Frankfort —
The National Symphony Orchestra will perfform next February in Somerset and five other Kentucky cities as part of its American Residency program—selecting one state each year to host the orchestra.
The announcement was made in the Capitol Rotunda by First Lady Jane Beshear Wednesday. The Somerset performance will take place on Feb. 24 at the Center for Rural Development and will be the last in the series.
“We’re just delighted—it’s a fantastic opportunity,” said Dianna Winstead, the associate director of Arts, Culture and Events at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset. “This is an opportunity that we might not otherwise be able to have without our partnership with the Kentucky Arts Council.”
The residency program is supported through other organizations—principally the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Department of Education—and the proceeds of ticket sales will be used to support Kentucky arts organizations.
The orchestra will also perform at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville on Feb. 17, at the Florence Baptist Church in Florence on Feb. 19; at the RiverPark Center in Owensboro on Feb. 20; at the Carson Four Rivers Center in Paducah on Feb. 21; and at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington on Feb. 23.
In addition to those concert performances, NSO will conduct educational outreach programs in Louisville on Feb. 18 and a Young People’s Concert in either Paducah or Louisville. In all NSO will provide seven performances in the six cities.
“It gives us great pleasure to accept the invitation of the Kentucky Arts Council to make the state our home for the 2011 American Residency,” said Rita Shapiro, NSO executive director.
Lindy Casebier, deputy secretary for the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, said Somerset was chosen because the rural development center has the facilities to accommodate the orchestra and because the cabinet wanted to schedule performances and workshops in every congressional district. Winstead said the center hopes to videoconference the workshops and education activities to schools throughout the center’s 42-county service area.
Casebier said the schedule is set up so orchestra members can conduct workshops on the day of arrival before they perform that night.
“We are a small community, but we have a lot of support of the arts and lovers of orchestral music,” Winstead said. “This is the most fantastic thing that could happen for music lovers in our community.”
NSO activities will continue in Kentucky even after the orchestra leaves following its February performances and activities. As many as six Kentucky students will be chosen for scholarships to the 2011 Summer Music Institute for four weeks of study, rehearsal and coaching sessions. One Kentucky music teacher will be selected for an individually designed professional development program in Washington, D.C. And a Kentucky composer will be chosen to create a musical work that will premier at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The first lady said the concerts and education programs “will have a wonderful impact on communities across the commonwealth. We are very excited about the National Symphony Orchestra coming to Kentucky. It is an incredible opportunity for all the citizens of the commonwealth.”
Local News
National Symphony headed to Somerset
2011 is special year for Kentucky
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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