The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts

The Speed Concert Series Presents Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano and Kathleen Kelly, piano

 

The winner of the 2017 Beverly Sills Artist Award and 2015 Richard Tucker Award, the winner of both Main and Song Prizes at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a Grammy nominee, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has been described by The Guardian as “a great artist, no question, with an imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance that invites comparison not so much with her contemporaries as with mid-20th century greats such as Kirsten Flagstad.”

 

Last season, Ms. Barton released her debut solo album, All Who Wander, featuring songs by Mahler, Dvorak, and Sibelius. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Fenena in Nabucco and Jezibaba in a new production of Rusalka, both simulcast in cinemas worldwide, and to Houston Grand Opera as Waltraute/2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung. She also made her Deutsche Oper Berlin debut as Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, and debuted with the New York Philharmonic as Fricka in Das Rheingold. Other recent concert engagements include a debut at Wigmore Hall and returns to the symphony orchestras of Toronto and Iceland, as well as the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s The Work at Hand at Carnegie Hall and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

 

Tickets on sale Friday, November 10, 2017 at 10:00 AM

For tickets click here.

 

The Speed Concert Series Presents Jennifer Koh, violin and Shai Wosner, piano

 

Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. An adventurous musician, she collaborates with artists of multiple disciplines and curates projects that find connections between music of all eras from traditional to contemporary. She believes that all the arts and music of the past and present form a continuum and has premiered over 60 works written especially for her.

The program for Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner is from their Bridge to Beethoven project:

Bridging I     ANDREW NORMAN
                     (b. 1979)                                                                                                               

Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30 No. 1      BEETHOVEN
     Allegro      (1770 - 1827)
     Adagio molto espressivo                                                        
     Allegretto con variazioni                                                                                                                                                                       
Bridging II      NORMAN

Sonata No. 8 in G Major, Op. 30 No. 3      BEETHOVEN
     Allegro assai                                                                                
     Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso   
    Allegro vivace                                                                             

intermission

Bridging III     NORMAN                                                                

Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2      BEETHOVEN
     Allegro con brio                                                                          
     Adagio cantabile                                                                        
     Scherzo. Allegro – Trio                                                             
     Finale. Allegro 

 

Tickets will go on sale Friday, November 10, 2017 at 10:00 AM

Tickets available here.

The Speed Concert Series Presents Ben Sollee + Martha Redbone

 

The Speed Concert Series in collaboration with The Kentucky Center presents
Ben Sollee and Kentucky Native + Martha Redbone Trio

Ben Sollee is a Kentucky-born cellist and composer who likes to keep moving. In March, he performed at Carnegie Hall as part of a tribute to Paul Simon. Throughout April and May, he was out supporting song-writer William Fitzsimmons. This September, he toured for two weeks in Europe and returned to the United States to perform with the Charlotte Ballet. If you’ve seen him perform, you know it’s not to be missed. For listeners just discovering Ben’s music, you’ll find that there’s a lot more to it than just songs.

Martha Redbone’s music flows equally from her own unique, award winning blend of Native American elements with funk from her deep roots in Appalachian folk and Piedmont blues flavored by the matriarchy that raised her on a rich sojourn from Clinch Mountain, Virginia to Harlan County, Kentucky and beyond to Brooklyn’s Dodge City-esque mean streets.

Tickets will go on sale Friday, November 10, 2017 at 10:00 AM

For tickets click here.

Female poets from six states compete in 3rd annual Lipstick Wars Poetry Slam

On Saturday, October 21, The Kentucky Center ArtsReach program and Rheonna Nicole presented the 3^rd Annual Lipstick Wars Poetry Slam for female poets. The event was attended by over 600 people. 12 competitors from 6 states took the stage to battle for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place. The three hour event featured DJ Saulette Davis, hosts Nipsey Green and B. Shatter, and a dance performance, Four Women, by the Belizean Dance Intermix.

The photo above shows winners Coco Flow (second place), Shasparay Lighterd (first place), and Gina Marie (third place).

See more photos from this event on FLICKR

To learn more about ArtsReach, click here.

Complexions conducts master classes with ArtsReach and YPAS youth prior to live performance and Q&A at the Brown Theatre

Last week, members of Complexions Contemporary Ballet arrived in Louisville for a public performance at the Brown Theatre on Friday, October 13, and to engage with the community through a number of residency activities. Over the course of two days, the company interacted with roughly 800 participants and patrons between their performance, four masterclasses, and a post-performance Q&A.

