Louisville Broadcast

Contact: Jacob Gotlib | jgotlib@louisvilleorchestra.org 

Innovative. Exciting. Groundbreaking. Community-focused. Inclusive. Daring. Artistically excellent. Forward-thinking. These are all words that have been used to describe the Louisville Orchestra since its founding in 1937. The birth of the LO was conceived to heal and unite a city and a region that had been devastated by a massive flood…from the beginning a courageous and visionary endeavor. The fruits of that foundation decades ago were evident in the concerts presented by the LO these last days of April 2023. The traditional met the contemporary and imaginative in a series of musical experiences that could only be realized by an orchestra such as this.

It began with a monumental project on April 23^rd conceived by our Creators Corps me, ber, Lisa Bielawa….Louisville Broadcast. The new 45-minute musical piece for an unlimited number of participants celebrated two historic sites, Shelby Park and the Big Four Bridge, and the vitality of Louisville’s many musical communities. Hundreds of participants from JCPS schools, inspired citizens, and musical organizations in the Louisville area gathered at Shelby Park in the morning and the Big Four Bridge in the evening to celebrate coming together as a community through the connecting power of instrumental and choral music. Each group had its own musical part to play, conceived as a set of game-like “tasks.”  LO Creators Corps member Lisa Bielawa composed music customized for each group’s instrumentation and playing ability. She will mapped out an individual “movement path” throughout the sites for each ensemble. Bielawa has composed Broadcast pieces for several sites worldwide.

All groups began playing in the center of the site: at the gazebo in Shelby Park and the center of the Big Four Bridge. After five minutes or so, the groups gradually dispersed: each group moved as a unit away from the center, increasing the distance between the groups (never playing and walking at the same time – always only one or the other). The music was composed to form different relationships between the groups as they approach, transect, or retreat from one another.