5 years Strong: Where Community Belongs

Arguably more than July or September, August in Kentucky has a distinct dog-days presence: cicadas, lightning bugs, humidity so thick it melts the air, the electric murmur of the nascent school year, and the midsummer light blanketing it all in a bleached heat. At the LO, it also means a time of rest for our musicians (we almost never schedule events in August) and for the staff, the gently accelerating gathering and preparation for the season about to begin. 

The 2026-27 season marks the fifth year of the Creators Corps. By the time my daughter was five, she was headstrong and independent, becoming fluent in reading, immersing herself deeper in the tangle of social relationships, and feeling the tug between her toddler and big-kid interests (the Disney Princesses were starting to loosen their grip around then). I can say much the same of this lil’ program (sans the Princesses…maybe?). It’s grown beyond a grant-funded experiment into a cornerstone of this organization. Half of our current staff has never known a Louisville Orchestra without LOCC. Its impact has resonated beyond Louisville, as was made clear to me when I attended the League of American Orchestras conference in June.

Yet the question at the center of this program - what can happen when orchestras, composers, and communities build reciprocal relationships - remains as radical as ever. There are still more ways to answer and more paths to break. Inside the LO, we’ve become increasingly fluent in “reading” LOCC. The program is fully integrated into our daily lives and operations, and it alarms no one to see composers hanging around the office on any given day (you can’t say that for most other orchestras!). Our curious audiences have also come to expect a steady diet of new works by our Creators as part of our season’s offerings. But there’s still more we can do to “immerse ourselves in the tangle” of our community, and here is where questions proliferate: how can we build more impactful relationships? How can musical compositions be both an individual expression - one that sometimes challenges or proposes new vistas - and an expression for and of the artist’s community? How can we boldly reimagine the role of a composer when we empower them to be this deeply embedded? Year after year, our Creators help us answer these questions, each composer proposing ways forward with their unique voices and perspectives. 

I’m proud to welcome Seare Ahmad Farhat and Susanna Hancock to the Louisville Orchestra as our 26-27 Creators Corps cohort. They are thoughtful artists, each with an unmistakable creative fingerprint, and wonderful individuals, eager to become Louisvillians and immerse themselves in our city. There’s no question that they “get it.” I’m so thrilled to work with them this year, and I can’t wait for you to meet them and experience their work throughout the season.