News
How safe? Here are some details.
Dear Friends.
We are excited to welcome you back to live, in-person concerts! The health and safety of our community is an important consideration as we gather for performances. To operate with utmost concern and awareness of the current recommendations of health officials, the LO strives to react appropriately as the pandemic continues.
We have implemented these protocols for admission to LO concerts at all indoor venues:
- Masking is mandatory at all times unless actively eating or drinking for all persons over age 2 years. This applies to outdoor venues also.
- Proof of negative PCR test or full vaccination status must be presented and verifiable for all persons over age 5 years.
- Testing will be provided at all venues by Bluewater Labs. 100% covered by your insurance or by the CARES Act (through Dec 31, 2021). 15-minute nasal swab testing is used.
HEALTHY AIR. SUPERIOR CLEANING
The Kentucky Center has enhanced its HVAC filtration systems with Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13 filters that meet standards set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The air in the facility exchanges 100% no fewer than 4x per hour. In addition, the KPA is actively working to receive a GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a Division of ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association. Once obtained, this cleaning standards certification will place all KPA venues on the international registry of GBAC accredited venues.
– High traffic areas will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected several times during your visit with agents that kill the COVID-19 virus.
– Theaters, concert halls, and reception spaces will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected before each use.
– Restrooms will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected often throughout your visit.
SAFETY SCREENING
In addition to health screening, a security screening will be in place at all Kentucky Performing Arts venues (Kentucky Center, The Brown Theatre, Old Forester’s Paristown Hall). The security screening will include bag checks, and magnetic wand or magnetometer tests. Prohibited items are all guns, knives in most categories, mace or pepper spray, and other items detailed on the LO website. Other LO performance locations may institute security screenings. Please check with the LO Patron Services team if you have questions.
BAG RESTRICTIONS AT THE KENTUCKY CENTER
The Kentucky Performing Arts has issued a restriction on backpacks and oversize bags, including drawstrings.
Details for Kentucky Performing Arts venues are available here: https://www.kentuckyperformingarts.org/about-KPA/covid-19-guidelines
A full outline of LO protocol is available at www.LouisvilleOrchestra.org/health-and-safety/
Upon reviewing these policies, if you would like to discuss your ticket options, please contact the LO during business hours at 502.587.8681.
Everyone at the LO is busy preparing for an amazing series of concerts as together we rise to the challenges of our times. We look forward to seeing you at a performance very soon.
A Year in Review
Greetings! Throughout this past year, Teddy Abrams and your Louisville Orchestra shared outstanding performances to bring our community together. You are such a large part of our story and success, and we wish to thank you again for your support.
It’s been an extraordinary year.
January 2021 brought a new schedule of online concerts with the Louisville Orchestra Virtual Edition (LOVE). Our first attempt to create an online education concert in the MakingMUSIC program reached 49,500+ local students and educators in March. Special gifts and grants allowed us to present a series of free, outdoor concerts throughout Louisville last May and July. And ultimately, we returned to live performances with the free September kick-off concert at Iroquois Amphitheatre. Indoor and in-person concerts were restarted with the Classics, Pops, Family, and Music Without Borders concerts offering a variety of exciting programs. Launching a partnership with the Louisville Free Public Library in November was an instant success, bringing families with young children to musical storytelling events at library branches across the metro. To be sure, we were all working to maintain the most health-conscious environment for both the performers and audience as we continue to balance live performance with health concerns as the pandemic rages on.
Though it all, Teddy Abrams was true to the foundational values of the Louisville Orchestra — innovation, inspiration, and celebration of the joys and sorrows we face as individuals and as a community — as he commissioned new works, explored forgotten gems, lifted up living composers, and championed local talent at dozens of LO concerts. For this consistent dedication, imagination, and passion for the people of his city, he was awarded 2022 Conductor of the Year by MusicalAmerica – the journal of American classical music for more than 100 years. Other than the Kennedy Center Honors, this is the most prestigious recognition offered by the classical music industry. It is truly an achievement for Teddy.
Another amazing achievement is the 40-year career of our beloved Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt. He has given us some of our most engaging and entertaining moments with concerts in Louisville since 1981. He really is as nice and charming a person as he appears from the podium and we have all had the benefit of his kindness. But here’s a little secret that we know from working with Bob. He’s not only a dedicated professional, he could even be called a perfectionist. There’s nothing that escapes Bob’s notice from all aspects of his performances to the way the concert program listings are presented. We celebrate Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt’s 40th season.
