This Sunday, the beautiful Iroquois Park Amphitheater is to be the setting for the Louisville Youth Orchestra’s Pops Series Concert and its final performance of the 2013/14 season.
Founded in 1958 as an outgrowth of the Louisville Academy of Music’s summer orchestral program, the Louisville Youth Orchestra has evolved into one of the more active and engaged of its kind in the country. In its nearly sixty-year history, the
LYO
has given hundreds of performances within the community including performances at the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion and numerous State Fairs. In that time, the Youth Orchestra has also toured to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Buffalo as well as abroad to Lausanne, Switzerland where it performed as part of the International Festival of Youth Orchestras in 1971.
The Youth Orchestra has also welcomed dozens of world-class musical collaborators including conductors Robert Whitney, Jorge
Mester
and Lawrence Leighton Smith as well as guest artists Daniel
Heifetz
, Lee
Luvisi
and My Morning Jacket (yes, that My Morning Jacket). Read more about the
LYO’s
history here.
The Youth Orchestra (which is a compilation of several ensembles that feature nearly 400 student musicians) has been featured each spring as a Kentucky Derby Festival main event for six years and counting. Showcasing pop music favorites from Broadway tunes to classic movies scores, the concert has become a community tradition and a staple of Derby enthusiasts that offers something for everyone.
The performances will begin at 4 pm this Sunday, April
27th
. Admission is free with a 2014 Pegasus Pin. For more information on the concert and the festival, click here.
(Photo courtesy of http://www.fundforthearts.com.)
Follow Michael on Twitter: @rackoflambert.
