Artelize - Celebrating Culture and Classical Fusion: Kentucky Symphony Orchestra's 2025 Season Highlights
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Celebrating Culture and Classical Fusion: Kentucky Symphony Orchestra's 2025 Season Highlights

The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (KSO) is set to delight audiences in 2025 with a rich tapestry of performances. From celebrating Black History Month through the soulful tunes of ragtime and jazz, to presenting the grandeur of Bizet’s Carmen and closing with a jazz-infused orchestral blowout, the KSO promises a vibrant season. Engaging audiences with historical narratives and contemporary flair, the orchestra merges diverse musical genres, championing both cultural heritage and innovative interpretations. Join us as we explore the KSO's dynamic lineup, where history and harmony converge.

Feb 21, 2025
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1. Rags to Riches
Celebrate Black History Month with this exceptional cross-curricular opportunity. A performance and slide show by the KSO’s Newport Ragtime Band surveys the roots of American musical heritage. The program features ragtime, blues, Dixieland and early jazz from 1898-1933, with tunes by legendary black musicians/composers Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, W.C. Handy, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and others. The program also highlights many local Cincinnati connections to this music’s national popularity and historical significance. The Q & A session at the end of the concert allows students and teachers the opportunity to ask questions of any musician on-stage.
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Feb 25, 2025

Florence, KY · Seven Hills Church

2. Rags to Riches
Celebrate Black History Month with this exceptional cross-curricular opportunity. A performance and slide show by the KSO’s Newport Ragtime Band surveys the roots of American musical heritage. The program features ragtime, blues, Dixieland and early jazz from 1898-1933, with tunes by legendary black musicians/composers Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, W.C. Handy, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and others. The program also highlights many local Cincinnati connections to this music’s national popularity and historical significance. The Q & A session at the end of the concert allows students and teachers the opportunity to ask questions of any musician on-stage.
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Feb 25, 2025
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

Florence, KY · 7 Hills Church

3. Carmen in Concert
Since 2000 the KSO has collaborated with UK and CCM’s Opera Theater programs to bring concert grand opera to NKY with complete performances of Tosca, Otello, La Boheme, Rigoletto, Samson and Delilah, and Turandot to rave reviews. Teaming up for the first time with NKU’s School of the Arts (SOTA) and their music, theater, dance and prep departments, the KSO and SOTA will bring Georges Bizet’s Carmen to Greaves Concert Hall for two performances with a cast and orchestra of 200. Nationally and internationally acclaimed leads Kirstin Chávez (Carmen), Richard Trey Smagur (Don José), and Morgan Smith (Escamillo) will join the partnership for this semi- staged, concert presentation of Carmen in French with projected English supertitles. Plenty of “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” — just no Cher.
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28 - 30 Mar, 2025
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

Highland Heights, KY · Greaves Concert Hall

4. Swingin’ the Classics
Those who frequent the KSO (indoors and out), know that all forms of jazz fit comfortably within the KSO’s wheelhouse. Stumbling upon intriguing jazz orchestrations of Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Dvorak, Gershwin, Holst, Suppe, Verdi, led James Cassidy to assemble an All-Star Big Band to end the 33rd season with a bang. The concert opens with the jazz piano stylings of Eugen Cicero and his take on C.P.E. Bach’s Solfeggio in C minor. Consummate 1950s-60s arranger Billy May’s no-holds-barred approach to Hungarian Dance No. 5, Poet and Peasant Overture, Humoresque and others, paired with today’s big band guru Gordon Goodwin’s interpolations of the Two-part Invention in D minor, Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Rhapsody in Blue, and Jeremy Levy’s re-imagining of The Planets sets the stage for a veritable “hornucopia” of in your face classics à la jazz to close the KSO’s 33rd campaign.
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May 10, 2025
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

Highland Heights, KY · Greaves Concert Hall

Conclusion
The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra's 2025 season is a celebration of cultural richness and musical innovation. By merging historical narratives with contemporary artistry, the KSO offers a dynamic and immersive experience. Whether through the soulful exploration of ragtime roots, the passionate drama of 'Carmen', or the exhilarating fusion of jazz and classical, each event promises to captivate and inspire. As the orchestra tunes up for another remarkable year, audiences are invited to join the KSO on this extraordinary journey through sound and culture.
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