Youth orchestra to debut piece celebrating Lexington’s 250th anniversary

Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.

Hundreds of voices and instruments will perform an original piece to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Lexington’s founding on Sunday.

The Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra will perform the newly commissioned work “We the People: An Anthem for Lexington” at the Singletary Center on Nov. 16. The premiere performance will feature original music by composer William C. White and poetry by Deidra White (no relation), a native Lexingtonian writer and educator.

As part of the orchestra’s opening concert for its 78th season, the piece honors the city’s past, present and future, organizers said.

Amelia Groetsch, CKYO executive director, said the piece was created with the support of the 250Lex Commission, and will be performed by the symphony orchestra along with some from high school choir students across the county.

“There’s just over 250 high school singers that will be on stage, and then our orchestra that is performing with them is about 95 students, so it’s almost 350 young people on that stage performing together,” Groetsch said. “That alone — just the spectacle and the sound, it’s really an exciting and ‘goosebumpy’ kind of a moment when you hear them all playing and singing together.”

Composer William White said he hoped to capture Lexington in music, and drew inspiration from Kentucky’s musical traditions, as well as the city.

“I hope ‘We the People’ sounds like the city itself — warm, diverse and full of energy,” he said. “It blends the sounds of Lexington’s history and heritage into something new and uplifting, music that everyone can feel a part of.”

For the text, Deidra White said she focused on the good in Lexington but acknowledged its struggles.

“I wanted something that did not shy away from our sordid history but acknowledged its ‘rights and wrongs,’” she said. “Lexington is older than the state of Kentucky; it is named for the first battle of the American Revolutionary War (The Battle of Lexington and Concord), and that is important to acknowledge.”

The piece incorporates language from the preamble of the Constitution, and acknowledges the past while looking forward, Deidra White said.

“I want this piece to be a staunch reminder of who we are to each other as we move forward as a city for the next 250 years,” she said.

The concert will also feature performances by CKYO’s family of classical ensembles: Bravo String Orchestra (conducted by Nancy Campbell and Mary Elizabeth Henton), Repertory Orchestra (conducted by Lois Wiggins and Nancy Campbell), and Concert Orchestra (conducted by Marcello Cormio).

“For nearly 80 years, CKYO has been part of Lexington’s story and its rich cultural landscape,” said Marcello Cormio, CKYO music director. “Day by day, year by year, we keep writing meaningful pages in that history. ‘We the People’ is one of those pages — an anthem that celebrates our city’s 250 years of creativity, resilience, and community spirit. Our young musicians have embraced its message with joy and pride, and I can’t imagine a more powerful way to honor Lexington’s past while looking to its future.”

The CKYO concert begins at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16, and the premiere of “We the People” will begin after a brief intermission at 7 p.m.

Tickets to the performance are $15 and under, and can be purchased through the Singletary Center for the Arts Box Office at www.scfatickets.com. Using the code 250LEX, attendees can get a special buy two tickets, get two tickets free price, she said.

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.