Louisville Bach Society Concert

Louisville Bach Society is included in the Kentucky Arts Councils' 2002 Performing Arts on Tour Directory. This program is part of a multi-faceted day long celebration of the Louisville Bach Societies fortieth anniversary and a tribute to its' founder and conductor Melvin Dickenson. Funding from the Kentucky Arts Council is in support of the public performance on Friday, September 12, 2003. Additional components to the public program are a school show of choral music at noon and a lecture demonstration in the afternoon. The Singletary Center has a partnership with Woodford County School system. Presenting the Louisville Bach Society will provide an opportunity for 780 middle school students to see a live performance of Bach and Handels' Choral works with orchestra and organ. This program will come with study guides on the centers educational web-site and the Louisville Bach Society will provide a professional development workshop for teachers one month prior t the performance. This will be one of six such programs for Woodford County students each year. The afternoon lecture/demonstration, will be coordinated with Dr. Jefferson Johnson and the University of Kentucky Choral Department and the School of Music's musicologists. This program model was used very successfully this last fall with Ballet Espanol which incorporated a school show for Woodford County students, afternoon workshop for the UK Dance Ensemble and an evening public performance. The layering of multiple activities provides increased audience contact and deepening the experience of a targeted audience. The work with the Louisville Bach Society will provide an opportunity for the citizens of the Lexington and Central Kentucky area to gear outstanding choral music. Our targeted audience will be the many church choirs in the area as well as Lexington Singers, Lexington Chamber Chorale, Sister Sound, Lexington Mens' Chorus and area high school and other area university choral programs. Our specific plans are to offer group sale discounts to these targeted choral groups. The Singletary Center has worked closely with all of these groups in the past and feels that this unique daylong program will enrich the individual organizations' choral programs. Funds needed to cover the cost of the full days' activities, which are $16,282. will come from ticket sales, a grant from Woodford Educational Enrichment Foundation and corporate and individual sponsorship. A mailing to 7,000 attendees of the Kentucky Christmas chorus will also be made for the evening public program. The occasion to celebrate one of Kentucky's' fine classical choral ensembles and its' preeminent conductor, Melvin Dickenson, a recent recipient of the Governors' lifetime achievement award, will be both a university and community service to the citizens of Kentucky, which is the mission of the states land grant institution. This project folds many facets of presenting choral music to specific groups that have displayed interest in choral music in the past. The center will obtain feedback from the Woodford County students and teachers as it always does through evaluations filled out after the program. It will also create evaluations for the choral lecture/demonstration for the University students and ticket sales and attendance will demonstrate acceptance of this program by the general public.