On Thursday, October 12, company member and instructor, Jillian Davis, and company member and apprentice, Erin Brothers, worked with ten members of the ArtsReach Dance Ensemble in a two-hour class in the Kentucky Center’s Todd Hall on Thursday evening. The ArtsReach Dance Ensemble is a group of Louisville middle and high school age dancers who study with contemporary dance instructor Portia White and hip hop dance instructor Marcellus Love. The workshop provided an opportunity for the students to build upon what they learn in their weekly classes, and get a glimpse into how a professional dance company conducts a class and learns new pieces. Beginning with a yoga-inspired warm-up, the class then went on to review ballet technique, learn specific movements, and in the end combined those elements and learned a section of a piece from the company’s performance!

On Friday morning October 13, company members Jillian Davis, Doug Baum, and Addison Ector, visited the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) to work with sophomore, junior and senior dancers. The YPAS Dance Department’s primary goals are career training and collegiate preparation for the serious dance student. YPAS believes that dance is a valid tool for developing well-rounded students and citizens. Similar to the class the previous evening, members of the company led students from one of the three grade levels, respectively, in warm-up, technique, movement and learning repertoire from the company’s show. They also had the chance to talk with the company members about their own career development, best practices, and taking the next steps after high school.

View additional photos on FLICKR

Complexions performed two pieces choreographed by co-founder Dwight Rhoden for the public at the historic Brown Theatre on Friday evening -  Ballad Unto and Stardust, a tribute to David Bowie. 

Following their stellar performance on Friday evening, with the participants of the master classes in the audience, company manager JaeMan Joo and dancers Jillian Davis and Addison Ector provided a post-performance Q&A for any of the patrons who would like to stay and discuss the performance more. The conversations, moderated by Vice President of Programming Dan Forte, ranged from exploring the background of the dancers, how the company auditions dancers, and how they create work and tour pieces. This conversation allowed dance patrons to more deeply engage with the company and added an additional layer onto the performance experience. In addition, The Kentucky Center conducted a survey of the audience members and received roughly 100 responses, the majority of which said this performance would positively influence their desire to attend another dance performance.

The Complexions Contemporary Ballet visit to Louisville may have been very quick, but given the company and The Kentucky Center’s commitment to community engagement, their time here will have lasting impact on those they interacted with. We loved having them here and look forward to administering similar engagement and artistic development opportunities for our community with Urban Bush Women and Jessica Lang Dance later this season.

The Kentucky Center to host 5th Annual Louisville Music Awards; voting opens October 9.

Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey presents

2017 LOUISVILLE MUSIC AWARDS

Thursday, November 9

6:30 p.m., Reception

8 p.m., Awards/Performances

9:30 p.m., After Party

The Kentucky Center

501 W. Main Street, Louisville 40202

 

Celebrate the quality and diversity of our local music scene as we recognize artists who have had a particularly special year.  The Louisville Music Awards provide a unique opportunity for artists from all genres to come together with their fans for one amazing night of creativity, collaboration, and goodwill!

 

Cast your votes for our Finalists October 9 – 20

Purchase tickets

 

Produced by The Kentucky Center

Media support provided by Louisville Public Media

Powered by Do502

 

Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts to provide Audio Description for Lexington Children's Theatre

Lexington Children's Theatre is working with The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts Access Services program to bring Audio Description to three shows in its current 2017-18 season. Audio Description is a service for individuals who are blind or who have low vision. It provides description of the scenery, costumes and stage movement during a live performance. Audience members using the service receive the description from a small FM receiver (about the size of a deck of cards) with a single earpiece. The describer is trained not to speak over the lines of the dialogue or singing, only during verbal pauses.

The Kentucky Center Audio Description program began in 1993 and has served a variety of organizations over the years. Currently, we provide Audio Description for PNC Broadway in Louisville, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Ballet, Actors Theatre of Louisville, StageOne Family Theatre, Looking for Lilith, and Kentucky Shakespeare. This partnership opens more opportunities to people with visual disabilities to enjoy the arts serving our statewide mission. 

Erin McGuire-Thompson, the Finance & Box Office Manager at Lexington Children's Theater, first reached out to The Kentucky Center's Access program looking for ways to make programming more accessible to people with disabilities.  The Access Services office is always willing to assist other arts and cultural organizations in Kentucky in expanding on their current accessibility offerings. According to McGuire-Thompson,  “At Lexington Children’s Theatre, we consider ourselves and our patrons to be a family. In order to ensure all of our LCT Family members are able to enjoy their theatre experience, we are working hard to make our programming as accessible as possible. Storytelling is integral to how we, as humans, learn and interact with the world around us. By offering the Audio Description service this season we hope to further enrich our storytelling for our wonderfully diverse community.”

