UK’s Jefferson Johnson Returns to Carnegie Hall

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 5, 2014) — One of University of Kentucky’s very own returns to the Carnegie Hall stage less than six months since his last performance at the prestigious music venue. Jefferson Johnson, artistic director of The Lexington Singers and choral activities director at UK School of Music, will make his debut in The Distinguished Concerts International New York series conducting The Lexington Singers beginning 2 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium.  

Johnson is no newcomer to Carnegie Hall as he conducted the National Festival Chorus in a concert this past February. Active on UK’s campus, he is a professor in the UK College of Fine Arts teaching advanced choral methods and literature and choral conducting. In addition, he directs the graduate program in choral music at UK School of Music and conducts UK Chorale and UK Men’s Chorus. He is also the founder and director of the popular university male a cappella group, the acoUstiKats.

Outside of UK, Johnson is an adjudicator and guest conductor for many high school and collegiate choirs throughout the country conducting honor choruses in 30 states. He has appeared as a featured clinician at American Choral Directors Association and MENC (National Association for Music Education) conventions across America. His debut at Carnegie Hall was in 1999 conducting The Lexington Singers in a performance of Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem.”

Under Johnson’s direction, The Lexington Singers will join forces with singers from Florida, New York and Vancouver in an innovative work called “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass” that blends the classical mass with bluegrass music. Special guests, Dailey and Vincent, who are hailed as “the rock stars of bluegrass” by CMT.com, will also accompany the choral ensemble on stage. The group has won seven International Bluegrass Music Awards, including Entertainers of the Year, and has worked with such legends as Ricky Skaggs and Doyle Lawson.

The Lexington Singers first formed in 1959 when choral experienced men and women decided Lexington needed a community chorus.  Phyllis Jenness of UK Music Department was the founding director, followed by James Ross Beane. The Lexington Singers first took the stage at Carnegie Hall in January 1967 under Jenness. Then returned in March 1999 led by Johnson.

Tickets for the concert featuring The Lexington Singers and Dailey and Vincent conducted by Johnson, range from $20-$100 based on seating, and can be purchased online through carnegiehall.org or by phone at 212-247-7800.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu