JANUARY 2022
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Photography: Josh Svoboda
JANUARY 2022
Audience® is the official program guide for: Kentucky Performing Arts Presents Kentucky Shakespeare Louisville Orchestra PNC Broadway in Louisville
Publisher The Audience Group, Inc. G. Douglas Dreisbach Founding Publishers Kay & Jeff Tull Managing Editor Amy Higgs Creative Director Rhonda Mefford Sales & Marketing G. Douglas Dreisbach Printing V. G. Reed & Sons
PROGRAM Ashley McBryde - This Town Talks Tour with Special Guest Priscilla Block
Brown Theatre.............................................. 6 MOMIX - VIVA MOMIX Brown Theatre............................................ 8 The Mavericks - ‘En Español’ World Tour Brown Theatre............................................ 10 Tommy Emmanuel, CGP with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
Brown Theatre............................................ 16
Staff & Support.............................................................. 22 Theatre Services............................................................ 26 Cover photo by Max Pucciariello
THEATRE INFORMATION The Kentucky Center (Whitney Hall, Bomhard Theater, Clark-Todd Hall, MeX Theater) 501 West Main Street; Brown Theatre, 315 W. Broadway; and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, 724 Brent Street. Tickets: The Kentucky Performing Arts Box Office, 502.584.7777 or KentuckyPerformingArts.org. Reserve wheelchair seating or hearing devices at time of ticket purchase.
Copyright 2022. The Audience Group, Inc. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. ©
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WELCOME TO KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS
Happy 2022! We thank you for starting your New Year with us. This is definitely going to be an exciting year filled with local premieres, familiar favorites, and new beginnings. We start the new year with a thrilling roster of performances and events to suit every taste. In addition to the programs in this book, PNC Broadway in Louisville welcomes the return of CATS in January, and then the local premiere of COME FROM AWAY in February. The Louisville Orchestra welcomes superstar pianist Yuja Wang premiering a concerto written by Teddy Abrams. StageOne Family Theatre presents the moving story of self-discovery Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Fly. In February, we welcome young artists from all over the Commonwealth to The Kentucky Center for the annual Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference. Kentucky Opera brings Orfeo to the Brown Theatre featuring choreography by Louisville Ballet Artistic Director Robert Curran. The BrownForman Midnite Ramble series returns with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, classical hip-hop artists Black Violin, and Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Allison Russell. And that’s just a few of the events coming to The Kentucky Center, Brown Theatre, and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall. Visit KentuckyPerformingArts.org to view the full calendar and join our free e-club to be the first to know when new events are announced. Yes friends, this will be an exciting year for us and for you. Let’s make it our New Year’s Resolution to spend time together and enjoy all the performing arts have to offer. — Kim Baker, President and CEO, Kentucky Performing Arts
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Live Nation and Kentucky Performing Arts present
ASHLEY Mc McBRYDE - THIS TOWN TALKS TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST PRISCILLA BLOCK Thursday, January 6, 2022 | 8:00pm | Brown Theatre
Ashley McBryde cut her teeth playing country songs in rural biker bars – and it shows. Her 2018 major label debut Girl Going Nowhere (Warner Music Nashville) charmed the New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, Paste, The Washington Post, and more, all en route to landing a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country 6
Album. McBryde closed out 2019 with ACM New Female Artist, CMT Breakout Artist of the Year, a New Artist of the Year win at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards and two nominations for the 2020 GRAMMYs for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”
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“Ashley McBryde cut her teeth playing country songs in rural biker bars – and it shows.” Her follow-up, Never Will, released in April 2020,was tagged by Rolling Stone as one of the most anticipated of the year alongside NPR, who also ranked her lead Top 10 RIAA Gold-Certified single “One Night Standards” as one of the best songs of 2019. Produced once again by Jay Joyce, Never Will reveals the witty, confessional, detail-driven songwriting addressing a wide spectrum of blue-collar Southern women’s experience introduced on Girl Going Nowhere is still here, but perhaps even sharper, earning McBryde a 2021 GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album, along with 2021
ACM nominations for Album of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for lead single “One Night Standards.” The music itself is stadium-ready rockand-roll with a bluegrass wink or two and country music’s storytelling heart–– and McBryde, no longer new, is the music’s ordained and highly capable standard bearer. For more information, visit AshleyMcBryde.com or follow her at Facebook.com/AshleyMcBryde, Instagram @AshleyMcBryde and Twitter at @AshleyMcBryde.
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
FEBRUARY 11 & 13, 2022 Brown Theatre A Timeless Story of Sacrificial Love — With One of Opera’s Most Beautiful Scores Starring Catherine Martin, Flora Hawk, and Catherine Goode Choreography by Robert Curran This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Presented in collaboration with Louisville Ballet Featuring the period instruments of Bourbon Baroque
KYOPERA.org | 502-584-4500
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Kentucky Performing Arts presents
MOMIX – VIVA MOMIX
PHOTO BY MAX PUCCIARIELLO
Sunday, January 9, 2022 | 7:00pm | Brown Theatre
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“Experience the Exceptional... Expect the Unexpected!” Celebrating their 40th Anniversary, MOMIX has been transporting audiences from their everyday lives to a fantasy world through its trademark use of magical lighting and imagery, thrilling fans in over 22 countries and has been featured on stage, screen, and television. In an endless search for another gravity, Artistic Director Moses Pendleton combines athletic dance, riveting music, outrageous costumes, inventive props, and pure talent to create an entertaining multimedia experience that will surprise, enchant, and astonish. Experience the Exceptional... Expect the Unexpected!
VIVA MOMIX is a compilation of company favorites taken from all six of our shows. The program is a mix-and-match variety of sections from Alice, Botanica, Alchemia, Remix, Opus Cactus, and Lunar Sea. Small vignettes make up the 2-act performance, mixing traditional MOMIX styles of illusion, beauty, magic, fun, and inventiveness. “I’d love to be able to see into Pendleton’s dreams just one night but dreams alone don’t make theater like this.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer Made possible with support from The Gheens Foundation and the following donors to the KPA Innovation Fund: Frank & Paula Harshaw, Julie & Jonathan Roberts, and Cynthia & Joel Zipperle.