You helped make all of this possible. Thank you!
As 2021 ends, we ask that you will continue to support the LO by making a charitable gift before December 31. We hope that the end of the year is a wonderful one for you and your loved ones, and we are so excited to see what the new year holds for all of us. Thank you, again, for your generous and sustained support.
Photos From Our Recent Concerts
We wanted to share a gallery of images from our most recent concerts. There’s been such joy in presenting live and in-person performances! We thank our patrons and donors for making these free events possible.
Education On Our Minds
The Louisville Orchestra was excited when Strings Magazine reached out to Teddy Abrams asking him to share more about the Louisville Orchestra vision for its education and community outreach programs. The Louisville Orchestra was founded on bringing high-quality musical experiences to the city. Throughout the orchestra’s history, dedicated efforts to expand the access and impact of the education and community outreach programs have including robust school and teacher experiences, musician engagement, and high quality and engaging educational musical performances. We share some of our strategic projects and vision for the future with the full text of Teddy’s essay for Strings Magazine.
Education is a core part of the Louisville Orchestra’s mission, and it is central to our concept of a modern orchestra as a public service institution as well as a concertizing organization. Over the past seven years, we have worked hard to develop educational programs and projects that speak to the creative potential of young people, engaging their talents and imaginations and showcasing the connectivity of diverse musical styles. We’ve deliberately avoided reifying stereotypes of “classical” music by instituting our vision for a New American Canon as the basis for our education and engagement work; this vision calls for the LO to reflect and affirm the vibrancy of our community. It equalizes great music regardless of its origin or history, it emphasizes music by living composers and American artists, and it provides for a fundamentally participatory audience experience rather than a purely didactic one.
This last year has clarified the necessity of music in Louisville’s future: the isolation brought by COVID-19 quarantines and the societal fracturing due to racial injustice (felt acutely in Louisville because of Breonna Taylor’s killing) has accentuated the power of music in healing and unifying our city. We have a momentous opportunity to use music to address these challenges directly with our community’s youth.
Our educational platform is built around several programs: our signature MakingMUSIC program includes school visits and series of concerts serving 91 elementary schools annually, an instrument-building project called the “Landfill Orchestra,” (which teaches recycling and ecology along with science and crafts), the Louisville Orchestra Rap School, and the Louisville Orchestra Conducting School (a conducting training program for 4th- and 5th-graders), a weekly musician residency with the renowned Heuser Hearing Institute, and regular masterclasses at regional high school music programs. Almost all of those programs continued during the pandemic, with adaptations like asynchronous masterclasses for individual students, virtual conducting classes, and an online library of content we developed based on specific requests by music teachers at our public schools.
In the future, we will be expanding our unique Rap School as a part of our equity and unity efforts. This program is a collaboration with local rapper, classical percussionist, professor, and recently-elected Metro Councilman Jecorey “1200” Arthur. Students in our Rap School create lyrics inspired by the life of Louisville’s own Muhammad Ali, and they perform their raps with the full Louisville Orchestra each season. By investing in this project we tie together many of our educational goals: participation, musical equity, and a connection to locality. We’re so honored by the students who have participated and proud to have been a part of their creative growth. Initiatives to offer music activities to pre-school and kindergarten children are underway as we develop partnerships and programs.
Finally, as part of our initiatives to expand access to orchestral music in Kentucky, we are developing educational programs that will reach areas in the state where relationships with Louisville are minimal or even negative. By building educational programs with communities beyond Louisville metro, we hope to foster a much more connected, positive statewide spirit. Music is a part of Kentucky’s heritage and a source of pride for Kentuckians of all backgrounds and demographics, and by celebrating our state’s musical output in our educational programming — from the first-rate hip hop scene in Louisville to the folk traditions of Appalachia — we can offer pathways to understanding and communality that are deeply needed in 21st century America. The groundwork for this statewide educational programming was laid during the pandemic, and we hope to initiate these concepts over the coming two seasons.
