LexPhil Announces Guest Conductor Engagement for Beyond the Sky and Music Director & Conductor Search Update
The Lexington Philharmonic announces updates to the search for LexPhil’s next Music Director & Conductor, and the engagement of Mélisse Brunet as guest conductor of LexPhil’s May 21st concert, Beyond the Sky.
The nationwide search for a new Music Director & Conductor has been a multi-year process for the Lexington Philharmonic, interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic for nearly two years and concluding with the audition performance of the fourth candidate in February 2022.
“The Lexington Philharmonic, like our peer orchestras throughout the country, has been deeply impacted by the global pandemic. We have navigated the additional challenge of having to pause our search for a new Music Director and Conductor,” says Carol McLeod, President of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Music Director and Conductor Search Committee. “As we emerge from the pandemic, we’re confident that our selection of a new artistic leader will build on the achievements of our orchestra, to the benefit and enrichment of the whole region.”
Of the six original candidates, all selected before the pandemic, four of the six remain as finalists being considered for the Music Director & Conductor position: Thomas Heuser, Akiko Fujimoto, Kelly Corcoran, and Julia Tai. The sixth and final candidate for the position, Keitaro Harada, withdrew from the search in March of 2022. Finalist Enrico Lopez-Yañez previously withdrew from the search in 2020. The Lexington Philharmonic expects to announce the next Music Director & Conductor in the summer of 2022.
BEYOND THE SKY
Saturday, May 21, 2022 | 7:30PM
Singletary Center for the Arts
The finale concert of LexPhil’s 2021/2022 Season: STORIES opens with Loren Loaicono’s “Smothered by Sky,” followed by Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” with guest pianist Xiayin Wang. The performance concludes with Prokofiev’s “Symphony No. 5.” This concert will be led by guest conductor Mélisse Brunet. Tickets range from $25 - $75 for adults, and LexPhil offers an $11 ticket to youth 17 & under students with valid student ID. Tickets are available online at www.lexphil.org, by calling the LexPhil Box Office (M-F; 9am - 5pm), or at the door the night of the concert beginning at 6:30pm.
CONNECT: PROKOFIEV AND ART MUSIC OF WORLD WAR II
In advance of the concert, LexPhil Interim Artistic Advisor Kelly Corcoran hosts Prokofiev and Art Music of World War II, an installment of LexPhil’s CONNECT virtual series on Wednesday, May 4 at 6:00PM, live on Facebook and Zoom. Guests Dr. Terry Dean, Associate Professor of Musicology & Gender Studies at Indiana State University, and Dr. Ben Arnold, Professor and Coordinator for Musicology & Ethnomusicology at University of Kentucky will explore how the context of World War II influenced the music of Prokofiev and other composers.
About Mélisse Brunet
French conductor Mélisse Brunet, currently living in Iowa City, IA, is quickly gaining attention on both sides of that Atlantic as a “skilled and polished conductor with panache” (ClevelandClassical.com). She is the new Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, a professional orchestra comprised of freelance musicians from the NYC and Philadelphia areas.
In Fall of 2021, she assumed the position of Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Iowa-School of Music. A protégée of Pierre Boulez, Dr. Brunet is one of the 14 finalists selected from over 200 applicants for the second edition of the International Competition La Maestra in March 2022 in Paris. She was one of six conductors selected for the 2018 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, chosen for their “experience, talent, leadership potential, and commitment to a career in service to American orchestras.” In 2017 she was one of six conductors chosen for the international Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera, Read more about Mélisse on her website.
COVID-19 & CONCERT SAFETY
Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our staff, musicians, and audience members. LexPhil acknowledges that safety is a significant factor in sharing the transformative power of live orchestral music and providing a safe and enjoyable concert experience.
2021/2022 Season safety protocols include ticket flexibility, contactless ticketing options, and requiring masks to be worn properly by all attendees of Lexington Philharmonic events in the Spring of 2022. More information about concert safety can be found here.
Beyond the Sky is made possible through the generous support of 2021/2022 Presenting Sponsor Central Bank. LexPhil is also provided generous support from Paul Miller Ford, Transportation Partner, Lexington Marriott City Center & Residence Inn Lexington City Center, Hotel Partner, and WEKU 88.9, Media Partner.
BEYOND THE SKY
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022
7:30 PM · Singletary Center for the Arts
Mélisse Brunet, Guest Conductor
LOREN LOIACONO
Smothered by Sky
BEETHOVEN
Piano Concerto No. 3
Xiayin Wang, piano
PROKOFIEV
Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major
VISION: LexPhil believes in the transformative power of live orchestral music and envisions a culture of curiosity for the creation and performance of great music and the essential role it plays in a vibrant community and education system.
VALUES: LexPhil is guided by an unwavering commitment to its core values of artistic excellence, innovation, collaboration and accessibility.
MISSION: 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.
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The Lexington Philharmonic is supported by the Lexington Philharmonic Foundation.
All Lexington Philharmonic programs are made possible through the generous support of LexArts. In 2021-2022, the Lexington Philharmonic received $100,000 in unrestricted support.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to the Lexington Philharmonic with state tax dollars and along with federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Singletary Center for the Arts hosts the core of LexPhil’s Season Series programs, and is a valued institutional partner of the Lexington Philharmonic.
Dupree Initiative for Innovation supports LexPhil’s commitment to innovation and artistic excellence.
The Garbulinska Initiative and Saykaly Garbulinska Composer in Residence Fund supports LexPhil’s commitment to continued artistic growth and collaboration.
Special thanks to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government for its continued partnership in ensuring a flourishing future for the arts in Lexington and central Kentucky.