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91.9 WFPK presents
THE MAVERICKS - ‘EN ESPAÑOL’ WORLD TOUR Friday, January 21, 2022 | 8:00pm | Brown Theatre
Mavericks
The Mavericks “En Español” by Agustín Gurza Any band that manages to survive three decades, seeing its core members go from young adults to music veterans, is bound to have its swings and cycles. The Mavericks, the eclectic rock and country group known for crisscrossing musical boundaries with abandon, has gone through three distinct phases since it was founded in Miami in 1989. An initial period of heady success 10
marked by big hits and critical acclaim in the ‘90s. A long hiatus starting 2003 when the musicians each went their own way. And finally, a triumphant reunion in 2012 which held long enough for them to recently celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary. The Mavericks latest album ushers in the fourth phase of their evolution. “It’s like we’ve had three different lives,”
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says Raul Malo, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, “and now this is a whole new beginning. We’re sort of going into uncharted territory. I’m looking forward to it and I’m kind of nervous about it too. It’s certainly a new adventure.” On August 21, 2020, The Mavericks officially launched that adventure with the debut of their first-ever, all-Spanish album, released on the band’s own Mono Mundo label. Entitled simply En Español, it is produced by Malo and the band’s long-time collaborator Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Prince, Sheryl Crow). The line-up includes Malo’s fellow Miamian and charter bandmember, Paul Deakin on drums and vibraphone, as well as veteran Jerry Dale McFadden, who joined in 1993. Eddie Perez, a Mexican American guitarist from Los Angeles, is the band’s youngest and newest member, becoming a Maverick in 2003. The band readily embraced the all-Latin concept, as a team. “It’s a communal project in many ways,” says Malo, “even though I’m leading the charge.” Although all 12 tracks are in Spanish, as the title suggests, the collection represents a diversity of musical styles and cultural traditions, from tender boleros to brassy mariachi to reimagined Afro-Cuban classics. Seven of the tunes are familiar gems drawn from the vast Latin American songbook, while five are originals written or co-written by Malo. Like the band’s entire body of music, this one album cannot be boxed into a single category. The songs are as diverse as Latin America itself, and as cohesive as the ideal of the American melting pot. To season this rich musical paella, The Mavericks add their signature country/rock/Tex-Mex flavors and a refreshing spontaneity to the mix.
En Español flips the band’s usual fusion formula, which adds a striking assortment of genres – salsa, ska, norteño, mariachi, and much more – to its sturdy rock/country base. Now, the foundation is solidly Latin with streaks of irreverent rock and twangy guitars running through it, all branded with the unmistakable Mavericks style. “This album, to me, celebrates all those cultures that are so beautiful and so vibrant,” says Malo, who was part of the diverse ensemble known as Los Super Seven in the early 2000s. “I’m proud of this record for that. I think it’s a very inclusive record. Because this story is not just my story, it’s the story of a lot of Latinos.” The idea for an album consisting entirely of Latin music has been percolating in Malo’s mind for several years. The concept crystalized toward the end of the band’s extended separation, during which Malo was performing and making albums as a solo artist. But even when he was on his own, he never conceived of recording an all-Spanish album without his band. “I was doing this solo stuff and I thought, ‘If The Mavericks ever get back together, I would love to do this project with them. I think The Mavericks would make a great album in Spanish.’ “ In 2012, the band finally did get back together, and started touring and recording as a group again. In 2019, they celebrated their 30th anniversary with a successful tour that was unfortunately interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the tour was suspended, work on the new album continued. The inspiration for this labor of love is rooted in the immigrant experience of
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the band’s founder. He was christened Raúl Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr., the son of Cuban exiles who was born and raised in the stimulating immigrant environment of Miami’s Little Havana.
“I was never one of those kids who were like, ‘Ah, I hate that music,’” says Malo. “I liked it all, and I would take it all in. To me, it was just part of the vocabulary, part of the DNA.”
His parents, Raul Sr. and Norma, both came to the United States in the early 60s, fleeing Fidel Castro’s communist revolution. They met after arriving in Miami, got married and bought a home in the shadow of the old Orange Bowl, west of downtown. The hub of the growing clan was the abode of Malo’s maternal grandfather, who himself had immigrated from Spain to Cuba, later bringing his family to Florida.
With a lifetime of music to choose from, picking songs for the new album could have posed an overwhelming task. But for Malo, it felt like a natural selection.
As Malo entered adolescence in the 1970s, the Latin music industry was flourishing in the United States. Pop and folk music from many countries flooded Latin communities. Recordings from many countries were distributed domestically by major labels, sold in neighborhood discotecas, and broadcast on television and radio via a booming network of Spanish-language media. Malo’s musical milieu was a mindexpanding cultural mashup. At home, there was a family piano to play at family gatherings, and his grandfather regaled guests with his “beautiful baritone,” Malore calls. And there was a stream of music always in the air. Songs by Cuba’s venerable Omara Portuondo, Mexico’s romantic Trio Los Panchos, and brash mariachi superstar Vicente Fernandez. But his father also loved Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, while his mother exposed him to the refined art of opera and classical music. The budding musician soaked in the sounds, unlike many first-generation teenagers who reject their parents’ music as corny or old-fashioned. 12
“To me, the criterion really was pretty simple,” he says. “The songs all mean something to me, personally. You’ve got to remember too, I’m not only thinking about what I want to sing and what I think I’d sound good singing. I also have to consider what would sound good with The Mavericks. Because we’re a pretty versatile band, but let’s face it, we’re not a salsa band, and we’re not pretending to be mariachis either. Those are entirely different things.” Among the first songs Malo selected was the introspective ballad “Me Olvidé de Vivir” (I Forgot to Live), originally written in French and popularized in 1978 by Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias, one of the biggest stars of all time in Latin pop music. The tune – about a singer’s regret for lost time in the manic quest for fame – was a favorite of Malo’s beloved grandfather. As fans might expect, The Mavericks did not record straight-up covers of golden oldies. The songs may be sung in Spanish, but the musical language is all Mavericks. “We had to tailor the arrangements to what The Mavericks do,” says Malo. “That was the trick, finding the balance of playing these beautiful songs without trying to imitate familiar renditions. I think that’s the best way to pay tribute
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to the music that we love – by doing it our way.” Asked to explain what “our way” actually means, the normally articulate bandleader grasps for insight into his own creative process. “Man, I wish that I could put a method into words, like that was on purpose,” he says. “I can’t say that it was. Sometimes I roll a joint and I mess with the sounds, I get the right guitar and sometimes an arrangement comes out, or sometimes a whole song. But sometimes nothing comes out. So it’s not as methodical as you might think. If it sounds good, I go with it. “I’ve learned to trust myself a little bit.” In composing the five new tracks, Malo trusted his instincts, both as songwriter and as a Maverick. “I think I had one of them written,” he says, “and then the others, I just thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with, what I could write, and just give it a shot. After all, if you’re a songwriter, you’re a songwriter. Musically, if you really listen to them, it’s not that different from what The Mavericks do normally. It really isn’t.” “Poder Vivir,” the first original song in the sequence, at first blush appears to be a simple song about lost love. The twoword title suggests much more. “I had this phrase and melody that just kept playing in my head,” says Malo about how he wrote the song. “I wasn’t quite sure what it meant exactly, or what I was going to say, but somehow it felt right to start the song with those words… After many conversations and late nights out on the road, the song kind of wrote itself. We wanted it to be conversational and simple in the end, and that’s what
we got.” That, and a killer final verse that makes the song what Malo intended it to be: “a bit philosophical and wise”: A veces la vida nos hace pensar Que el mundo no cambia sino para mal Son solo momentos, también pasarán En fin, ni la muerte nos marca un final Writing the lovely “Recuerdos” – about the ethereal memories left after love ends – came faster and easier. “This one was a lot of fun to write,” Malo recalls. “We were under the gun a little bit, trying to finish the record. We were going into the studio on a Sunday. We got home from our show at the Ryman on Saturday night, and we had to be at the studio by noon. Alejandro met me at my house at 9:00 AM. I had coffee ready. I had a groove. I had a melody. And by 12:30, the Mavericks were recording this song at the legendary Blackbird Studios...” Regardless of the songwriting process– quick or labored, solo or collaborative– the resulting five new numbers (including “Mujer,” “Pensando en Ti,”and “Suspiro Azul.”) clearly meet the high bar of blending seamlessly with the established standards. This is not the first time Malo has written his own songs in Spanish. He included four Castilian compositions on “Today,” his 2001 debut solo album. But he’s still honing his bilingual craft. For the new album, he listened to old boleros and closely studied his ancestors’ mother tongue, known as the language of love. He also enlisted the help of longtime collaborator and fellow Cuban Alejandro Menéndez Vega, the Mavericks’ director and videographer who’s also a writer and poet.
