Initial Philharmonic Post - Zac Byrd

The Lexington Philharmonic strives each year to “foster excellence and innovation in the  performance  and presentation of great music; to enrich the lives of our diverse citizenry; to educate current and future audiences and to bring distinction to our community through the orchestra’s presence and standing,”-Philharmonic website.  The Philharmonic upholds this by being a very involved orchestra.  They perform over a 100 times a year with people that are hired from all over the nation.  They also hold events so that kids will be interested in the music and instruments that are being played.  These concerts are fun for the kids and the community as a whole to bond with the Philharmonic and get excited about music.

There have been four different musical conductors since the birth of the Lexington Philharmonic.  Robert King in 1961 started the conducting position for the orchestra, and helped it grow to a fully functional orchestra that was the largest in Central Kentucky.  Then Leo Scheer took over King’s position in 1965.  Scheer implemented a paycheck system as opposed to the musicians volunteering like they had been for four years. Scheer resigned in 1971 and Dr. George Zack (pictured right) took over for 37 years before handing the position off to the current Music director and conductor Scott Terrell.

Each year the Philharmonic uses donations and concert profits to pay for its musicians.  They have auditions in the fall and start the season early October with their standard Mahler 2 concert.  For each of their concerts they play in the Singletary Center for the Arts on UK’s campus.  They also bring in a number of different guest artists, mainly at their pops concerts that happen in the spring time.  This past  year they brought Wycliffe Gordon (pictured left) to play with them.  Wycliffe is a grammy nominated trombone artist whose influence in Lexington has grown over the past few years, especially among the jazz scene.  For their auditions and concerts they are always in need of people helping to run these events.

I know a few people in the Lexington Philharmonic and have talked to them.  My dad sometimes subs in for the trumpet section when somebody like Dr. Van Fleet can’t perform.  I have also met with Philharmonic administrator staff.  They informed me about the process for auditions which are very competitive and the orchestra is very involved not only with music they play, but with the community.  I am very excited to start volunteering this coming Sunday.

"The Lexington Philharmonic." The Lexington Philharmonic. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <http://www.lexphil.org/>.

"Picnic with the Pops | Lexington's Favorite Summer Event." Picnic with the Pops. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <http://lexpops.com/wp/>.