Mélisse Brunet, Music Director

Originally named the Central Kentucky Philharmonic Society, the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra (LexPhil) was created in 1961 and was made up of about 65 volunteer musicians from surrounding colleges and universities.

Over its six decades of history, LexPhil has had five Music Directors & Conductors with Mélisse Brunet being appointed in 2022—the first woman to hold the position.

More at lexphil.org/mission.

Composer

Named the 2024 Chicagoan of the Year in Classical Music by the Chicago Tribune and one of Musical America's Top 30 Professionals of 2023, Nigerian-American composer Shawn E. Okpebholo's music resonates globally, earning widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

Former LexPhil Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence, NPR selected Okpebholo’s art song "The Rain" as one of the 100 Best Songs of 2021, one of only a few classical works to make the ranking. His compositions are featured on twelve commercially released albums, three of which are GRAMMY®-nominated.

More at shawnokpebholo.com

Guest Artist

After cultivating her dynamic voice and performance skills in backup roles and stage plays, Joslyn Hampton teamed with her stepfather, Marty Charters, to compose a captivating set of tunes and assemble an ace band.

Joslyn & The Sweet Compression combine to deliver a hook-filled mix of funk and soul on their self-titled debut album, released in 2019 and their sophomore album Bona Fide.

More at joslynandtsc.com.

Guest Artist

Kentucky musician and composer Ben Sollee, has been blurring boundaries with his musical style and career for nearly two decades – his latest album, Long Haul (2024) is no exception.

Drawing on tonal influences from the American and global south, Sollee’s vocals and unique cello style thread through each track binding seemingly disparate chapters of his journey – the Long Haul.

More at bensollee.com.

Guest Artists

Marcello Cormio, Music Director & Conductor

The Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras (CKYO) is one of the oldest, independently chartered youth orchestras in the United States, with a tradition dating back to 1947.

Over 450 students gather from 15 counties and 60 area schools to participate in CKYO.

More at ckyo.org.

Guest Artists

Dr. Michael Preacely, Founder & Artistic Director

Uniting Voices Lexington empowers and unites youth from diverse backgrounds to find their voice and celebrate their common humanity through the power of music.

The program is the first local chapter outside of Chicago for Uniting Voices, an organization founded at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement and rooted in the belief that music is a vehicle for fostering empathy and respect between young people of all lived experiences.

More at unitingvoiceslexington.org

Composer

Julia Perry was an American composer, conductor, singer and teacher born in Lexington, Kentucky on March 25, 1924.

She studied voice, piano, and composition at Westminster Choir College from 1943-48 earning both an undergraduate and graduate degree. In 1951, she studied composition at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood.

Awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and a student of Nadia Boulanger, Perry’s full catalogue of works were published in 2024 after being lost for nearly fifty years to the orchestral repertoire.

More at lexphil.org/juliaperry