-Teddy Abrams
Live Concerts in a Season of “New Beginnings”
Introducing the 2021-22 Season of “NEW BEGINNINGS”
Teddy Abrams and Louisville Orchestra Focus on “New Beginnings” in 2021-22, Celebrating Composers of Color, Women Composers, Latin American Music, and Numerous World Premieres, Including Abrams’s New Piano Concerto Performed by Yuja Wang
Now in its eighth season under the inspired and inspiring leadership of galvanizing young Music Director Teddy Abrams, the Louisville Orchestra celebrates diverse musical voices in 2021-22, with works by composers of color and women composers of three centuries; a three-part festival of Latin American music featuring world premieres by Angélica Negrón and Dafnis Prieto; and the first concert in a multi-season series exploring Black and Jewish music. A major highlight of the season is the worldpremiere of Abrams’s Piano Concerto, written for and featuring acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang. The season also features the world premiere of a Louisville Orchestra commission from rising young Louisville composer KiMani Bridges, a new edition of the popular “Teddy Talks…” series deconstructing Schubert’s “Great” Symphony No. 9, world-class guest conductors and soloists, and much more. Bob Bernhardt, Principal Pops Conductor, celebrates his 40th season with the Louisville Orchestra this year. He launches the 5-concert Pops Series with “Music of Prohibition” and celebrates his anniversary with a concert of music by John Williams. Attendance at all performances in the 2021-22 season is subject to currently recommended COVID-19 safety protocols.
Season tickets are now on sale for the Classics, Pops, Family, and Coffee Concert Series.
All dates, programs, and artists are subject to change
Gifts of Tribute and Honor
2020-21 Tribute Concert
RAVEL and THE POWER of BLACK MUSIC
Live online: 27 MARCH 2021 at 7:30pm EDT
The annual Louisville Orchestra Tribute Concert is presented online this season as we continue our Virtual Edition performances. We extend our gratitude to all those who contributed tribute gifts in support of this concert, as well as to those who made tribute gifts throughout the past year. Gifts made to the Louisville Orchestra in honor or in memory of others are a special way to support the orchestra and celebrate friends and family.
Your gifts made it possible for the music to keep playing this season despite the loss of some ticketing revenue. On behalf of Music Director Teddy Abrams and everyone at the Louisville Orchestra, we express our heartfelt gratitude and our best wishes for your health and safety.
These names* will also be listed in the online credits of our Tribute Concert: Ravel and the Power of Black Music featuring Teddy Abrams as soloist in the Piano Concerto by Maurice Ravel. The performance is also a tribute to Black composers and musicians whose talents influenced every facet of music in America. We hope you join us for the performance. LINK to details.
In Honor of Teddy Abrams
Jennifer Barger
Bert Griffin
Sue and Gary Russell
In Honor of Melanie and Steve Ahr
Clarence and Mary Barton
In Honor of Doris Anderson
Irene M. Rawlings
In Memory of Mabel Arbogast
Carolyn Marlowe Waddell
In Honor of Julie and Bill Ballard
Bert Griffin
In Memory of Elizabeth Bartelt
Phillip Bartelt
In Memory of Graham E. Beard
Ms. Rebecca Bruner
In Memory of Susan Overton Belcher
Alison Torpey
In Memory of Barry Bingham, Jr.
Mrs. Edith S. Bingham
In Memory of Paul Brink
Louise and Jay Harris
In Memory of Bobby E. Campbell
Audrey Blair
In Memory of Sue Causey
John and Theresa Bondurant
Louise and Jay Harris
Richard O. Spalding
In Memory of Dr. Robert Deweese
Mrs. Carol Hebel
Dr. and Mrs. Lynn L. Ogden
Donald and Ann Kohler
In Memory of Juanita Dunn
Debbie Dunn
In Honor of Jane Emke
Katherine Steiner
In Honor of Mr. and Mrs. Ian Gregory
Ed and Constance Gregory
In Honor of Dr. Misty Griffin
Bert Griffin
In Honor of Patrick and Kathleen Hammer
Ms. Patricia Read
In Memory of Barbara June Hammon
Stratton Hammon
In Memory of Edward Hampe
June Hampe
In Honor of Frank and Paula Harshaw
John and Theresa Bondurant
Dr. Carmel Person
In Memory of Charles W. Hebel, Jr.