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“I would try writing by myself, but I didn’t want to use just common language,” says Malo. “I wanted to work with someone who has a real clear command of the language.” On this album, Malo joins the rarefied ranks of the esteemed Spanish-language composers of seven timeless tracks. Of these widely known standards, two are from Cuba, two from Mexico, and one each from Argentina, Italy, and France via Spain. Several have been recorded dozens of times, but Malo used as reference the versions with which he was most familiar. For example, “Sombras Nada Más” was originally an Argentine tango about a desperate lover who threatens to slice his veins slowly and bleed out to prove his love to the woman who spurns him. The song was a huge smash in 1967
by Mexican mariachi star Javier Solís, but Malo was enamored of the lesserknown version by elegant Spanish singer Rocío Durcal. The romantic bolero “Sabor a Mí,” one of the two Mexican songs on the album, is another international smash with multiple renditions recorded over the years. Malo was most attuned to the hit version by U.S. pop singer Eydie Gormé with Mexico’s Trio Los Panchos. The other Mexican tune, “No Vale la Pena,” is a much lighter take on ending a relationship by flatly telling your ungrateful partner, as the title says, “it’s not worth it.” The song was written by Juan Gabriel, another beloved star who Malo considers “one of my favorites.” The Maverick’s mariachiflavored rendition features guest artist Flaco Jimenez, San Antonio’s worldrenowned accordion player. The two Cuban numbers – “La Sitiera” and “Me Voy a Pinar del Río” – open and close the album like tropical bookends. But it almost didn’t happen that way. “La Sitiera,” now the album’s featured track, almost didn’t make the cut. An early version wasrecorded on the band’s first day in the studio, but the results were disappointing.
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“That one didn’t hold up,” recalls Malo, with some lingering frustration. “Shoot, we had played it live and it just rocked. But that first recording was not even close. So, it just sat forever in the junk pile.” Later, with some spare studio time near the end of recording, the song was resuscitated, and it jumped back to life with a jolt. “I knew that once we had that new version, it was going to make the record. It just sounded right, and you can feel
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it in the studio. Then we added the strings, and I said, “Guys, this has to open the record.” “La Sitiera” is a traditional guajira, or Cuban country song, that has been recorded by top performers, including Omara Portuondo and Celia Cruz. But its sweet melody, longing lyrics, and gentle rhythms are entirely revolutionized by The Mavericks. The track opens with Malo’s twangy Fender guitar, with delay pedal and reverb, adding an eerie undertone. The number then moves into a lush passage with horns and strings, culminating in a thunderous crescendo evoking Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” “We have a million versions of that song that have been done the traditional way,” says Malo. “But these are The Mavericks. I know my guys and I know what they can play, and when the band jams, it’s a special thing. So, I thought, let’s arrange this so that it showcases, not only the song, but also this arrangement that lets the band do what it does best.” The closing track, “Me Voy a Pinar del Río,” is a paean to the natural beauty of Cuba’s western-most province, relatively untouched by tourism. In tone and topic, it is polar opposite from the opening. This track is joyful, irresistible and danceable. The song is played in a much more straightforward fashion, but it also went through a surprise twist in the studio. For the song’s guitar solo, the usual Cuban tres was replaced by the charango, a small Andean guitar almost never used in Cuban music. The instrumental switch happened by serendipity. Malo, without The Mavericks, was experimenting in the
studio one day with members of a new Cuban rock band, Sweet Lizzy Project, whom he had met while filming the 2017 PBS special, “Havana Time Machine.” Malo later brought the Cuban band to Nashville, recruiting lead singer Lissett Diaz as cowriter and background singer on the new album. On that day at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios, Malo was strumming on the charango while encouraging Sweet Lizzie to join in on an early take of what would become the album’s closing track. When it came time for the guitar solo, Malo invited the band’s producer and lead guitarist, Miguel Comas, to take a crack at it. But the first take didn’t take. “He was playing a guitar solo and I was like, ‘Dude, that sounds like Eric Clapton. That’s not what we need.” So, Malo handed the little charango to the long-haired Cuban rocker, who immediately protested, in Spanish, that he had never played the instrument before. But Malo persisted, and it paid off. The spontaneous Sweet Lizzy performance can be heard on the finished track, perhaps the world’s first Cuban charango solo on record. It’s no coincidence that the album ends with this positive note about going home to Pinar del Río, where Malo’s father is from. “It’s part of the journey and the longing to be there,” says Malo of his parents’ island homeland. “It’s the longing for that beautiful forbidden fruit which we have gone without for half a century, due to politics. It’s a way to view this journey, which would be a fun one, if we all went on it together someday.”
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91.9 WFPK presents
TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP WITH ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY Saturday, January 29, 2022 | 8:00pm | Brown Theatre
“Songs are our teachers. They show us the depth of the human race and its unrelenting desire to create.” -- Tommy Emmanuel Anytime you talk to any of his fans, whether musicians or civilians, invariably they will speak of not one but two qualities that define his greatness. The first, predictably, is his extraordinary guitar playing. Considered by those in the know to be among this planet’s greatest guitarists, his playing is simply miraculous, as it would take three musicians, or more, to do what Tommy 16
does solo. Who else, for example, when playing “Day Tripper,” can lay down the rhythm part, dig into the riff and sing the melody all at once on just one acoustic guitar? Which brings us to the other aspect of his music always mentioned, and without which the first might not be as powerful or as infectiously appealing: the joy. Yes, joy. Because it’s one thing to play
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these multi-dimensional arrangements flawlessly on an acoustic guitar. But to do it with that smile of the ages, that evidence of authentic, unbridled delight, is an irresistible invitation to feel his music as deeply as he does. “The joy, he says, “is there always because I’m chasing it through music. Seeing the surprise in peoples’ eyes is worth living and working for... I can’t help but play to the people with all my heart, which is overflowing with joy of being in that moment that I’ve worked all my life for. And here it is!” Although his expression is instrumental, he comes to the guitar much more like a vocalist, positively singing melodies through the strings. He inhabits the tunes he performs, delivering every nuance and turn of phrase. His own songs are also illuminated always with lyrical melodies that go right to the heart, such as his beautiful ode to his daughter, “Angelina,” or his great “story without words,” “Lewis & Clark.” That they resonate so deeply without words makes sense, as words only go so far. But music, coming from a genuine and joyful source, can go so much farther. Now with The Best of Tommysongs, he brings us a complete collection of his own songs, all rich with ripe melodicism and rendered with joy in real-time. Born in 1955, one of six kids in Muswellbrook, New South Wales Australia, his first years were fairly uneventful, mostly mastering necessary motor skills between naps. By age four, he got busy becoming a musician. His father, an engineer who loved music and musicians, brought home an electric guitar one day with the intention of finding out how it worked. Piece by piece, he took it apart to discover its secrets. But Tommy and his brother
were much more interested in music than mechanics, so that when their dad was away at work, they’d surreptitiously sneak away with the guitar. Driven somewhat by sibling rivalry, they developed contests that were both fun and extremely educational. “We turned our backs to each other,” Tommy remembered, “and Phil would play a chord and I would have to say what the chord was, what the notes in it were.” It was competition which impacted his entire career, allowing him access to the rich interior architecture of songs. Though neither brother had any formal musical training, this selfschooling quickly transformed both into seriously sophisticated musicians. Though they assumed their father would be angry if he found out, which he did, they were wrong. He was surprised and thrilled his sons could play music. Soon their big brother Chris was enlisted to play drums, and with sister Veronica playing lap-steel, a family band was born. They joyously rocked hip guitar instrumentals such as “Apache” by The Shadows, featuring Hank Marvin on guitar, who both Phil and Tommy adored and emulated. They called themselves The Emmanuel Quartet. But when people kept mistaking them for a classical string quartet, they changed the name to The Midget Surfaries. They entered a band competition, and easily surpassed all contenders to take first prize, a national TV appearance. On that show they burned through “Apache” with such aplomb that the producer told their dad he should take the band on the road. He agreed. Back home he told everyone the plan: Sell the house, buy a tent, two station wagons, and hit the road.
