Lexington musicians celebrate hometown’s 250th anniversary with new collaboration

Shawn Okpebholo, Ben Sollee, and Joslyn Hampton are professional musicians whose work is seen and heard across the nation.

But this Sunday they will collaborate in an event that is closer to home and heart than most performances, and not just because they’ll be performing in their hometown.

“At a time where we find ourselves being more and more categorized and separated, just trying to find ways to connect people in communities for the 250th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate not only where we’ve come from, but where we are now and where we might be heading,” Sollee said from a tour stop in Southern California.

Okpebholo, who is in the thick of starting a new academic year at Wheaton College in the Chicago suburbs, said, “This is special because it’s celebrating a very specific occasion. But also, I am a Lexingtonian. My roots are there. My family is there.”

Hampton and her band, Joslyn and The Sweet Compression are enjoying a bit of a moment, touring nationally and helping open Lexington’s newest stage in Gatton Park late last month. Adding to that will be the distinction of closing out the Concert for Lexington, part of the celebration of Lexington’s 250t^h anniversary.

“It’s a dream come true,” Hampton said, en route to a tour stop in Wisconsin. “There are so many iconic artists from Lexington, it’s exciting to be asked.”

The concert is Sunday at the Singletary Center for the Arts, featuring the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra performing Okpebholo’s new work commissioned for the occasion with Sollee and Hampton performing. The Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras will open the show with Uniting Voices Lexington.

“Not every town has so many artists that have had a career or are having a career,” Philharmonic music director Mélisse Brunet said. “It’s really great that we can have a full concert of Lexington-born artists.”

The City of Lexington approached the Philharmonic about organizing a free concert of Lexington artists with the Philharmonic and commissioned Okpebholo, a Lexington native whose first memories of hearing orchestral music were the Philharmonic with then-conductor George Zack, to write a new work for the event. Brunet and the Philharmonic already had a relationship with Okpeholo as he was the Philharmonic’s composer-in-residence for its 2023-24 season, which included the world premiere performance of his “Two Black Churches for Orchestra.”

The new work, “A Mighty Long Way,” draws its inspiration directly from Lexington.

“I approached it with a sense of pride,” Okpebholo said. “I’m writing a piece about a place that I love. It’s very nostalgic and very important to me. I was excited, but I wanted to really approach this piece in a way that really tries to evoke what Lexington is about — its rich history, its challenges, but also its triumphs growth.”

Unlike his 2024 world premiere, the Philharmonic wasn’t able to workshop “A Mighty Long Way” with Okpebholo, but the composer and conductor said their familiarity helps make up for that.

“I think people are going to be thrilled,” Brunet said. “Horses, bourbon, and progress, and all of that is featured in there. And I think they’re going to be very excited to hear a piece that is written for them by one of them.”

The Philharmonic’s performance will open with a nod to Lexington’s musical past in “Short Piece for Orchestra” by Julia Perry, a pioneering 20th century Black, female composer who was born in Lexington and went on to a distinguished composing career.

Following intermission, Sollee will take the stage in a long-awaited collaboration with the Philharmonic.

“Growing up in Lexington, I played in the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, and so many of my teachers and instructors that I looked up to played in the Lexington Philharmonic,” said Sollee, who recently was part of the Louisville Orchestra’s In Harmony Tour of the Commonwealth. “It’s kind of like getting to finally join the club, even if it is just in a guest role. It’s pretty sweet.”

In a nod to Lexington’s future, the CKYO will also perform under the direction of Marcello Cormio in collaboration with Uniting Voices Lexington, a middle and high school vocal ensemble led by University of Kentucky Opera Theatre standout Michael Preacely.

“I don’t think I would be where I am without that,” Sollee said of the CKYO. “For me that was a hugely formative time getting to play all that different material, getting to meet and work with professional players that acted both as mentors and guides. Being in such close proximity to the University of Kentucky was really beneficial ... I also made a lot of really good friendships.”

Brunet observed CKYO is, “a big part of our town and our community, and many professional, future professional players and current professional players, very famous people went through CKYO, but also people who ended up not becoming musicians, but are still in town and around town.”

Closing out the afternoon will be the funk and soul of Hampton and her band.

Hampton said she has never performed her own music with an orchestra before and is looking forward to the experience, as well as getting the band in front of new listeners.

While Sollee has charts from other orchestral collaborations, Brunet is working on charts for Joslyn and The Sweet Compression, the second time the Philharmonic will perform music she has worked on. The first was in July, when she put together charts for Dolly Parton’s “Color Me America” for the annual patriotic concert. It’s all in the service of diversifying the Philharmonic’s palette, which is one of the things she values in Sunday’s concert.

“I’m very proud that we don’t just feature orchestral, classical ... but that we really wanted to work with other styles of music in the town,” Brunet said. “It’s something that is very dear to me, very dear to my heart, and that it’s coming to fruition is very important, and it makes me very proud of our mission at LexPhil.”

250Lex: Concert for Lexington

When: Sept. 7 at 3 p.m.

Where: University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall, 405 Rose St.

Tickets: Sold out. Overflow seating with a simulcast of the performance is available in the Singletary Recital Hall is also now sold out. Free livestream will available on Lexington Philharmonic’s YouTube channel. Lexphil.org for more information.

Pre-concert activities: 1 p.m. on the Singletary Center lawn include a performance by M’Power Rhythm and Bruce Lewis, interviews with concert artists by Mélisse Brunet and interactive activities by the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning and the Living Arts and Science Center.

This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 4:45 AM.