Louisville Orchestra announces 2025 ‘In Harmony’ tour
The Louisville Orchestra (LO) and Music Director Teddy Abrams – winners of a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for their collaboration with pianist Yuja Wang on her album The American Project – are thrilled to announce the schedule for the 2025 edition of “In Harmony – The Commonwealth Tour of the Louisville Orchestra.” Each of the tour’s performances will be free to concertgoers, thanks to multiple generous budget appropriations from the Kentucky State Legislature.
The groundbreaking community engagement initiative has seen remarkable success since it began in November 2022, reaching more than 34,000 Kentuckians across 43 counties through more than 154 events. The 2025 In Harmony Tour will be split into three parts in April, July, and September – each featuring different spotlighted performers and repertoire. For the April leg, the guest artist will be Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, returning by popular demand after previously joining the tour in February 2024 and performing orchestral arrangements of their most popular hits. In 2025, the tour also takes place the week of the Kentucky Derby and will include race-themed music – like Morton Feldman’s Flourishes and Galop – as well as a new concerto for pipa by current LO Creators Corps member Baldwin Giang (April 26–May 1). The July leg of the tour will be an Americana-themed celebration of the outstanding talent within the orchestra, with several featured soloists drawn from its ranks (July 8–13). The September leg will be the first two-week stretch of touring since the beginning of the In Harmony Tour. Because several of the destinations are in Kentucky’s Appalachian region, Copland’s Appalachian Spring will be prominently featured.
“In Harmony” has redefined the concert experience, bringing the orchestra’s multidimensional talent to diverse settings – from schools to community centers – while illuminating the shared heritage of Kentucky’s communities. Collaborating artists have included Grammy Award winners Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, and violinist Tessa Lark. In 2025, some of the tour’s previous destinations will be revisited (Prestonsburg, Ashland, Bardstown, Glasgow, Harlan, Beattyville, Campbellsville), and new ones added (Greenville, Hazard, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park). The last of these locations, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, is the only place in Kentucky and one of the few in the country where it is possible to see a natural phenomenon called a “moonbow,” caused by water droplets suspended in the air refracting the light of the moon. The performance will feature new music written by the LO Creators Corps inspired by the phenomenon. Though the tour has not yet visited the Freeman Lake Park Bandstand in Elizabethtown, the orchestra has played there in the past and looks forward to its return to a new stage that has been built in the interim.
In July, the orchestra will also debut its new mobile stage. This transformative performance venue, also made possible by the tour funding from the Kentucky State Legislature, will open up new ways for the LO to reach communities through small ensemble engagement work in locations from parks to parking lots.
Louisville Orchestra In Harmony Tour 2025:
April tour of eastern KY featuring Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper:
- April 26: Shelbyville (Martha Layne Collins High School Gym)
- April 29: Prestonsburg (Mountain Arts Center)
- April 30: Ashland (Paramount Arts Center)
- May 1: Mt. Sterling (The Arena at Montgomery County High School)
July tour of central KY:
- July 8: Glasgow (The Square)
- July 9: Elizabethtown (Freeman Lake Park Bandstand)
- July 10: Muhlenberg (Felix E. Martin Jr. Hall)
- July 13: Bardstown (Stephen Foster Story)
September tour of southeastern KY:
- Sep 11: Harrodsburg (Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill)
- Sep 12: Beattyville (Happy Top)
- Sep 13: Hazard (The Forum)
- Sep 18: Campbellsville (Taylor County High School)
- Sep 19: Corbin (Cumberland Falls State Park)
- Sep 20: Harlan (Harlan Elementary School)
