Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
1998-11-09
Section: City&Region
Edition: Final
Page: B1
AFTER 40 SEASONS, SHOW ISN'T OVER FOR LEXINGTON SINGERS
Rich Copley, herald-leader arts writer
The last word the Lexington Singers sang in the main portion of the group's 40th-anniversary concert yesterday was "grow."
That word, in Leonard Bernstein's Make Our Garden Grow, summed up what the ensemble has done for the last four decades, and what it hopes to do in the future. Started in 1959 with 32 voices, the group's ranks have blossomed to more than 150. At yesterday's concert at Immanuel Baptist Church, nearly 1,000 friends and fans turned out to celebrate with the group's former and current members, as well as its three music directors, all of whom took up the baton during the gala concert.
Lexington Philharmonic music director George Zack read a proclamation from Mayor Pam Miller, which declared yesterday Lexington Singers Day.
"Singing with that many people, there's nothing like it," said Edward Allison, 83, one of nearly 50 former members who returned to join the singers for "Hallelujah" from George Frideric Handel's Messiah.
Allison, who left the singers in 1974, said he could remember when he was the only first tenor in the ensemble that now boasts around 10.
"It was a new concept to have a community chorus," said Gerry Grant, 70, who joined the singers in 1961, stayed four years, and has watched it grow ever since.
Sam Mays, who joined in 1967 when he was a student at the University of Kentucky, recalled the group's performances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, saying, "That was a big thrill for a young college student."
As for yesterday's concert, he said the big thrill was seeing founding music director Phyllis Jenness conduct again.
Jenness, who remained with the singers until 1976, took the stage to rousing applause. She led the singers through three folk songs by Johannes Brahms, which were on the program for the singers' first concert in March 1960.
She was followed by James Ross Beane, music director from 1976 to 1997, who led the singers in Ralph Vaughan Williams' O Clap Your Hands.
Both Jenness and Beane received standing ovations when the singers' current president, Cora Hughes, presented them with gifts of appreciation.
For current music director Jefferson Johnson, Hughes had a challenge: "We expect you to lead us into the new millennium."
Most people at the concert thought the singers were in good hands.
"This director is going to take them up a notch - he's going to take New York by storm," Allison said, referring to the singers' concert at Carnegie Hall in March.
Johnson didn't make celebrating 40 seasons easy on the singers. "I asked a lot of them today," he said. "It was a wide diversity of genres and styles I asked them to go through. I never told them that, because I didn't want to scare them."
Joking with one singer as the the group filed off the stage, Jenness said, "I'll be back for the 50th anniversary."
1998-11-09
Section: City&Region
Edition: Final
Page: B1
AFTER 40 SEASONS, SHOW ISN'T OVER FOR LEXINGTON SINGERS
Rich Copley, herald-leader arts writer
The last word the Lexington Singers sang in the main portion of the group's 40th-anniversary concert yesterday was "grow."
That word, in Leonard Bernstein's Make Our Garden Grow, summed up what the ensemble has done for the last four decades, and what it hopes to do in the future. Started in 1959 with 32 voices, the group's ranks have blossomed to more than 150. At yesterday's concert at Immanuel Baptist Church, nearly 1,000 friends and fans turned out to celebrate with the group's former and current members, as well as its three music directors, all of whom took up the baton during the gala concert.
Lexington Philharmonic music director George Zack read a proclamation from Mayor Pam Miller, which declared yesterday Lexington Singers Day.
"Singing with that many people, there's nothing like it," said Edward Allison, 83, one of nearly 50 former members who returned to join the singers for "Hallelujah" from George Frideric Handel's Messiah.
Allison, who left the singers in 1974, said he could remember when he was the only first tenor in the ensemble that now boasts around 10.
"It was a new concept to have a community chorus," said Gerry Grant, 70, who joined the singers in 1961, stayed four years, and has watched it grow ever since.
Sam Mays, who joined in 1967 when he was a student at the University of Kentucky, recalled the group's performances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, saying, "That was a big thrill for a young college student."
As for yesterday's concert, he said the big thrill was seeing founding music director Phyllis Jenness conduct again.
Jenness, who remained with the singers until 1976, took the stage to rousing applause. She led the singers through three folk songs by Johannes Brahms, which were on the program for the singers' first concert in March 1960.
She was followed by James Ross Beane, music director from 1976 to 1997, who led the singers in Ralph Vaughan Williams' O Clap Your Hands.
Both Jenness and Beane received standing ovations when the singers' current president, Cora Hughes, presented them with gifts of appreciation.
For current music director Jefferson Johnson, Hughes had a challenge: "We expect you to lead us into the new millennium."
Most people at the concert thought the singers were in good hands.
"This director is going to take them up a notch - he's going to take New York by storm," Allison said, referring to the singers' concert at Carnegie Hall in March.
Johnson didn't make celebrating 40 seasons easy on the singers. "I asked a lot of them today," he said. "It was a wide diversity of genres and styles I asked them to go through. I never told them that, because I didn't want to scare them."
Joking with one singer as the the group filed off the stage, Jenness said, "I'll be back for the 50th anniversary."
Reprinted courtesy of the Lexington Herald-Leader