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.