By Donna B. Stinnett
Contributor
To kick off the 2023-24 season of events, Henderson Area Arts Alliance has something very enticing to offer. The Louisville Orchestra will perform in McCormick Hall at Preston Arts Center for the first time in a couple of decades with special guest bluegrass mandolinist Chris Thile, which is pretty enticing.
But even more so is that the concert is free.
It’s part of the orchestra company’s two-year outreach program called “In Harmony,” which is bringing orchestral musicians to dozens of communities across Kentucky. The outreach is part of an effort to solidify art forms that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the days leading up to the 7:30 p.m. PAc concert on Sept. 23, the orchestra has other local events on the schedule.
“They’re doing a lot of community outreach that week,” said HAAA Executive Director Natalie Singer. “And to see Chris Thile for free is crazy.”
Thile performs with the bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, and he also succeeded National Public Radio show host Garrison Keillor with a music variety show retitled “Live From Here” that ran until the pandemic came along.
For the “In Harmony” tour, which celebrates American and Kentucky culture, Thile will perform “Attention,” a commissioned original composition described as “a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra.”
The orchestra will follow with a work titled “Home” that “marries” the symphonic and traditional bluegrass styles of music, Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-Down” from his suite “Rodeo” and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1. Teddy Abrams will conduct.
“It’s such a big community impact to have them here,” Singer said.
Though the tickets are free for this opening event, they must be reserved on-line, haaa.org,- or over the phone, 270-826-5916.
Full season patrons already have two tickets in their packages. Both season ticket packages and single tickets are on sale via web, phone and at the PAC box office.
Curtain time for every show is 7:30 p.m.
Season tickets are $212 for main floor seats, $185 for balcony seats or $162 for students or groups of eight or more plus a $10 fee. Single-show tickets prices vary.
Here are the other shows in the HAAA season:
Oct. 6: Morgan Evans. The Australian country singer was named the Country Music Association’s Global Country Artist in 2014, and his 2017 U.S. debut single, “Kiss Somebody,” peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s U.S. Country Airplay chart. He has toured with Taylor Swift, Dan + Shay, Rascal Flatts and Chris Young. Single tickets: Main $35, balcony or students/group $30.
Nov. 11: Hiplet Ballerinas. This dance troupe (“Hiplet” is pronounced hip-LAY, as in hip-hop ballet) is the professional company of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center that fuses classical ballet discipline with African, Latin, hip-hop and urban dance styles. It draws from hip-hop, jazz, Latin and African influences while dancing in classical ballet discipline. Single tickets: Main $35, balcony $30 or students/group $25.
Dec. 7: Christmas in Killarney. This holiday show is set in Killarney, Ireland, in the late 1920s and features traditional music and family traditions to illustrate what it means to celebrate the Irish way. The title is taken from a Christmas song made popular by Bing Crosby. Single tickets: Main $45, balcony $40, students/group $30.
Feb. 18, 2024: Cirque Zuma Zuma. For more than 15 years, the acrobats in this cirque-style have demonstrated feats that seem impossible, from building outrageous human pyramids to juggling with their feet, all to the beat of African rhythms. Single tickets: Main $35, balcony $30, balcony or students/group $25.
March 2, 2024: Vienna Boys Choir. Nothing is more traditional than this choral group, which was founded pursuant to an Imperial decree of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I on July 7, 1498. The all-boy choir has traveled to all six inhabited continents and toured the U.S. more than 50 times since 1932. Single tickets: Main $40, balcony $35, balcony or students/group $30.
April 30, 2024: Chicago the Musical. The current Broadway show, a revival based on a 1975 American musical, is the second-longest running show in Broadway history with more than 10,000 performances. The story (co-written by the legendary Bob Fosse) is set in 1920s Chicago, where chorus girl Roxie Hart has murdered her lover when he tries to break off their affair and faces a trial that quickly turns into a media circus. It’s all murderesses, bathtub gin, prison cells, bribery, corruption, sass and trickery (and some adult themes not appropriate for kids) set to a collection of now-classic vaudeville-style song-and-dance numbers featuring dicey characters such as Roxie, Velma Kelly, Billy Flynn, matron Mama Morton, and, well, “All That Jazz.” Single tickets: Main $45, balcony or students/group $40.
