Meet the Composer Grant

Theyniversityof Kentucky Sing,leta!¥'Cenfer for the Arts has commissioned award winning composer Da~ld ~tt to compose a plano tno piece for the Amadeus Trio based upon Dr. Ott's years of study at the Unlve.rslty of Kentuc~y. Dr. Ott and t~e An:ad~~s Trio will be in residency from January 25 to January 31, lectunng to, performing for, and working with citizens of the State of Kentucky. Lexington Kentucky is a community of 227,000 citizens within the Fayette County borders. It serves as the hub for Central and E~stern Kentucky activities, providing major medical, business and higher educational institutions. The Singletary Center for the Arts served citizens from eighty-one counties of the state in the 2002-2003 season. Dr. Ott's work for the Trio will reflect the rich history of visual art and the impact the lectures of Dr. Jane Peters, a professor of Art History, had on him. Dr. Ott has taken five pictorial works on which to base the movements. As part of the premier performance of this work, the images of the works that inspired each movement will be projected on a large screen behind the Trio, thus strengthening the connection between visual art and music. The instrumentation is for piano, violin and cello and will be approximately twenty-five minutes in length. This residency is designed to impact citizens from Fayette and far reaching counties of the state through a range of activities and different levels of educational involvement. The performance and discussions with Ott, Peters and the Trio are designed to deepen their knowledge of and appreciation for classical chamber music. The radio and TV programs will air over one half of the state to make the inclined aware of the residency and public performances. By putting a personal face to both the artists and composer and being clear in our communication barriers both subjective and practical will be removed thus making it more possible for those interested to seek out the programs. This residency will serve to spark excitement in high school and coll,egestudents to create and play classical music. Dr. Ott and the Amadeus Trio will work with the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra students and University of Kentucky students, honing the student's Individual skills and realizing their potential in both chamber and orchestral music. By having Dr. Ott conduct his Triple Concerto work that was commissioned for the KaUchstein-Laredo- Robinson Trio using the UK Orchestra and the Amadeus Trio, the students will perform his Triple Concerto featuring the Amadeus Trio as soloists as part of their orchestral concert. The University of Kentucky students will learn a new work to add to their repertoire and experience a composer conducting his own work. The patrons will have the pleasure of hearing two works by Dr. Ott that they have never heard before. Two school shows will be performed for 711 elementary students, providing an opportunity for many of these students to hear classical chamber music for the first time. Seeing both the composer and the performers working together will demonstrate how music can be created. As research has verified, we cannot expect adults to be involved in the arts unless they have had contact with it in their childhood. This is one of many efforts the Singletary Center has made to have the arts as an integral part of young people's lives. David Ott and the Amadeus Trio will present a professional development workshop to the teachers of the elementary students prior to their performance for the students. A community informal performance will be held either at the University Hospital or local bank lobby, depending on the arrangements for a piano. Such unexpected programs provide an opportunity for citizens to experience something they would not normally seek out. This would provide a moment of discovery that may change some of the negative perceptions about chamber music and create a more receptive attitude whether or not they choose to attend one of the public performances. Dedicated to the mission to present and host artistic events, the Center staff is committed to fostering an environment that inspires, nurtures, creates and facilitates the personal and societal growth that the arts stim ulate. The capable staff of the Center will provide adequate advertising through a partnership with the Lexington Herald Leader for ads and articles. Other promotional ~ctiviti~s will inclu~e. dis~ributi?n of posters, contacting potential patrons by letters and e-mail and arranging radio and teleVIsion Interviews with the artists and composer. The recital and concert by the Trio and the University Sy~p~ony . Orchestra will be presented in the 1500 seat Concert Hall. It unrivalled acou~tical and vl~wlng properties which enhance every program will provide an excellent atmosphere for creating. presenting and appreciating new classical music.