Audiences in need of this service can experience it at the following shows:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever on 12/2 at 2:00 PM

The Ugly Duckling on 12/18 at 4:30 PM

Why Mosquitoes Buzz on 4/29 at 4:30 PM

Founded in 1938, Lexington Children’s Theatre LCT is a fully professional, non‐profit organization dedicated to the intellectual and cultural enrichment of young people. We are a values based company guided by our mission statement and beliefs. LCT creates imaginative and compelling theatre experiences for young people and families. To learn more about Lexington Children's Theatre  or to purchase tickets to these shows check out their website at http://www.lctonstage.org/. If planning to use the Audio Description service please be sure and mention it at the time you order your tickets. If no requests for the audio description service have been received two weeks prior to the performance, the service will be cancelled.

New Kentucky Center venue will anchor Louisville's $28 million Paristown arts and cultural district

From left-to-right: Phillip Allen, Kentucky Center Foundation Board & Chair of Paristown Project, Bruce Ferguson, Kentucky Center Board Chair, Tim Galbraith, Kentucky Center Foundation Board Chair, Kim Baker, President & CEO - Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Don Parkinson, Cabinet Secretary, Commonwealth of Kentucky Tourism Arts & Heritage 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

Media Contacts:       

Chris Poynter, 574-4546/396-2015   

Jessica Wethington, 574-5174/386-0573                 

 

September 7, 2017                                               

                                                                                     

Officials break ground on $28 million Paristown development

Co-anchors include Louisville Stoneware, The Kentucky Center and

Goodwood Brewing Co.

LOUISVILLE, KY (September 7, 2017) – Mayor Greg Fischer today joined state and local officials to break ground on a $28 million arts and cultural district located in the Paristown neighborhood. The neighborhood is a wedge-shaped area bounded by Broadway to the north, Barret Avenue to the east, Kentucky Street to the south and an elevated rail line that runs parallel to Swan Street on the west.

The project is co-anchored by Louisville Stoneware, The Kentucky Center and Goodwood Brewing Co., and will bring jobs and a variety of restaurant and entertainment options to the heart of the historic neighborhood. The district will knit together five distinct neighborhoods, including downtown, NuLu, Smoketown, Germantown and the Highlands. Each of these neighborhoods is experiencing planned or ongoing redevelopment, including substantial new residential and commercial projects, public art, workforce development, green infrastructure, and neighborhood beautification. Construction on the site is expected to begin in 30 days.

Designed by architecture firm wHY, in collaboration with a host of talented local firms, the new district will feature sustainable development practices, including storm water infiltration in bio-swales and other landscaped features, native plantings, natural building materials and substantial outdoor public space, and will result in a highly walkable, active and diverse district that offers numerous amenities with an authentic character that’s distinctly Louisville.

“Paristown is going to be a great development that will combine shopping, restaurants and a new arts performance space from The Kentucky Center,” said the Mayor. “This project is a great example of a partnership among government, business and non-profits where we come together and everybody wins.”

Louisville Stoneware is planning a $6 million renovation of its buildings, listed on the National Historic Register. This renovation will create nearly a dozen full-time jobs and will support community outreach programs aimed at engaging disadvantaged children in pottery classes.

"Everyone on our team would like to welcome The Kentucky Center to Paristown. We are humbled by the overwhelming support from the neighborhood, along with city and state governments, for this project and look forward to everyone joining us in the Spring of 2019 for the ribbon cutting,” said Steve Smith, member of the Paristown Preservation Trust and CEO of Louisville Stoneware.

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is planning to build a new $12 million standing-room, general admission venue for national touring bands, regional arts organizations and collaborative projects, new works and non-traditional performance experiences.  This flexible performance space will further its mission to provide unparalleled programming and cultural events to the region. This venue also will give The Kentucky Center the ability to host a wider range of artists, events and performances and will be designed to support a variety of stage and audience configurations. The facility will be adjacent to a public area that will serve as community green space and festival areas complementing The Kentucky Center’s indoor performance venue.

“The addition of the new Paristown venue is the realization of a dream for The Kentucky Center to expand the region’s arts and entertainment options to a wider, diverse audience.  We are excited about being a pivotal element of this dynamic rebirth of the historic Paristown neighborhood,” said Kim Baker, President/CEO.

Goodwood Brewing Co. plans to build a $1 million brewery and tap room to focus on its barrel-aged products.