Anonymous
Steve and Gloria Bailey
Richard Baker
David B. Baughman
Rita Jane Bell
Thomas and Julia Bell
Mr. Lee Benovitz
Carl Bensinger
Kendra Foster and Turney Berry
John and Theresa Bondurant
MJ Brinkworth
Brad and Carla Sue Broecker
Mary Broecker
Lucinda Calvert
Mr. Christopher Cashen
Gail Chowning
Pat Clements
Dr. Bobby M. Deweese
Nan Dobbs
Daniele Drexler
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Dunham
Shirley S. Engelhardt
Janet Falk
Klein Family Foundation
Kentucky Derby Museum
Kentucky Racing Health & Welfare Fund
KY Thoroughbred Owners
Allison Furnish
Mr. and Mrs. C. Edward Glasscock
Sandal H. Gulick
Bert Griffin
Donald C. Hamilton
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Harbst
Marjorie Harbst
Louise and Jay Harris
Paula and Frank Harshaw
Joseph and Sissy Helm
Delta Zeta Alumnae
Meredith Hughes
Ms. Betsy Jane
Lisa Work and James Johnson
Dan and Lisa Jones
Carol Sharpe Harper, Spencer Harper III, and Grafton Sharpe Harper
Nathaniel Koch
Donald and Ann Kohler
Lynne G. Kelly
Andrew Kipe and Norman Morse
Barbara Knebelkamp
Yvonne B. Knight
Mary Celeste Lerman
Jeannie Livesay
Bruce Lunsford
Patricia McHugh
Susan S. Means
Sandra J. Metts
Mr. Edward Metzner
Jerry and Laura Miller
Mrs. Suzanne Milstead
Guy and Elizabeth Montgomery
Ms. Patricia McHugh
Mr. and Mrs. Allan Morris
Jamie Osborne
Don and Libbye Parkinson
Richard Peterson
Richard Riedel
Kevin Rogers
Clifford Rompf
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore S. Rosky
Sue and Gary Russell
Katherine Russell
Rev. Edward W. Schadt
Denise Schiller
Dr. and Mrs. William K. Schmied
Daniel Schusterman
Jean and Bill Shewciw
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shiprek
Gary Smith
Mollie Smith
Carolyn Marlowe Waddell
Lynn Wangerin
Dr. Will W. Ward
Herbert Warren
Manning G. Warren III
Ronald and Elaine Weisberg
Mollie Whitelaw
Mrs. Joan T. Whittenberg
Lisa Work
Katherine Zoppoth
In Memory of Paul Hutcherson
Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Anderson
In Memory of Bob Ryan “The Smiling Irishman”
Karen R. Harris
In Memory of Lillian and Thomas C Copeland, Jr.
James and Carole Whitledge
In Memory of Mrs. Margaret Kammerer
Robert Richardson
In Honor of Mary Catherine Klan
Clyde and Elisabeth Foshee
In Honor of Donald Kohler
Stanley and Ellen Bayersdorfer
In Honor of the Louisville Orchestra Board of Directors
Bert Griffin
In Honor of the Louisville Orchestra Musicians
Bert Griffin
Sue and Gary Russell
In Honor of the Louisville Orchestra Staff
Bert Griffin
In Memory of Donna LaFollette
William Lafollette
In Memory of Chuck LeGette
Ms. Laura Lee Brown and Mr. Steve Wilson
In Honor of Andrea Saxon Levine
Samuel and Stephanie Levine
In Memory of Karen Lind
James and Rebecca King
In Honor of my parents, Elliott and Rena Marcus
Raulee Marcus
In Memory of Dr. S. Gerald Marx
Louise and Jay Harris
In Memory of Dr. Daniel A. McAninch
John and Theresa Bondurant
Louise and Jay Harris
Patricia McHugh
Richard O. Spalding
Anne Marie de Zeeuw
In memorial James Robert McGinty
Ken Hudson
Molly Koebbe
Juliette Murray
In Memory of Robin McNeil
Waverly and Brenda Townes
In Memory of Francis H. Mitchell, Senior PhD
William Mitchell
In Honor of Libbye and Guy Montgomery
John and Theresa Bondurant
In Memory of Allan Morris
Mrs. Carol Hebel
In Memory of Mary Margaret Mulvihill
Dr. and Mrs. Peter Tanguay
In Memory of Dr. David Neustadt
Carolyn Neustadt
In Memory of Robert Nicols
Donald and Ann Kohler
In Memory of Tinsley Nugent
Mr. Embry Rucker and Ms. Joan MacLean
In Honor of the Opus 21 Society
Bert Griffin
In Honor of Donna Parkes
Phyllis Taylor
In Memory of Caroline Pinne
Ms. Janice Bird
In Memory of Roland W. Richmond, M.D.