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It seemed to be a dream, yet it was true. What they didn’t know was that their dad had learned recently that he had an incurable heart disease and was not expected to live for much more than a year. His doctor said if there was ever anything he really wanted to do; he should do it. It lasted for six years. They were on the road constantly, except for a few periods when their dad was too ill to tour, and Tommy and his brothers picked fruit to make some money. When his father’s heart finally gave out, Tommy remembered, his mother grieved for a few hours alone, and then emerged to give them the choice of a “normal life” or staying on the road. They chose the road, of course, and signed up with a successful traveling show, which kept them gainfully employed for a good stretch. But that came to an end when the child welfare department forced them off the road again for perceived child labor violations. “They made us go to normal schools,” Tommy said. But normal was not something Tommy accepted for long. Though they settled down in a little town near Sydney, the brothers quickly assembled a little rock band, playing pubs, parties, weddings, and dances. One thing he learned on the road and never forgot was that he loved performing. And he was great at it. From these origins, Tommy’s music expanded in every direction. At 30, he was burning on electric guitar with several rock bands in stadiums all over Europe. He could have gone on to live the rock star life. Yet he yearned for something purer and closer to his heart. Casting off the reliable rock band engine of monstrous sonics blasting with chains of effects through monstrous stacks of 18
amps, he did a reverse Bob Dylan, and instead of going electric, Tommy went acoustic. Stripping away everything but the essentials, Tommy found the ideal equation, and one which has led him to worldwide acclaim: one acoustic guitar in standard tuning played by one ambitiously unchained guitarist and lover of song. Always it’s about melody, of expressing the tune not with a barrage of notes, but with those which touch the heart. And it’s about his singular greatness at translating the dimensional dynamics and dimensions of arrangements onto the six strings of his guitar. Although many scoffed that it was possible, Tommy made a series of hit albums as a solo guitarist, and became a major star first in Australia, and soon everywhere. The inspiration for Tommy’s transformation? That would be guitar legend Chet Atkins, who represented to Tommy the pinnacle of guitar playing. One man, one guitar, and unlimited, passionate song. Like Dylan, who made a pilgrimage from the Midwest to New York to meet his idol, Woody Guthrie, Tommy always knew he had to get to Chet. To let Chet hear his music, which had been so shaped by his years listening, and absorbing, Chet’s genius. When he finally made that trek around the globe to meet the man himself, in Nashville, their bond was immediate, and like their music, existed beyond words. Chet picked up his guitar, and the two men jammed joyously for hours. It started a lifelong friendship which shaped Tommy’s music forever. Chet welcomed Tommy into guitarist knighthood by bestowing upon him the coveted title of CGP (Certified Guitar Player), an honor awarded only to four
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other humans ever. Though already devoted to the life of a solo player, receiving the love and esteem of Chet lifted Tommy into a different realm. Because, as Chet recognized instantly and told the world, musicians like this don’t come along that often; pay attention to this man. Of course, Chet knew of what he spoke. Tommy’s triumph on his singular solo path has been extraordinary. From the Midget Surfaries he’s become beloved and revered around the planet for the music. And, for the joy.
ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY Take a 15-time IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Dobro Player of the Year and a Tennessee-born guitar prodigy who made his Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 11, and you have Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, a powerhouse acoustic duo that has electrified the acoustic music scene. Known for their white-hot picking, stone country vocals with soul and world class live musicianship, Ickes and Hensley meld together blues, bluegrass, country, rock and other string band music of all kinds to form a signature blend of music that defies restrictions of genre. They are equally at home on stages of prestigious performing arts centers, theatres and the Grand Ole Opry as they are on Americana, jamgrass, bluegrass and jam band festivals. Ickes co-founded the highly influential bluegrass group Blue Highway and has been a sought-after Nashville session player and live performing musician for decades, with credits to his name such as Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and Alison Krauss. Hensley has been called “Nashville’s hottest young player”
by Acoustic Guitar magazine and his soulful baritone vocals have received acclaim as well. Influenced by repertoires as diverse as The Allman Brothers Band, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hensley has shared stages with artists such as Johnny Cash, Steve Wariner, and Peter Frampton. As a duo, Ickes and Hensley have shared the stage and collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel, Taj Mahal, David Grisman, and Jorma Kaukonen & Hot Tuna — all enthusiastic admirers of the duo — as well as Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi All Stars, Molly Tuttle, and many more. The duo were key players on Original, the recent highly lauded Compass album by bluegrass giant Bobby Osborne; their participation garnered a Recorded Event Of The Year Award for Bobby’s version of “Got To Get A Message To You” on that album at this year’s IBMA Awards; they also were on the 2016 Recorded Event winner, ”Fireball,” featuring Special Consensus, in 2016. Ickes and Hensley have gained some added grit and a nod to the roots side of Americana aided by the guiding hand of GRAMMY-winning producer Brent Maher on the duo’s new Compass Records album, World Full of Blues (released Oct. 4, 2019). Maher, known for his production and engineering of such diverse artists as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, The Judds, Faces, Ike and Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, and Chuck Berry, loved the duo’s demos and signed on to produce immediately upon hearing them. Acclaimed bluesman Taj Mahal provides his unmistakable mojo to the title track and country music legend Vince Gill guests on an inspired rendition of cover of the Grateful Dead’s moonshiner song, “Brown-Eyed Women.” The project includes a range of songs
