Kentucky orchestra tour: How to hear Yo-Yo Ma play in Mammoth Cave

The Louisville Orchestra is embarking on an ambitious two-year tour of the Commonwealth, and it will start with an artist born and raised right here in the Bluegrass.

Violinist Tessa Lark, a Richmond native who played with the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras before heading off to the New England Conservatory of Music and a burgeoning career as a solo artist, will kick off the Orchestra’s In Harmony Tour with concerts in Prestonsburg on May 17, Pikeville on May 18, and Harlan on May 19.

Lark, whose formative years included playing with her father’s bluegrass gospel band, will perform cornerstones of the traditional repertoire as well as arrangements of classic Kentucky fiddle tunes. Her 2019 album, “Fantasy,” included her own “Appalachian Fantasy.” Lark fulfilled a childhood dream to play as a soloist with the Lexington Philharmonic in the season-opening concert of the orchestra’s 2016-17 season.

The tour continues July 3 to 10 with stops in Glasgow, Covington, Bowling Green, Ashland, and Bardstown featuring music director Teddy Abrams.

In September, the Orchestra welcomes another star with Kentucky ties: Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, who spent his late teens in Murray, and attended Murray State University before embarking on a multifaceted career including the ensembles Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers, solo works, and collaborations with a bevy of iconic musicians such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Thile will join the Orchestra for stops in Henderson, Owensboro and Madisonville.

The tour will conclude in February and March next year with stops in Danville, Frankfort, Georgetown, and Fort Knox. Full details and ticket information for the tour will be announced soon.

Speaking of Yo-Yo Ma, the world’s most famous cellist will have a five-day residency with the Louisville Orchestra and Abrams that will include two concerts in Mammoth Cave. Ma will perform with the Orchestra at 8 p.m. April 27 at the Kentucky Center for the Arts Whitney Hall.

Visit louisvilleorchestra.org or call 502-587-8681 for ticket information. Then, Ma and the orchestra will perform in Rafinesque Hall inside Mammoth Cave at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Central Time on April 29. Tickets for those performances will be distributed by a lottery at recreation.gov which opens Jan. 30 and closes at 10 a.m. Feb. 5.

Lexington Philharmonic viola concert

The Lexington Philharmonic will be back on stage, led by new music director Mélisse Brunet, at the University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 with a few things we don’t often hear in performance: a viola — not violin, viola — concerto and a symphony by Ellen Taafe Zwilich, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. We will get to hear that award-winning work, “Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra),” which proved to be a breakthrough for Taaffe Zwilich who, at 83, continues premiering new works as recently as Jan. 13.

Jamaican American Violist Jordan Bak will be featured in a performance of Béla Bartók’s “Viola Concerto,” one of the most famous works written for the violin’s mellower sibling. For folks looking for the exceedingly familiar, the February concert will also include Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” For tickets, visit lexphil.org or call 859-233-4226.

Minnie Adkins exhibit at Lexington library

Last year we told you about “Story Carvings,” an exhibit of works carved by Isonville artist Minnie Adkins to illustrate books by Lexington author Mike Norris, which debuted at the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead. The exhibit has come to Lexington, showing at the Central Library Gallery, 140 E. Main St., through March 12. You can catch the Big Blue Rooster and all his colorful carved companions for free during regular library hours. Visit lexpublib.org to learn more.

‘Cats’ at Danville’s Norton Center

Remember the 2019 movie adaptation of “Cats,” or are you trying to forget it? If you want a reminder why Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical based on a collection of T.S. Eliot poems became a Broadway icon, the “Cats” national tour returns to Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts for one performance at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27. Call 859-236-4692 or visit nortoncenter.com for tickets.

The Lexington Theatre Company gets intimate

The Lexington Theatre Company’s bread and butter is big, fully-produced Broadway musicals on the Lexington Opera House stage. But outside of its major summer productions, the company is offering more intimate fare. Coming up next month you can catch the Lexington Theatre Company Quartet, led by company music director Brock Terry on piano, at Kenwick Table, 201 Owsley Ave., from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 17. The next night, “On My Way - A Celebration of Female Composers & Lyricists,” featuring an entirely local cast of female-identifying performers performing the music of female-identifying composers and lyricists, will take the stage at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at First United Methodist Church, 200 W. High St. Visit lexingtontheatrecompany.org for more information and tickets.

This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 6:00 AM.