, an arts facility that acommodates a variety of disciplines.

Possibly one of the biggest statements about valuing student artists was when the Lexington Singers’ ­Children’s Chorus was invited to perform in the Our Lincoln performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington in February.

And now LexArts has formed a Youth Arts Council to help focus young artists in the area.

Clarinetists Andrew Burton, 14, left, of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras and Mike Acord of the Philharmonic rehearsed together Monday.

Full disclosure: My children have participated in some of these groups, and one is in the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, although not the ensemble performing Sunday with the Lexington Philharmonic.

In addition, I’ve gotten to know many other kids who participate in groups. Maybe the most important thing these groups engender is enthusiasm for the arts they are participating in. I hear spirited discussions about play rehearsal and genuine interest in Bach sonatas.

Like anything, Lexington’s youth arts scene isn’t perfect. I remain baffled, for instance, why SCAPA does not have a theater of its own. Then again, SCAPA regularly solves that problem by putting its kids on stages usually graced by adults and pros.

It occurred to me as I left a CKYO rehearsal last week with my daughter that by virtue of her participation in the orchestra, she’s on the University of Kentucky campus every week. Most of us didn’t get used to being on a college campus until we had enrolled.

That’s just one of many ways that through our youth arts, regardless of whether the students pursue arts careers, by supporting such substantial programs, we’re preparing our kids for the rest of their lives.

Yes, it’s early August. Not exactly the time of year you look for world-premier opera in the Bluegrass.

But that is what will be on stage tonight at the Singletary Center for the Arts as Lorne Dechtenberg conducts the world premier of University of Kentucky Russian professor Gerald Janecek’s one-act opera Don Perlimplin. The hour-long piece is based on Frederico Garcia Lorca’s play The Love of Don Perlimlplin and Belisa in the Garden. The performance will utilize performers in The Bluegrass Opera, a troupe dedicated to premiering new works.

Tonight’s performance, at 7:30 p.m. in the Singletary Center, is free.

The Bluegrass Opera keeps things going later this month with Quantum Mechanic by John Bilotta and
Chicken Little, The Sky Is Falling! by Gladys Smuckler Moskowitz Aug. 22 at The Episcopal Church of St. Michael the Archangel.

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.

Cliff Jackson in a coaching session with mezzo-soprano Brandy Lynn Hawkins in 2006. Photo by Joseph Rey Au.

University of Kentucky voice coach Cliff Jackson had been named Coach of the Year by Classical Singer magazine.

Jackson has been on UK’s voice faculty since 1992, in addition to extensive international career playing piano for artists such as Kathleen Battle and Renato Scotto in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Covenant Garden. In addition to UK, Jackson has coached at the Julliard School and Central City Opera Festival and been recognized as a leading pianist playing for organizations such as the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

At UK, Jackson has nurtured many of the leading talents to come out of the University of Kentucky’s voice department. Audiences in Central Kentucky may recognize him as the accompanist for most, and sometimes all of the singers in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Kentucky District Auditions.

Classical Singer does not allow online access to its articles to non-subscribers, so at the moment, we can only give you a hint of what Jason Vest’s article says, from the teaser on the website: “Cliff Jackson has spent more than 30 years collaborating with singers at all levels. His career has taken him to some of the grandest halls in the world playing with some of the most famous singers. But perhaps his greatest impact has been in his everyday work with the yet-to-be-discovered singers at the University of Kentucky, inspiring and influencing them to greater artistic achievement.”

Deborah Lander, the University of Kentucky’s first full-time viola faculty member, is trying to foster some unity in the Lexington-area viola community.

Deborah Lander. Photo by Rich Copley.

The Kentucky Viola Society held its first meeting over the weekend at Lander’s apartment and is aiming to meet further and plan events. Lander is serving as president of the club, Paul Engelbrecht is president elect (meaning he takes over in two years), and Melissa Gross is secretary treasurer.

Talking to the Herald-Leader earlier this year Lander noted that the viola is often marginalized as second banana to the higher, flashier violin. In her native Australia and here, she has been working to raise the profile of the deep, mellow instrument, including performing as a soloist on the Lexington Philharmonic’s January MasterClassics concert.

Lexington has a pretty active viola community including L.O.V.E. (Lexington’s Original Viola Ensemble), directed by Nancy Campbell and Joanna Binford, which performs at area events including a set prior to the January’s Philharmonic concert.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the viola group, contact Lander at debviola@gmail.com.

UK symphony violin players Ella Chang, left, and Jihee Kang make a portrait together on the stage of the Kennedy Center concert hall. Photo by Jonathan Palmer.

Check out Jonathan Palmer’s slide show from Our Lincoln.

WASHINGTON – Last February, the Kentucky Humanities Council and the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre claimed Abraham Lincoln as the Bluegrass State’s own through music and words in the Our Lincoln concert at the Singletary Center for the Arts.

Monday night, the same artists staked that claim on a national stage: the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

The performance of Our Lincoln at the Kennedy Center was a chance for the artists involved, including the Lexington Singers and the UK Symphony Orchestra, to play on the stage of one of the most prestigious arts venues in America. It was also a chance for Kentucky to show off.

“When I heard about this, I said, in one fell swoop, you could change a lot of people’s minds about our state,” Robert Brock, artistic director of Kentucky Repertory Theatre, said, recalling receiving his invitation to portray Lincoln’s law partner, Billy Herndon, in the show.

Brock’s performance was one of numerous pieces meant to portray the 16^th President, usually associated with Illinois, from a distinctly Kentucky perspective. The performance was created as part of the celebration of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in Hodgenville.

Our Lincoln included Augusta’s Nick Clooney narrating Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, UK alum and Metropolitan Opera tenor Gregory Turay singing a new musical setting of The Gettysburg Address, Kentucky Poet Laureate Jane Gentry reading her poem about a Lincoln portrait in her house, and excerpts from River of Time, a forthcoming opera about Abraham Lincoln by UK composer Joseph Baber.

The program was narrated by national radio host and Louisville native Bob Edwards, and it was attended by a who’s who of Central Kentuckians including Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry, and U.S. Reps. Ben Chandler and Hal Rodgers.

“This is a proud night for the State of Kentucky because of what we are about to show the nation,” University of Kentucky President Lee Todd said to about 400 people at a pre-show reception in the Kennedy Center.

The crowd included Kentuckians who made the trip to Washington, expatriate Kentuckians living in Washington, people invited by their Kentucky friends and pure concertgoers.

Read the rest of this entry »