The Caroline Christian Foundation
Fred Cowan
John Findling
Todd Graybill
Jean Major
Don Reiss
Richard Sandage
In Honor of Denise C. Schiller
Miriam Ostroff
In Honor of Winona and Joseph Shiprek
Steve and Gloria Bailey
In Memory of Joseph and Dalen Small
Mr. Joseph Small
In Memory of James Bradley Smith
Louise and Jay Harris
Ms. Susannah S. Onwood
In Memory of Cecile Marie Spalding
Jane Welch
In Memory of Brenda M. Steen
Robert Steen
In Honor of the Tiptons
Steve and Gloria Bailey
Katherine Giles Eirk Veazey
Mary and Houston Bowers
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Donan
Mrs. Carol Hebel
In Memory of Samuel Craig Walker
Juanita and Craig Walker
In Honor of Richard and Mary Bert Wolf
Dr. Janice W. Yusk
In Memory of Mark Wolfe
Acme Lupine & Co.
In Honor of Keitt and Frank Wood
Frank S. Wood
In Memory of Dr. John C. Wright
Dr. Kay Roberts
We invite you to make a tribute gift to the Louisville Orchestra. Add your name and the name of the ones you love to this list by contributing HERE.
*Please note that donations received after March 19 cannot be included in the credits of the Tribute Concert
Permanent Principal Timpani Position
Teddy Abrams, Music Director
ANNOUNCES THE FOLLOWING PERMANENT POSITION:
PRINCIPAL TIMPANI
The audition for Principal Timpani will take place over March 12-13, 2023
The salary for Principal Timpani is $1417.39 per week
The 2022-23 Season is 35 weeks, which began June 1, 2022. This position is available at the successful candidate’s and orchestra’s mutually agreed upon earliest convenience, and includes instrument, life, major medical insurance, and pension. A refundable $100.00 deposit will be required from those musicians invited to audition. Qualified applicants to either email or mail a typed one-page resume to be received by
Friday, February 3, 2023 to:
auditions@louisvilleorchestra.org
Auditions Coordinator, Louisville Orchestra
624 West main Street, Suite 400
Louisville, KY 40202
All deadlines in the process are final. Repertoire will not be given over the phone, but please visit our website for more information, and details about other upcoming auditions.
www.louisvilleorchestra.org
Live and On-demand Concerts
The SPRING LO Virtual Edition
We are pleased to announce that the Brown-Forman Orchestra Series Spring 2021 is now available. The LO Virtual Edition brings you this spring season of online concerts plus chamber music, interview, and bonus content. Enjoy the creative excitement of Teddy Abrams and the LO from any device, anywhere. The Fall LOVE series launched the Orchestra online with four concerts streamed live from Paristown Hall. Each concert was re-mastered and offered on-demand together with weekly additions of new videos. The Louisville Orchestra has fine-tuned the creative process to make the Spring LOVE season be just as compelling as the Fall series. Great music, amazing guest artists, PLUS a return of our favorite Principal Pops Conductor, BOB BERNHARDT.
Unlimited access to the full Spring LOVE series is available for $75 by visiting louisvilleorchestra.vhx.tv
One-time view options (live or on-demand) are available for $20 per concert.
All dates, times, guest artists, and programming is subject to change.
What’s Included?