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that could be featured on a vintage Sun Records recording to Trey’s more traditional country originals. On World Full of Blues, they move beyond the acoustic-centric sound of their previous two releases (including the GRAMMYnominated Before The Sun Goes Down) and juice things up with Hammond B3 and a horn section. The album was recorded live at Maher’s Nashville studio, The Blueroom, with minimal overdubs. Maher says, “For me, this record was all about living in the moment…letting spontaneity rule.” Despite the diversity in instrumentation and song selection— acoustic blues to jammed out roots rockers, “Hag” country to Duane and Dickey style twin leads reminiscent of The Allman Brothers—the end result is a sound unified in its approach to the broad scope of roots music. “Ultimately we’re the unifying factor,” says Ickes. “It’s obvious we’re into all these different styles, but there’s a commonality in the sound of our instruments that, blended with Trey’s voice, makes it one sound.” Ickes and Hensley wrote or co-wrote nine of the songs on World Full of Blues and put their own spin on the two covers. Hensley says, “Our songwriting was always present on the last records, but there were maybe three originals and the rest covers. We made a decision on this one to present more of our own material.” Ickes contributes the instrumental “The Fatal Shore” and the cautionary “Thirty Days,” while Hensley offers the optimistic life-on-the-road song, “Both Ends of My Rainbow.” Hensley got the idea to write the lively “Nobody Can Tell Me I Can’t” after hearing a friend use that phrase in conversation. That title clearly embodies the duo’s creative streak, too. 20
“World Full of Blues felt important to me to include from the first time Rob talked about it,” says Hensley. “Bill Scholer had written a version of the song, but Rob and I decided to rewrite it, with some help from our friend Jason Eady, to make it more modern, while keeping Bill’s original intent intact: ‘It’s a crazy world and it feels like it’s getting crazier all the time…’ We knew we wanted a guest on this song and Taj Mahal was at the top of our dream list. He loved it and agreed to sing a verse and play some guitar on it. Working with Taj in the studio was a huge highlight for us… what an amazing guy and an absolute legend in every sense.” “Brown Eyed Women” has the distinction of not only being one of the duo’s favorite Grateful Dead tunes, but a career first for country legend Gill. “Vince is one of our big musical heroes and it was so awesome having him sing on a Grateful Dead tune, which was the first time he’s recorded a Dead song.” “Born With The Blues” is a song Ickes and Hensley wrote with their friend Bobby Starnes. “Bobby started it and we finished it up,” Ickes recalls. “It reminds me of a Clint Eastwood western, and the percussion and horn section really solidifies that. This is a song that gives us room to stretch out musically. It felt like the perfect song to kick off the record. “ “Suzanne,” written by Hensley with Larry Shell and Larry Cordle, finds the duo swapping instruments, Hensley playing a 1931 National resonator guitar and Ickes playing a 1927 Montgomery Ward guitar that belonged to his grandfather. “We had spent the morning talking about how amazing Lightning Hopkins, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker all were and this song just appeared.” Hensley recalls. “Having Jim Hoke arrange the
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horns and play on it just really added a Howlin’ Wolf-era/Sun Records vibe.” Closing the project is a rousing, smoking hot take on blues-jazz-rock guitarist Robben Ford’s “Rugged Road.” Few guitarists cross boundaries as deftly as Ford and this rendition firmly places Ickes and Hensley in the same pantheon as the celebrated guitar slinger. Ickes grew up in a suburb of San Francisco and discovered the Dobro as a teenager when he borrowed a Mike Auldridge cassette from his brother. He later moved to Nashville to pursue session work, and eventually graced the recordings of some of the best in the business before co-founding Blue Highway, and earning an unprecedented number of IBMA Dobro Player of the Year accolades. Hensley grew up in East Tennessee and started singing in a gospel group when he was 6 years old. A few years later, his parents took him to a bluegrass festival where the lineup included back-to-back sets by bluegrass legends Charlie Waller and Jimmy Martin. Hensley decided then and there that he wanted to play guitar. By the time he was 11, he had given the life-changing first performance on the Grand Ole Opry playing guitar with Earl Scruggs and Marty Stuart. When Scruggs played Knoxville not long after the Opry appearance, he invited the young Hensley to sit in. Ickes, who was playing Dobro in Scruggs’ band at the time, remembers Hensley as “a very talented kid,” but it would be roughly a decade before they crossed paths again. When they did, Ickes was blown away. “I couldn’t believe the guy!” Ickes says. “I was just so excited about his music that I called everyone I knew in Nashville and told them about him. Then I suggested
that we start playing at (Nashville’s) Station Inn and treat it like a showcase for Trey, just to see what might happen. I used to tease him and say, ‘I’ll have you famous by Christmas.’ Then, just one year later, our first record was nominated for a GRAMMY.” Ickes and Hensley have performed in places as close to home as Nashville’s world famous Grand Ole Opry (multiple performances at both the Grand Ole Opry House and the Ryman Auditorium) and as far away as Denmark’s Tonder Festival. They’ve played many prestigious music festivals, including Telluride Bluegrass, ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival, AmericanaFest, Rockygrass, ROMP, Wintergrass, Bluegrass Underground, Vancouver Island Music Festival, Guitar Town, Sisters Folk Festival, the Freshgrass Festival, Copper Country Music Festival and several others. They were invited to perform at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with Buddy Miller in Oct. 2019 and will set sail from Miami to St. Croix and Antigua on the Cayamo cruise alongside Brian Wilson, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Rodney Crowell and others Feb. 2020. Several more tour dates are planned in 2020 with Taj Mahal, their World Full of Blues collaborator. Going forward the goal is simply to reach more people and illustrate what the unique talents and down to earth, honest approach of Ickes and Hensley can bring to roots music. “We want to keep doing the music that we love, no matter what the genre, and finding the audience that gets what we’re mixing together” says Ickes. Hensley adds, “I love what we’re doing, so it’s just continuing on with that, to more and more people.”
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ANNUAL SUPPORT Commonwealth of Kentucky, The Honorable Andy Beshear, Governor Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet | The Honorable Mike Berry, Secretary | The Kentucky General Assembly Kentucky Performing Arts Foundation, as of 12/1/21.
