Teddy Abrams previews upcoming Louisville Orchestra season, reflects on 10 years as music director

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The 2023-24 Louisville Orchestra Season kicks off in September with Music Director Teddy Abrams at the helm for the 10th year.

Abrams joined WDRB Mornings on Thursday to discuss the upcoming season and reflect on his 10-year tenure as conductor. Tickets for this season are now available, and Abrams said this is going to be a big year for the Orchestra.

"Every single season is (big), but this one is something incredibly special," Abrams said. "We are kicking off the program this year at Iroquois, which is a little different than we've done in the past. That's actually because it's right in the middle of a very important moment for us. We are touring all of Kentucky over the course of two years. So we're sharing our program in Louisville, at Iroquois, that we're also going to be taking throughout the state over the course of two weeks."

The concert at Iroquois Amphitheatre is scheduled for Sept. 16.

"It features one of the greatest musicians alive today," Abrams said. "His name is Chris Thile, and he's actually from Murray, Kentucky, and we're taking the program down to Murray to celebrate that.

"Chris is a mandolin player. He started the band Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers. He hosted the show "Live From Here" and he wrote a brand new mandolin concerto that we co-commissioned, and that's the piece we're going to be presenting on that program along with a lot of music that really features the orchestra."

Abrams called Thiele "an absolute genius" and said his performance will be part music and part storytelling.

"I'll give you a sneak preview: The story that he tells is of how he met Carrie Fisher from Star Wars," Abrams said. "He decided to tell this story in music."

After 10 years heading up the orchestra, Abrams said one of the things he is most proud of is "how the Orchestra is a real reflection is a real reflection of Louisville. I think that institutions like orchestras, arts groups, museums — whatever they may be — if they exist in a place, they should be a celebration and reflection of the best of what those places can be, culturally.

"And I think that that's what the Orchestra has tried to do ... to be an orchestra that's for everybody, truly for everybody. Because it is borne of Louisville. And that's something that I don't know that orchestras always are able to do or to conceive of. A lot of times, they're bringing things from the outside and that's it.

"And we are all about lifting our own community up, and now we're extending that to the state. We are all about Kentucky and Louisville, bringing the very greatest music to all of these places by representing the best of all of us."

Abrams said the journey to achieve greatness never ends.

"That will be a continuing path," he said. "We're never going to say 'Oh, we've done it now.' As an artist, that's not something that you're supposed to do."

The "Our Kentucky Home" concert happens Sept. 16 at the Iroquois Amphitheatre. CLICK HERE to order tickets.