A Musical Dream Come True Coming Soon - PSO Music Academy

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A Musical Dream Come True

Coming Soon: The Paducah Symphony Orchestra Music Academy

by Cassie Johnson

The Paducah Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has always been a champion of music education in western Kentucky. Although the Symphony Board has discussed the idea of a PSO Music Academy on many occasions, a suitable facility was not readily available. Now their dream is going to become a reality. With the help of an innovative developer, the Symphony is going to have its very own music academy by 2022!

“In July 2019 the Mayor approached us about a developer who was interested in renovating the Jetton School,” explained PSO General Manager, Morgan Walker. “The Marian Group has previously done projects in the Louisville area and northern Kentucky. They specialize in mixed-used buildings and some of their projects have involved converting and re-purposing old school buildings. The PSO made sense as an ideal tenant to manage the auditorium and basement. The plans have evolved in this past year to the fully realized idea it has become. The PSO board has voted unanimously to proceed and are hoping to sign a formal agreement after the developers close on the property this fall.

“The old Jetton School building was rezoned during a commission meeting on August 25 for the purpose of creating mixed use- residential units, office space and performance space,” said Pam Spencer, City of Paducah Public Relations Officer.

Building a Community The Jetton School has already been partially converted to apartments and the proposed renovations will help to solidify it as a focal point for the community. The developers will renovate the existing units, add more housing, office and choir rehearsal space, as well as a specially designed performance hall that will seat 500 to 800. It is hoped that this creative space will become the home for working artists and others in the area.

“The PSO won’t own the real estate,” explained Reece King, PSO Executive Director. “We will occupy it as a partner with The Marian Group at below market rate for the space. It will allow the PSO to have the square footage at a rate affordable enough to make it work. The building will take about two years to renovate and the PSO hopes to start fitting the space for the academy in the spring of 2022. The PSO Music Academy would open fall of that year.

“This will be a physical building for music education and an amazing opportunity for music teachers to come in and provide instruction without having to run their own studio,” said King. “Another function of the academy will be rehearsal space for the children’s, youth and adult choruses. The hall will also function as a performance space for not just the academy and their programs, but chamber concerts and other additional PSO programming. Full-scale PSO subscription concerts will still be performed at the Carson Center. It’s going to offer a ton of new flexibility.”

“There are five universities within 90 minutes of Paducah and that makes for a unique situation geographically. Many of the musicians involved with the PSO are teaching at those schools. We hope that the academy may encourage some of our musicians to move to Paducah and make it their home base. The academy will probably hire an administrator and hopes to have scholarships available for local children. The PSO is working on a start-up campaign, not for the renovation but for the purchase of equipment and pianos. For those who wish to support this wonderful musical endeavor, the public can give to the PSO, (designating the funds for this specific purpose if they wish), and watch out for a fundraising campaign launch for the academy.

Dunlap Basement Auditorium

A Musical Perspective

Steven Page has been the Director for the PSO summer music camp over the past several years. Page is also the band and choir teacher at Heath Middle school and a father of eight. He grew up in Reidland and played trombone, eventually having to drive to Murray for lessons. Like many parents of musically gifted children, he has had to drive long distances for instruction. While Page is in a position to do that, for many families that travel is too much of a hurdle.

“Trumpet, French horn, trombone, oboe, clarinet, flute, harp, and orchestral percussion are not offered locally,” Page explained. “My oldest son, a senior at Tilghman, has been taking horn lessons from a professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. But that means that I have to drive him there on a regular basis. My second eldest child is 15, plays percussion, sings and is taking lessons in Martin, Tennessee. My sixth grader takes harp and bassoon, so eventually we’ll be driving for lessons as well. For many families the distance means a choice between violin and soccer, or trombone and dance. For others the time and expense are too great to continue expert instruction.”

Rendering of main auditorium

“I’ve lived in other urban parts of Kentucky and Paducah has always had a community education goal as part of the symphony mandate. In recent years there’s been a push to have our professional orchestra musicians offer instruction time on the Saturday morning before a PSO concert. Although we have teachers such as myself in town, we have families and don’t have the time to teach serious students regularly.”

“The biggest hurdle is a large enough location on a weekend when schools are typically closed. Even though we appear to have many possible performance spaces in Paducah, they are not really suitable for orchestra and choir. If you’re a community group right now seeking a performance space you have a choice between costly, too big, or poor acoustics – or a combination of those three. I hate to say it, but I don’t think there’s any space affordable, the right size, and where the sound is good.”

“One prime example is the annual combined McCracken choir concert, with the high schools and three middle schools. There’s not enough room at McCracken HS, Immanuel Baptist church has good acoustics but it’s too small, and The Carson Center has good acoustics but is simply out of our budget. The performance space at the renovated Jetton School will be designed specifically for orchestra and choir. As a teacher and parent, I am very excited about the PSO Music Academy.” *

The Marian Group

The Marian Group (Marian) was originally founded by Jake Brown in 1997 as L&J Constructors, a general contracting firm. Having been involved in the construction and real estate industries for years, he started his firm with a simple, powerful idea: seek out quality development and construction projects that benefit people, build stronger neighborhoods and create positive impact on the greater community.

In 2001, he founded Marian Development Group, a real estate firm. Together with other affiliates he formed the Marian Group in 2015. While the organization has grown and expanded far beyond its initial scope, its success still rests on the simple tenets at the heart of each project undertaken – People, Neighborhoods, and Communities.

themariangroup.com