Music Makes A City Trailer

In 1948, a small, struggling, semi-professional orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky began a novel project to commission new works from contemporary composers around the world.

The Commissioning Project grew far beyond anyone's expectations. In 1953, the orchestra received an unprecedented $400,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to commission 52 compositions a year for three years. The new works were to be performed in weekly concerts and recorded for sale by subscription. The international music world was astounded at both the recipient of the grant and the scope of the project.

The architect of this ambitious artistic venture was Louisville Mayor Charles Farnsley who had a deep love of cultural expressions of all kinds as well as boundless enthusiasm and an inexhaustible bank of new ideas. Farnsley professed to be guided by the philosophical principles of the Chinese sage Confucius. It was a Confucian idea that a city with high culture and happy citizens attracted wealth and power.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Louisville
• orchestra
• symphony
• commission
• elliot carter
• music makes city
• shostakovich
• hindemith
• classical
• Kentucky
• owsley brown
• contemporary
• martha graham
• dance

[reecehart]

My wife and I saw the preview screening at the Lucasfilm screening room last night. What a terrific story of American culture. This is more than just an isolated story about the importance of the arts to city life in Louisville: it's a portrait of the social benefits of human vision, imagination, perseverance, and community. I can't help but wonder what primed Louisville for this good fortune, whether it could have happened elsewhere, and whether it could happen in modern America.

[RMartin973]

Thanks to InstantEncore and oboeinsight's postings, I discovered this movie trailer about the Louiisville, KY, orchestra. Unimanigable!!!! Brilliant!!!!!! And interviews with now world-renound composers.

[JeeRant]

As both a Kentucky resident and a lover of contemporary music, I hope I get a chance to see this!

[tibetanvideoproject]

Barbara@tibetanvideoproject channel

hello owsley- -look forward to seeing the finished film.. the interviews are compelling as is the filming,editing...congratulati­ons on this project born from you heart.

in keeping with tonights lively discussion about Jyekundo/Tibet- -i hope you'll get 4 minutes to check out the video i posted offering a taste of life before the April earthquake...it has been up almost 49 day and has gotten over 1,000 hits.

[odsel20]

Exciting film making and wonderful adventure into the history of classical music in America.... an informative, engaging, and elegant film. Thank you!

[amazingguitar20]

This is a fabulous and very beautiful AND very important piece of cinema. Thank you!