In addition to commercial developments, the city is contributing $2.2 million for streetscape and sidewalk improvements. The project also includes a $6.4 million state tourism sales tax credit approved by the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority and private support through the Paristown Preservation Trust.

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Choreographer Travis Wall scores 7th Emmy nomination; Travis and Shaping Sound perform in Louisville November 2017

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                         

National Press Representative:

Catherine Major / C Major Marketing

(206) 521 9551  CMajor@CMajorPR.com

 

TRAVIS WALL NOMINATED FOR 7^TH CONSECUTIVE EMMY AWARD FOR ‘OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY’ 

TRAVIS WALL has been nominated for a stunning 7^th consecutive Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Choreography’ for his groundbreaking work on the popular FOX television show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’.  He was the Emmy winner in 2015.  He is nominated this year for routines ‘Send In The Clowns,’ ‘The Mirror’ and ‘She Used To Be Mine’.  Fellow nominees are Derek Hough, Fred Tallaksen, and Mandy Moore, who was nominated twice. The Emmy Award winners will be announced on the 68th Annual Emmy Awards Show, September 17 on CBS.

TRAVIS WALL has become a leading presence in the world of commercial dance.  His dance company SHAPING SOUND this year launched their second show After The Curtain, following the spell-binding Dance Reimagined which toured North America for four years. 

After The Curtain has received rave reviews, including the Los Angeles Times, who recently wrote: “Like a good film scene, this dance spectacle lingers after the curtain falls.”  And TheaterJones Dallas, who called the show “Overwhelmingly beautiful,” adding: “Seeing the show once isn’t enough to fully register the vastness of the production.” 

SHAPING SOUND After The Curtain will play Louisville's historic Brown Theatre (315 W. Broadway, Louisville 40202) on Sunday, November 5. 

Tickets are on sale now through The Kentucky Center Ticket Service online, by phone at 502.584.7777, and at the box office (501 W. Main Street, Louisville 40202).  

According to Triangle Magazine, “After The Curtain is the pinnacle of contemporary dance!”  Conceived and choreographed by TRAVIS WALL, the show tells the story of a man fighting to find his creative voice after the death of his one true love. Heart-wrenching, breath-taking, and ultimately uplifting, this is one dance show that audiences will remember forever. TRAVIS WALL will be dancing in the show throughout the tour schedule, and he will be joined by his SHAPING SOUND co-founders TEDDY FORANCE and NICK LAZZARINI. 

TRAVIS WALL was the runner-up for the Fox reality show So You Think You Can Dance Season 2, and is currently a resident choreographer for the national dance competition show. He choreographed the music video for Carrie Underwood's "Something In The Water", which won the CMT Video of the Year, as well as stage shows for Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato. Additional TV credits include choreographing the 82nd Academy Awards, Disneyland's 60th Anniversary Special on ABC, the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and an episode of Pretty Little Liars featuring Maddie Ziegler. Feature Film credits include choreography for The Wedding Ringer starring Kevin Hart and the contemporary numbers for the feature film Step Up Revolution. He had the privilege of working with First Lady Michelle Obama on her Let's Move campaign, creating the GimmeFive routine that was performed on Ellen and at The White House. Travis teaches with NUVO Dance Convention.

Kentucky Center welcomes Julie Roberts as Vice President - Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:

Mike Porto

(502) 566-5194

mporto@kentuckycenter.org

ROBERTS NAMED VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT AT THE KENTUCKY CENTER

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (July 7, 2017) –  Following a nationwide search process, The Kentucky Center is announcing the appointment of Julie Roberts to the role of vice president of development.

Since 2013, Roberts has served as the director of development for Actors Theatre of Louisville, one of the most respected regional theaters in America and known worldwide for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She previously served as vice president of development and communications at Maryhurst and as vice president of marketing & advancement for Sunrise Children’s Services.

Roberts has experience with multiple capital campaigns, building community partnerships and short- and long-term strategic planning. She is a graduate of the Fund for the Arts NeXt! Leadership program and serves on its alumni board. She also is a board member with Friends of the Waterfront. Roberts is a Kentucky native who studied print journalism at Western Kentucky University and has lived in Louisville with her husband, Jonathan, for 20 years.

ABOUT THE KENTUCKY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

The mission of The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is to lead and enrich the artistic, educational and economic vitality of the region by providing unparalleled programming and cultural events. The Center serves Kentucky through education and initiatives which expand and diversify audiences while enhancing their understanding, appreciation and support for the arts.

 

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