Mr. John Abel & Mrs. Nancy Smith The Honorable & Mrs. Jerry E. Abramson Accredited Wealth Management Dr. & Mrs. Jesse Adams In Memory of Alan & Carol Adelberg Donnie & Kandis Adkins AIA Kentucky Alpha Energy Solutions** Mr. & Mrs. Phillip D. Allen Mr. & Mrs. William Altman Anonymous Walter E. App & Donna W. Tilson Dr. & Mrs. Frederick W. Arensman Dr. & Mrs. Joe F. Arterberry Ms. Sheila & Mr. Adam W. Ashley The Audience Group** Ms. Joanne G. Bader Ms. Lourdes Christine Baez Dr. Eric Baker & Dr. Tara Odle-Baker Joseph & Linda Baker Kim & Mark Baker Jim & Sibylla Banks Sadie Barlow Mark & Kathy Barrens Theresa Bautista Mr. & Mrs. Donald Baxter BB&T Ms. Becky Becherer Dr. David & Bobbie Bell Mr. & Mrs. J. Peter Bell Mark Bender Josh & Megan Bentley Barry Bernson Turney P. Berry & Kendra D. Foster Hon. Steve Beshear Beth Ward Studios** Mrs. Edith S. Bingham B.J. Killian Foundation Mrs. Ann Leah Blieden Mr. & Mrs. James H. Bloem Mr. & Mrs. Keith Board Ms. Eloise Boarman Mr. & Mrs. Dale J. Boden Ms. Lolita Bonds Mr. & Mrs. James W. Boone Mrs. Elaine Bornstein Mr. Jacob A. Bortell Laura Breitenstein Mike & Paula Britsch Brown-Forman Corporation Brown-Forman Foundation Mrs. Christina Lee Brown Ms. Dace Brown Freddie Brown Laura Lee Brown & Steve Wilson The Owsley Brown II Family Foundation John & Patricia Bruggman Terry & Sara Burd Mr. & Mrs. David Burianek Marianne Butler Mr. Jack & Mrs. Barbara Butorac Mrs. Karen Byrley Dolores Calebs Sharon & Barry Carruthers
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James & Karen Campbell Dennis & Joyce Cardwell Keith & Rene Cartwright Mr. Lindy Casebier Charles & Linda Cauble Marica Chacona Carri Chandler Jennifer & Ben Chandler Tony & Davina Chambers Clarendon Flavor Engineering John & Gretchen Clark John Austin Clark Ms. Marilyn Clark June Woo Clausen Mary Cleary & Roxanne Yeoman Ann & Stewart Cobb Family Fund Greg & Susan Cohen Stacey Combs Commonwealth Bank & Trust Co. Mr. Thomas Conley Tammy & John Copeland Mr. & Mrs. Denver Cornett III Mr. Alfonso Cornish & Ms. Yvonne Austin Mr. John B. Corso Dr. Hope Cottrill Mr. Nick Covault Ms. Karen Cozine Malvina & Thomas Craig Mr. Roger Cude & Mrs. Kathie Markle-Cude Ms. C.S. Dalgleish Ms. Janet R. Dakan Elizabeth W. Davis D.D. Williamson & Co., Inc. Ms. Christine Deeble Louis Deluca & Victoria Faoro Ms. Gayle Arndt DeMersseman Ms. Clarice Denoux Dr. John & Mrs. Dee Ann Derr Shaista Deshmukh Stephen & Theresa Diebold Mr. Christopher Dischinger Norman Dixon & Patrick Owen Mr. Andrew Jay Douds & Mr. David Mawn Eric & Claudette Doyle Ms. Laurie Duesing William & Christi Dukes Ms. Karen Dunn Whitney Durham Eric Eatherly Mrs. Maria J. Eckerle Nick Eckhart Mr. Michael Eckstein Fr. John G. Eifler Mr. & Mrs. John Elder Mrs. Linda Ellingsworth Ms. Gay Ellison Patience Elsner Ms. Donna & Mr. John Embry Employees of Kentucky Performing Arts Ms. Catherine Emrick Mr. Glenn Epperson Mr. & Mrs. Michael Erickson Mr. & Mrs. William Esakov Phil Eschels Dr. Robert Esterhay & Ms. Ruth Mattingly
Michael & Jennifer Evans Dr. Vilma Fabre Dr. Robin Fankhauser Mr. Michael & Mrs. Maggie Conner Faurest Walter & Marie Feibes Mr. & Mrs. Bruce W. Ferguson Fifth Third Bank Fiji Water Company, LLC LaVonne & Brian Fingerson Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Finnegan Mr. & Mrs. Donald Finney Mr. Chuck & Ms. Beth Fitch Bruce Flannery Mr. & Mrs. Terry E. Forcht Dan Forte & Chris Schuster Foundation for the Tri-State Community Mr. & Mrs. Gregg Fowler Mr. Randall Fox Ms. Sandra Frazier Sharon Fredenhagen Fund for the Arts Ms. Melissa Gaddie Cindy & Jim Gaffney Tim & LuAnn Galbraith Mr. & Mrs. Gene Gardner Dana Garner Dr. Brent Garrett & Mrs. Glenda Marker George Lamar Gaston Jr. & Joan Gaston John & Paddy Gay GE Appliances, a Haier Company Donna Geddes The Gheens Foundation Sheldon & Nancy Gilman Mr. Ryan Gittings The Glenview Trust Company Dr. & Mrs. Richard Goldwin Mr. Ankur Gopal & Ms. Kiran Gill Linda & Jerry Grasch Christine Grass Dr. Laman & Juliet Cooper Gray Greater Milwaukee Foundation Chuck & Jackie Grimley Rick & Ann Guillaume Dr. & Mrs. William Gump Ellen Hagan & David Flores Karen & Roger Hale Mr. & Mrs. John R. Hall Amber & Paul Halloran Joe & Shannon Hamilton Patrick & Jody Hamilton John & Maria Hampton Ken & Judy Handmaker Ms. Julia Hansbrough Michael & Martha Hardesty Jerry Abramson, matched by Hardscuffle, Inc. Mr. Bill Harned Amy Harrington Herman & Gail Harrington Hood & Heather Harris Pamela Harris Ms. Susan Harrison & Mr. Paul Reid Mr. & Mrs. William Harrison Mr. Frank & Mrs. Paula Harshaw Marian & Thomas Hayden
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Mr. & Mrs. John Hayes James E. & Sarah Haynes Mr. James Hite Hays Ms. Beverly Hearn Mr. & Mrs. Hearn Mr. Ryan Hernandez Mr. William Herndon Joe & Kelly Hertzman Ms. Deborah Hibberd Cathy Hill Dr. Frederick K. Hilton Mr. & Mrs. Jason Hines Ms. Mary Jane Hoben Jonathan & Janet Hodes Mr. David Hogan Augusta Brown Holland & Gill Holland, Jr. Dr. John & Mrs. Christel Hollis Mr. & Mrs. William O. Holton Dr. Keith Hornung Rainer Hoyer Jalileah Huddleston Gary & Brenda Huntoon Dave & Rebekah Hussung Eddie and Lily Ignacio Ms. Lona Ingwerson Ms. Marybeth Irvine Anne Sunshine Ison Harry & Sherry Jacobson-Beyer Jeffrey & Margaret Jamner Caroline & Ben Jeffers Mr. & Mrs. William H. Jenkins Mrs. Anita Jones Sandra Jones Stephen & Mary Jones Chris & Ashley Kaelin Judith Kaleher Ian & Denise Kalina Charlie & Teresa Kamer Charles & Robyn Kane Ms. Peace Karalakulasingam Mr. & Mrs. Morton L. Kasdan Dr. Daniel Kean Mr. & Mrs. W.W. Benton Keith The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Kentucky Department of Education Kentucky Music Educators Association Kentucky State Parks** Ms. Mary Jane R. Kephart Dan & Sharon Kessler Dr. Nancy Kiesow-Webb & Dr. Chuck Webb Chris & Jessica Kipper Mr. Ray Kirkland Gerald & Dana Kirpes Ms. Ann B. Kirwan Mr. David Klaphaak Rolf Klein Marjorie & Robert Kohn Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Kosse Kroger Community Rewards Diane Kyle Mr. Eugene Lacefield & Ms. Mary Margaret Lowe Judith Landis Damon & Julie Lange Amy &. Sterling Lapinski
