Abrams and the Orchestra Will Collaborate with Jim James, Gabriel Kahane, and More 

The Louisville Orchestra launched its sixth season under the leadership of Teddy Abrams in September with goals of continuing to defy genre, bend symphonic norms, and collaborating with big names in the classical music industry.

Abrams, often described as “an unstoppable force (Arts-Lousiville),” “the orchestra’s great young hope (Wall Street Journal),” and even “the next Leonard Bernstein (WQXR),” is set to continue the legacy of creating the LO reputation as “a model for other orchestras, large and small” across the country. 

In its sixth year, the LO’s 2019-2020 season promises to be an enchanting, captivating, and thrilling one. Abrams plans to collaborate with artists like Jim James and Gabriel Kahan, perform classics from Mahler to Sarah Kirkland Snider, debut at Louisville’s newest performance space, and take part in the 5th edition of the annual Festival of American Music. 

The LO, often described as a “genre-defying orchestra (Time Magazine),” plans to continue to add to its reputation by partnering in cross-genre collaborations like The Order of Nature on Decca Gold (October 18). The recording will mark the ensemble’s second release on the same album as its release fro, two years prior, All In.  The recording, which was captured live in one take, is a collaboration between Abrams and singer-songwriter Jim James, frontman of Grammy-nominated Louisville rock group My Morning Jacket. 

The Order of Nature is a large-scale symphonic suite that combines evocative songs by James with the cinematic scope of Abram’s orchestral writing. 

combining original, evocative songs by James – “one of rock music’s most powerful singers and one of its most fearless sonic architects” (Rolling Stone) – with the cinematic scope of Abrams’s most potent orchestral writing. The inspiration behind this collaboration? The entire absence of hate the two found in nature. 

“Nature doesn’t know how to hate,” James said. “Humans are part of nature obviously, but why do we have this thing called hatred and how do we get rid of it? We’re fighting nature and thinking we can prevail over nature, but we’re killing each other and killing the planet. It was also inspiring to hear what Teddy wrote. I really enjoyed just giving him this seed of a song and just watching it flower.”

In addition to the LO’s plans for collaborative genre-bending performances, their 6th season under Abrams will also include the annual Festival of Music, Signature Classics concerts (Violins of Hope and From the Sea), and a Paristown Hall debut. The LO’s schedule promises a thrilling and exciting 2019-2020 season.