UK Symphony concert features Kentucky premiere, concerto competition winner
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 20, 2026) — The University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor John Nardolillo, will present its spring concert 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 27, in the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall.
The concert opens with the Kentucky premiere of “Clockworking” by Icelandic composer Maria Sigfúsdóttir, conducted by UK D.M.A. candidate Stephan Gomez.
Following the premiere, UK Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition winner Dominic Luthje joins the ensemble to play Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto. Luthje, a senior music education major in the UK School of Music, performs in the UK Symphony, the UK Wind Ensemble and the UK Opera Orchestra. He has performed at the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute and the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, and he has a performance forthcoming at the Sarasota Music Festival. The Strauss oboe concerto, written in Germany at the end of World War II at the request of an American soldier, is one of Strauss’ final works.
The program concludes with Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, one of the greatest and most popular works in the orchestral repertoire. This warm, enigmatic and ultimately triumphant work became an important symbol of the Finnish desire for independence from occupying Russia in the early 20th century.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students (additional online processing fees may apply) and are available at the Singletary Center ticket office, by phone at 859-257-4929 or online at SingletaryCenter.com. Students can also get one free ticket in advance through the Singletary Center ticket office and must present their IDs at the door the day of the event. Free tickets are not available on the day of the performance.
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.