ANNUAL SUPPORT Mr. Lance & Mrs. Marie Larsen Mr. Dean Lause John & Lilia Lawson Pamela Leezer & Henry Harris Joe Lewis Kristy Lewis David & Phyllis Leibson LEO Weekly** LG&E & KU Services Company Ms. Anne Liechty Lincoln Trail Title Jerry Lindsey Ronald Loughry & Bethany Breetz Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government Louisville Public Media** Louisville Tourism Mr. Todd P. Lowe & Ms. Fran C. Ratterman Ms. Diane Loy George Lucier Jim & Lois Luckett Mr. Robin Luckett Mr. James D. Ludwig Mr. & Mrs. Philip Lynch Robert Major Mr. & Mrs. Brian Manlove Mansbach Endowment Fund at Foundation for the Tri-State Community John & D’Ann Markert Tom & Joslyn Marksbury Ms. Jane Martin & Ms. Janet Childress Martha & Jerry Martin William & Sandra Martz Leolie & David Marquez Mr. Anthyun Mask Malinda & Billy Masterson Craig & Karen Matthews James Mauch & Sharon Smith Craig & Lauren Maxey David & Emily McCay Mr. Darrin & Ms. Becky McElroy Martha McLaughlin Madelyn Mees Lori & Michael Mehlbauer The Melcher Family Drs. Chris Mescia & Tricia J. Gray Mr. & Mrs. Barry P. Meyers Linda & David Miles Dave & Terri Miller Robert E. Milward Fund at Blue Grass Community Foundation Mr. William Mitchell Jack & Marilyn Monohan Ms. Biljana N. Monsky Mrs. Terri Montgomery Mr. Don & Mrs. Lisa Moore Jim & Chambers Moore Mrs. Pat Moremen Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP Ms. Eleanor Bingham Miller Mr. & Mrs. R. Charles Moyer Marti & Hubert Mountz Mr. Glen E. Mowbray & Ms. Colette Crown Shivaram Muddappa Mrs. Patricia Muench Dr. Sean Muldoon Cynthia Murphy Martha Miracle Murphy
Eric Murray Gloria Jean Murray Mr. Scott Murray Marcia Myers Mr. Alan Nakamura National Conference of Governor’s Schools Robert & Sharon Nesmith Mr. & Mrs. Theodore H. Nixon Esther Nnassanga Ms. Susan H. Norris The Norton Foundation, Inc. Nu-Yale Cleaners** Mr. & Mrs. Dan O’Brien Ms. Ann Ogden Mrs. Judith Olliges Mr. Kevin Olusola Doug & Shari Owen Mr. & Mrs. Gord Pageau Erin Palmer & Tyler Kinney Ms. Meredith Parente & Ms. Carol Mollman Annabelle Park Ms. Tara Parker Mr. & Mrs. Don E. Parkinson Adrian S. Partridge Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Payne Mr. Bryan Peck Ms. Lynn Pereira Mr. Tom Person & Mrs. Melissa Richards-Person Duane Peterson Tony Petrelli Ms. Judith N. Petty Mr. & Mrs. Michael Phelps Yvone Plier PNC Bank PNC Broadway in Louisville/ Louisville Theatrical Society Mr. Stuart Pollard Henry & Sharon Potter Ms. Joy Potts Shane Powers Stephen D. Prather Mr. Mark Preischel Gordon & Patty Rademaker Dr. & Mrs. Julio Ramirez Mr. & Mrs. Teddy H. Redmon Tracy Redmon Rick & Becky Reed Ms. Linda Remington Kathleen Reno & Tom Payette Republic Bank Will & Becky Richards Dr. Jeffrey Richardson Bobby & Caroline Riede Ms. Tammy Rigney Mr. Thaddeus Riley Riverbend Financial Group RJE Business Interiors Mrs. Barbara Roberts Jonathan & Julie Roberts Mr. Stinson Robinson Laura Rogers Alan & Beatrice Rosenberg Mr. & Mrs. Robert W. Rounsavall, III Mark & Kay Rountree Mr. Anthony & Mrs. Jane Ruhl Loy Rush Michael Schissler & Kristan Milam Ms. Stephanie Schaefer Chuck & Mary Ellen Schmidt
Curtis & Ashley Rose Schneider Dr. Marilyn Schorin Rachael Scwhwartz Mr. Terry Schwartz Mr. Mason Scisco David C. Scott Foundation Fund Ellen & Max Shapira Brett & Andrea Shepherd The Sherwin-Williams Company Mrs. Cindi Shrader Dr. & Mrs. Saleem Seyal Holly Sibrary & Stephen Belcher Lesa & Gregg Siebert Dr. Nicholas Silvestros Ms. Ruth Simons Danny & Amy Singleton Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Sireci Mr. & Mrs. Edward Skarbek Mr. & Mrs. Ted Sloan Drs. Kyle & Laura Slone Mr. & Mrs. Darin Smith Mr. Darrell Smith Jill Smith Irvin & Connie Smith Ms. Laura Smith Mollie Smith Snowy Owl Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Kenney M. Snell Whitney & Trevor Soergel Tom & Cara Solley George & Karin Sonnier David & Rebecca Sourwine South Arts Dr. Charles Sowder Laura Spaulding Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Sprau Mr. Mitchell Stallsmith Robert Steen Mr. Robert Steinmetz & Mrs. Barbara Elliott Anna Stephens Ms. Sharon Stetter Dr. Don Stevens Stites & Harbison, PLLC Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Matthew Stone Drs. Catherine Newton & Gordon Strauss Mr. Jeff Stream Lindy Street Hunter & Audrey Strickler Dr. & Mrs. Gerald F. Sturgeon Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Sturgeon Scott Swalls Barbara & Richard Sweet Anne Swope Keith & Jennifer Tarter Bob Taylor & Linda Shapiro Mr. John Tederstrom & Mr. Mark Cannon Arthur & Mary Thacker The 10th Planet** Tessitura Network** Ms. Brenda Thompson Mac & Jessica Thompson Mr. & Mrs. Steve Thompson Mr. Christopher M. Todoroff Josh Toole Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky Trace3** Fernando Trevino Ms. Karen Troutman
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Dr. Mureena Turnquest & Dr. Kevin Wells Mrs. Melanie Twyman Bob & Vicky Ullrich University of Kentucky College of Design** University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts** University of Kentucky Office of the Provost** USI Insurance Services, LLC Mr. Randall Vaughn David & Susan Vislisel Mr. & Mrs. David Vogel Mrs. Kellie Vogt Mr. & Mrs. Mark Vogt Robert & Bonnie Vogt The Voice-Tribune Volunteers of the Kentucky Center* Jim & Libby Voyles Ms. Jeanne D. Vuturo Gary Wall Brian Wallace & Nelda Lewis Wallace Karyn Walters, M.D. Beth Ward Charles & Nina Wardrip Water Energizers** Ann Waterman & Niles Welch Karyn Watters, M.D. Ms. Jennifer Love Webb Ms. Kristen Webb-Hill Nathan & Olivia Webb Mr. & Mrs. Greg Weishar Dr. & Mrs. Robert Weiss Welch Printing** Mr. James & Ms. Catherine Werner John & Marilyn Werst Melany Wessels Ms. Rebecca West WHAS 11** Mr. & Mrs. Stephen F. Wheeler Rick & Denise Whelan Mary Jo White & Tim Shull Lorraine Whitney Antonio Wickliffe P.J. Williams Patty & Jim Williamson Dr. Floyd T. Wilkerson Wilmes & Associates/Architects, PSC Mr. Benjamin Wiseman Eric & Elizabeth Witherspoon Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Wolff Mark Wood & Barbara Dejean Phoebe Wood Rev. Joan Wooden Ms. Grace Wooding Michael & Jeanne Wright David F. Young & Cheryl Cahill Yum! Brands, Inc. The Zamiska Family Dominic & Lisa Zangari Dr. Kenneth & Shelly Zegart Mr. Brian Zehnder & Ms. Melissa Rolf Dr. & Mrs. Nathan Zimmerman Ms. Susan G. Zepeda & Dr. Fred P. Seifer Cynthia and Joel Zipperle *Kentucky Performing Arts Volunteers’ value of donated time is more than $100,000 annually **In-Kind Donation
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KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Marianne Butler, Chair • Robert M. Klein, Vice-Chair Mary R. Nixon, Secretary • Gregory J. Bubalo, Treasurer Laura Melillo Barnum Eileen Cooke Brown Hannah L. Drake JP Davis Paula Harshaw
