UK Orchestra, Lexington Singers and UK Chorale Present Valentine’s Day Concert
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 12, 2020) — Looking for Valentine's Day plans sure to warm your loved one's heart? Join the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (UKSO), the UK Chorale and the Lexington Singers for an evening of romantic music. The concert, featuring the classical music of some of the world's most celebrated love stories, will begin 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall.
The concert will open with the Prelude to "Lohengrin," Richard Wagner’s story of medieval German romance, drawn from the legend of the Knight of the Swan. Next on the program is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s "Coronation Mass," written in 1779 to be performed at the Salzburg Cathedral. The concert concludes with ballet music set to two of the greatest love stories of all time. Sergei Prokofiev’s "Cinderella" is a dark version of the ancient fairy tale, while Maurice Ravel’s music for the Greek legend of Daphnis and Chloé is some of the most beautiful orchestra music ever composed. The second suite from "Daphnis and Chloé" will be performed for this concert in the stunning but rarely heard version for full choir and orchestra. The program will feature soloists graduate student Sydney Carbo, a soprano from Palm City, Florida; voice performance senior Catarine Hancock, a mezzo-soprano from Lexington; voice performance senior Ben Boutell, a tenor from Louisville, Kentucky; and Parker Van Houten, baritone from Louisville.
Founded in 1918, the UKSO is a 100-member all-student orchestra presenting more than 50 concerts each year, including classical, chamber and education concerts. The group is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States, Asia, South America and Europe. The orchestra has regularly performed with world-renowned concert artists including Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Sarah Chang, Gil Shaham, Lynn Harrell, Marvin Hamlisch, Denyce Graves, Christine Brewer, Pink Martini, Ronan Tynan, Mark O’Connor, Wynonna Judd, Keith Lockhart and Arlo Guthrie.
UK’s orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., tours the state of Kentucky regularly, and toured China, playing concerts in major concert halls in Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and Beijing. The orchestra’s performance at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts was broadcast on China Central Television, a network reaching more than 1.5 billion viewers. In the fall of 2010, the orchestra played for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Equestrian Games, a performance that featured more than 1,500 performers and 200 horses that was seen live on NBC in the United States by 39 million people, and by an estimated 500 million more television viewers worldwide.
Maestro John Nardolillo has appeared with more than 30 of the country’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the National Symphony, and principal orchestras of Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas, Milwaukee, Utah, Columbus, Indianapolis, Oregon, Fort Worth, Buffalo, Alabama, Louisville, Missouri, North Carolina, Toledo, Vermont, Columbus, Omaha and Hawaii. He also recently conducted concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; and Carnegie Hall in New York. Nardolillo made his professional conducting debut in 1994 at the Sully Festival in France and has since made conducting appearances in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and China. He has led major American orchestras in subscription series concerts, summer and pops concerts, education concerts and tours, and for television and radio broadcasts. In 2004, Nardolillo joined the faculty at the UK School of Music, where he serves as the director of orchestras.
UK Chorale is the premier mixed choral ensemble at UK School of Music and is made up of primarily upperclassmen and graduate student music majors. The ensemble prides itself in performing a wide variety of choral literature from Renaissance to 21st century.
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. UK Chorale and The Lexington Singers will perform under the direction of Jeff Johnson, director of UK Choral Activities and artistic director of The Lexington Singers.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $4 for students, and free for UK students with a valid ID before the day of the performance (at the Singletary Center ticket office). Tickets are available through the Singletary Center ticket office online at www.scfatickets.com, by phone at 859-257-4929, or in person at the venue. Children 6 and older are welcome.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.