Central Kentucky Steel Guitar Classic

The Central Kentucky Regional Steel Guitar Classic brought world famous steel guitar musicians to the Best Western Lexington, on Saturday,l Nov. 1, 2008. Read more about it.

Fall Arts 2008

For our fall arts preview, we took a look at how artists in Central Kentucky make all or a portion of their living from the arts. As part of that, we profiled five area artists whose work supports them to some extent. The profiles included portraits by Herald-Leader staff photographer Mark Cornelison. In the slide show, you can see the portraits as well as pictures of the artists at work and hear and read their comments about their art and life.

Click here to go to LexGo.com, for more of our 2008-09 arts preview and more information about arts and entertainment in Central Kentucky.

George Zack’s final bow

Lexington Philharmonic music director George Zack conducts the orchestra for the last time on Sept. 12, 2008. Zack took over the music director post in 1972, and will officially retire next year when a new music director named. But the performing aspect of his job ends with a gala season-opening concert featuring one of Zack’s favorite soloists, violinist Aaron Rosand, followed by a celebration on the lawn next to the Singletary Center for the Arts.

We visited one of Zack’s final rehearsals with the orchestra and talked to the maestro and several of his colleagues to get their thoughts on this historic event. Audio, photos and production by Rich Copley.

Click here for thoughts on Zack’s impact on the arts in Lexington.

Click here for some stats on Zack’s career.

Chamber Music Festival of Lexington’s new work

For its second season, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington has commissioned a new work, Book of Songs and Visions for Piano Quintet by Michigan-based composer Daniel Thomas Davis. Davis had a chance meeting with festival president Charlie Stone in New York, and after he was commissioned to write the piece, he visited Lexington a few times for inspiration. The piece was written in Italy, Virginia and Ann Arbor, where Davis teaches at the University of Michigan. This week, he was in Lexington for the rehearsals of the piano quintet which will receive its world premier Aug. 30 at the festival at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion.

Photos, audio and production by Rich Copley; music from Book of Songs and Visions for Piano Quintet by Daniel Thomas Davis, performed by the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington Quintet — violinists Nathan Cole and Akiko Tarumoto, cellist Priscilla Lee, violist Burchard Tang and pianist Alessio Bax.

Read our story about Davis and the composition.

“You don’t know me”

Once-promising singer seeks comeback from drugs

Nine out of 10 times Tasha Harris performed, she says now, she was high.

She performed for 14 years at Renfro Valley before being asked to get her life together. Not long after she was fired, she was arrested, and now, three years later, she is almost finished with drug court. Judge Thomas Jones has given her an opportunity she may have taken for granted so many times before: one last chance to sing at Renfro Valley.

Read the story.

Produced by Brad Luttrell
Performance photos courtesy of Renfro Valley
Court photos by Brad Luttrell
Music by Savage Kong

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