William H. Jones Kate Latts Joseph Leavell Patricia A. Mathison Bruce C. Merrick
Madeline Abramson Owsley Brown II (1942–2011) Wendell Cherry (1935–1991)
Gordon B. Davidson (1926–2015) C. Edward Glasscock
James K. Murphy Stephen T. Owen Lindy Street Rev. Dr. Valerie Washington Sarah Yarmuth
DIRECTORS EMERITI Robert W. Rounsavall, III Rose Lenihan Rubel (1922–2002)
KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Todd Lowe, Chair Kim Baker, Vice-Chair • Leah Huddleston, Secretary • R.K. Guillaume, Treasurer Carolle Jones Clay J. Tim Galbraith Ankur N. Gopal Lillian Hunt
Chris Kipper Phil Lynch R. Charles Moyer Doug Owen
Melissa Richards-Person Eileen Saunders Felicia Cumings Smith Diane Tobin
Ruth Wimsatt Trautwein Lisa Zangari Cindy Zipperle
KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS EXECUTIVE STAFF Kim Baker President and CEO
Chris Kaelin Vice President, Operations
Heather Weston Bell Senior Vice President, Community Engagement
Will Richards Vice President, Facilities & Production
Dawn Driskell Vice President, Finance
Julie Roberts Vice President, Development & Advocacy
Rob Schmidlapp Vice President, Information Systems Christian Adelberg Vice President, Marketing & Communications
KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS ENCORE SOCIETY The Encore Society recognizes individuals who have demonstrated support for the long-term well-being of Kentucky Performing Arts with an estate gift or notification of their bequest intention or other planned gift.
The Honorable & Mrs. Jerry E. Abramson Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Tom & Robbie Bell Ms. Jennifer L. Bobbitt Janet R. Dakan 24
Mrs. William Habich Mrs. Ada Lee Kane Mrs. Helen Lang Kathy Monin Mr. and Mrs. Don E. Parkinson Ms. Terry H. Sales A U D I E N C E
Sharon Sanak Ms. Helen Stockton Mrs. Murrel Straley Jeanne D. Vuturo Jennifer Love Webb
CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION SUPPORT We salute the following organizations for their support of Kentucky Performing Arts:
B. J. KILLIAN FOUNDATION
Welch Printing
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KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS SERVICES TICKETS For complete event information and to order tickets by phone, call Kentucky Performing Arts Ticket Service at (502) 584-7777 or order tickets online at KentuckyPerformingArts.org. Kentucky Performing Arts Ticket Service’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Drive-thru ticket service is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets purchased by phone and online are subject to service charges. On performance dates, the ticket office is open one-half hour past curtain time. Gift certificates are available in any dollar amount at the Box Office and are not redeemable for cash. MAIN PHONE NUMBER (502) 562-0100 PARKING More than 2,000 parking spaces offer direct access to The Kentucky Center from Sixth St. The elevators located in the garage will take you to the main lobby. You may also enter the Riverfront Garage from Fourth or Sixth Sts. Level C of the garage also will give you direct access to the main lobby. At the Brown Theatre, parking is available in the lot across from the theatre, and parking garage entrances are located on Third St., north of Broadway or on Fourth St., north of Broadway. At Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, parking is available in the neighboring Swan Street and Vine Street lots. FACILITIES RENTAL From a wedding reception to a convention, Kentucky Performing Arts’ venues, The Kentucky Center, the Brown Theatre and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, are the perfect place to “stage” your event. For more information, contact Stacey Hallahan, shallahan@kentuckyperformingarts.org. KPA DONORS Kentucky Performing Arts donors receive a variety of benefits, including buying tickets before the public, priority seating, and no handling fees. For more information, contact (502) 566-5144 or visit SUPPORT KPA on our website. For Corporate Membership benefits, contact Julie Roberts at (502) 562-0100, Ext. 105, or jroberts@kentuckyperformingarts.org. VOLUNTEERS The Volunteer Program offers the public a chance to be a part of the great events at The Kentucky Center, the Brown Theatre and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall. To volunteer, contact the Volunteer Hotline at (502) 566-5141. 26
COURTESY • As a courtesy to the performers and other audience members, please turn off all audible message systems. • The emergency phone number to leave with babysitters or message centers are (502) 566-5128 (The Kentucky Center) and (502) 566-5188 (The Brown Theatre). • Be sure to leave your theater and seat number for easy location. • Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the theaters. • Latecomers will be seated at appropriate breaks in the program, as established by each performing group. Please be considerate of your fellow audience members during performances. Please remain seated after the performance until the lights are brought up. • Children should be able to sit in a seat quietly throughout the performance. • To properly enforce fire codes, everyone attending an event, regardless of age, must have a ticket. ACCESSIBILITY Wheelchair accessible seating at Kentucky Performing Arts venues is available on every seating and parking level, as well as ticket counters and personal conveniences at appropriate heights. FM and infrared hearing devices are available to provide hearing amplification for patrons with hearing disabilities in all spaces of The Kentucky Center, the Brown Theatre, and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, including meeting spaces. Audio Description is available for selected performances for patrons who are blind or have low vision. Caption Theater is available for selected performances as a service for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Program materials are available in large-print from your usher. Please make reservations for services at the time you purchase your ticket through the Box Office to ensure the best seating location for the service requested. Call (502) 566-5111 (V), 711 (TRS), or email access@kentuckycenter.org for more information about the range of accessibility options we offer, or to receive this information in an alternate format.
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