“While COVID-19 brought everything to a screeching halt … the Lexington Philharmonic’s directors say the last year has accelerated its drive for change,” writes Rich Copley in last Saturday’s (7/3) Lexington Herald Leader (KY). “The main thing it slowed down was the search for a new music director…. [The orchestra’s 2021-22 season] still has some blanks to be filled in.… ‘We think that summer and fall, it’s going to be beautiful out, so we’re going to do these outdoor concerts,’ General and Personnel Manager Sarah Thrall said. ‘Then we’re going to do indoor concerts … that will be a small chamber orchestra…. In 2022, we hope to get back to our full-scale concerts.’ … Concerts at new venues … with new works … became part of the Philharmonic’s programming under previous music director Scott Terrell…. Executive Director Allison Kaiser and Thrall say the national conversations about race following the murder of George Floyd … prompted conversation [and] commitments to present music by diverse composers … played by diverse musicians…. The orchestra is also looking at its own structures and practices…. Interim artistic advisor Kelly Corcoran, who is a music director candidate, was instrumental in helping guide the orchestra through some of those questions.”
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