Jubilee & Joy: Green & Beethoven

Saturday, February 21
Singletary Center for the Arts

Program

Brittany J. Green - TESTIFY!

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9

with The Lexington Singers
Dejah Watts, soprano
Hannah Shae, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Pearce, tenor
Sunghoon Han, bass

Note: There will be no intermission for this concert.

Artists

Lexington Philharmonic

Mélisse Brunet, conductor

The Lexington Singers

Dejah Watts, soprano

Hannah Shae, mezzo-soprano

Matthew Pearce, tenor

Sunghoon Han, bass

About the Music

LexPhil presents Jubilee & Joy, a powerful evening of music that celebrates humankind’s timeless pursuit for connection and joy. Under the baton of Music Director Mélisse Brunet, the program brings together two works that connect across centuries — each a jubilant proclamation of hope and humanity.

The evening opens with 2025-2026 Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence Brittany J. Green’s TESTIFY!, a vibrant sonic tapestry inspired by the rhythms and harmonies of her childhood memories. “Many of my earliest musical memories are from the church,” Green writes. “I was always enamored by the rhythms of instruments and bodies sounding and moving in jubilation and perfect harmony.” At the heart of this piece is the joyful sizzle of her mother’s tambourine — an instrument she made “dance and sing like magic.” Built on those percussive patterns and infused with the spirit of the hymn “I’m So Glad,” TESTIFY! is, in Green’s words, “a kaleidoscope of sounds I hold dear.”

LexPhil is then joined by The Lexington Singers for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, filling the hall with a resounding call for unity and joy. Monumental in scope and spirit, the Ninth Symphony moves from stormy intensity to radiant exultation, culminating in the iconic “Ode to Joy” movement — a choral anthem that exalts freedom, fellowship, and peace. Composed while Beethoven was completely deaf yet brimming with visionary conviction, this symphony stands as one of music’s most transcendent declarations of shared humanity.

Jubilee & Joy is a celebration of the enduring strength of human connection and the shared hope we sing into the future.

Tickets & More

Single tickets to Jubilee & Joy: Green & Beethoven are offered at three pricing levels for adults. Section A is $78, Section B is $53, and Section C is $28. Adult single tickets are subject to a $5 processing fee. Youth & Students with a valid ID are $11. Avoid the fees and become a subscriber.

Inside the Score

Join us prior to Jubilee & Joy for a free pre-concert lecture with Music Director Mélisse Brunet for an exclusive, in-depth look Inside the Score! The talk begins at 6:30PM in the Presidents Room prior to the concert. Seating is limited, doors will close once capacity is reached.

Presented by The Glenview Trust Company

Date

Saturday, November 22

Times

Concert Begins at 7:30PM
Note: There is no intermission.

Duration

1.5 Hours

Venue

Singletary Center for the Arts
405 Rose Street
Lexington, Kentucky
40508

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Meet the Artists & Composers

The Lexington Singers

Guest Artists
The Lexington Singers have been performing quality choral music including major works in central Kentucky and around the world since 1959, making it one of the longest continuously performing independent community choirs in America.

Based in Lexington, Kentucky, The Lexington Singers provides opportunities for children, youth, and adults.
The Adult Choir is comprised of more than 180 members. The Lexington Singers currently includes
five choirs with over 300 voices total, including four children’s choirs, and an Orff Ensemble.
More at lexsing.org.
Dejah Watts

Soprano
Dejah Watts is a vocal performance major at the University of Kentucky, where she studies under Dr. Angelique Clay. She has been singing classically for six years and has performed a range of principal operatic roles, including Mrs. Nolan in Menotti’s The Medium, Mrs. McLean in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, and Harriet Eglan in Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road.
Dejah has competed in several prestigious vocal competitions such as the Schmidt Vocal Arts Competition, the CS Music Voice Competition, UK Opera’s Alltech Vocal Competition, the Tri-State Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. This season marks her debut with the Lexington Philharmonic.
Hannah Shea

Mezzo-Soprano
Hannah Shea is a 2023 alumna of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera (WNO). Ms. Shea made her Kennedy Center debut as a featured soloist on the 44th Annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast honoring bass-baritone Justino Díaz. This coming season she returns to the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera for Handel's Messiah.
Other recent highlights include appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, a workshop of Jeanine Tesori’s new work Grounded with the Metropolitan Opera in partnership with WNO, and in 2023, a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival.
More at hannahsheamezzo.com.
Matthew Pearce

Tenor
Hailing from Lexington.KY, tenor Matthew Pearce is praised for his "confidence, brightness and high level of control" (Operawire). In the 2024-2025 season, he makes company debuts as Don Pizzarro in the North American premiere of Ferdinando Paer's Leonora with Chicago Opera Theatre and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Pacific Opera Victoria.
Matthew holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music in Voice from the Juilliard School. He also serves on the board of OperaLex, an organization dedicated to supporting students of opera at the University of Kentucky.
More at matthewpearcetenor.com.
Sunghoon Han

Bass
Sunghoon Han is a bass-baritone from Seoul, South Korea, currently in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera.
In the 2025–26 season, he is set to make his Met debut as the Second Armed Man in The Magic Flute, perform as bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the NEPA Philharmonic, and return to the Aspen Opera Theater as a Renée Fleming Artist, covering Colline in La bohème and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.
In 2024, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in a Yonsei alumni concert featuring works by Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, and Korean composers. That same year, he won the Indiana District of the Met’s Laffont Competition and placed third in the Central Region.
Brittany J. Green

Composer
2025-2026 Lexington Philharmonic Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence
Brittany J. Green (she/her(s)) is a North Carolina-based composer, creative, and educator. Her music facilitates intimate musical spaces that ignite visceral responses at the intersection of sound, video, movement, and text.
Recent works engage sonification and Black feminist theory as tools for sonic world-building, exploring the construction, displacement, and rupture of systems. Her artistic practice includes spoken and electronic performance, interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential projects, and acoustic and electroacoustic chamber and large ensemble works.
More at lexphil.org/composer-in-residence.
Ludwig van Beethoven

Composer
Born: December 1770
Died: March 26, 1827
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist who is considered a central figure in Western music. His innovative compositions, which combined vocals and instruments, expanded the scope of the concerto, quartet, sonata, and symphony. He broke away from Classical music patterns and bridged the gap between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, where he met influential composers like Haydn and began composing seriously.