RAVEL and the POWER of BLACK MUSIC
Live-stream: 27 MAR 2021, 7:30PM
On-demand: FRI 9 APR – SUN 23 MAY
Teddy Abrams, conductor/piano
Jecorey “1200” Arthur, vocals/narrator
JD Green, vocals
Chanson Calhoun, vocals
Jason Clayborn, vocals
Maurice RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major
Traditional: “Go Down Moses”
W.C. HANDY: “The Memphis Blues”
FITZGERALD/JACQUET/THOMPSON: “Robbins’ Nest”
REDDING/FRANKLIN: “Respect”
THARPE: “Strange Things Happening Every Day”
BROWN/ELLIS: “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud”
FRESH/RICK: “The Show”
WAILING TRUMPETS: Ragtime + Jazz
Live-stream: 10 APR 2021, 7:30PM
On-demand: FRI 23 APR – SUN 6 JUN
Bob Bernhardt, conductor
Byron Stripling, trumpet
Bobby Floyd, piano
Andy Woodson, bass
Jim Leslie, drums
CREAMER/LAYTON (arr. Tyzik): “After You’ve Gone”
Irving BERLIN (arr. Tyzik): “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”
MILLS (arr. Tyzik): “St. James Infirmary”
TRADITIONAL (arr. Tyzik): “Down By The Riverside”
HANDY (arr. Tyzik): “St. Louis Blues”
“Jellyroll” MORTON (arr. Tyzik): “Black Bottom Stomp”
TRADITIONAL: “This Little Light Of Mine”
HOWE (arr. Albam): “Battle Hymn Of The Republic”
TRADITIONAL (arr. Cook): “When The Saints Go Marching In”
Spring LOVE Bonus Content (as of March 23, 2021)
Robert Walker A Tale of Two Pandemics
Ensemble Video: Valerie Coleman’s Rubispheres
Ensemble Video: Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for Violin and Cello
Teddy Abrams performs “Variations on Happy Birthday in the Style of Late Beethoven”
Ensemble Video: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 “Harp”
Guest Soloist Milena Pajaro-Van de Stadt plays Stravinsky’s “Elegy”
Ensemble Video: Jazz selections for Trio – Corea and Bolling
Ensemble Video: Mozart String Quartet No 19
Ensemble Video: Mozart Clarinet Trio in E Flat Maj.
Ensemble Video: Mozart Flute Quartet No. 1
Visit https://louisvilleorchestra.vhx.tv/products/spring-louisville-orchestra-virtual-edition-2021 to get/give the gift of music with the LOVE Spring Series!
Link to More information HERE
LO for the Holidays
A Free Humana Holiday Concert
Now showing on Humana’s Facebook page! Louisville’s own, violinist Tessa Lark will perform various renditions of the Four Seasons and Teddy leads the LO in holiday favorites to get you in the spirit. The event will be available on Humana’s Facebook page until January 8. https://www.facebook.com/Humana
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Teddy Abrams conducts the complete Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi featuring LO violinists Gabriel Lefkowitz, Julia Noone, James McFadden-Talbot, and Maria Semes. The on-demand performance will be available on Saturday, December 19 at 7:30PM – Sunday, February 1 at 11:59PM and will be included for both Fall and Spring LOVE subscribers or $20 for a single-view. https://louisvilleorchestra.vhx.tv/products/vivaldi-s-four-seasons
The unique and much-beloved work features four complete violin concertos taking listeners through a picturesque story of the seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The music shivers with the cold, basks in warm sunshine, and swirls with brisk breezes.
A STRING CONCERT FOR YOUR HOLIDAY
Musicians from the Louisville Orchestra offer music of the Yuletide season.
Stephen Taylor, violin
James McFadden-Talbot, violin
Jonathan Mueller, viola
Lindy Tsai, cello
Mark Tate, percussion
Free Online Concert: American Soul
TUE 1 DEC
Link to get your free access. Use code: FREE
The names of great Soul and R&B musicians bring a cascade of music to mind. Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, and others brought a new sound to popular music. Rooted in Gospel traditions and merged with doo-wop sounds, Soul music rose up from the post-WW II generation of professional Black musicians whose talents and energetic musical stylings emerged just as traditional pop music’s appeal was fading with the rise of rock ‘n roll.
Exceptional music entrepreneurs like Detroit’s Barry Gordy (founder of Tamala Motown Records) and Jim Wexler (Atlantic Records) began producing music that featured powerful Black vocalists, deeply emotional lyrics, imaginative and memorable melodies, and soaring arrangements for brass, percussion and backup choirs. At the same time, Soul music turned to the successful teen market with catchy lyrics and tunes with driving clean beats, just right for AM radio. Groups like the Supremes and The Four Tops delighted listeners with melodrama and the exuberant romanticism that bubbled as the antidote to rock ‘n roll of the time.
Like no other music, American Soul brought a divided country together during the 1960s and 70s. In fact, the influence of Soul music was international. To be unaware of the music of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Dianna Ross was almost impossible. These international music superstars smashed racial barriers in unimaginable ways with the power of their music.
We’re so proud to be featuring Louisville-based musicians Jason Clayborn and Daria Raymore in this concert. Two musicians with the vocal power and the deep instinct for performing Soul music that comes from their living and breathing Gospel and R&B music throughout their amazing careers.
Don’t miss this free concert!
