Louisville Orchestra

The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs salaried musicians, and offers a wide variety of concert series to the community, including classical programs featuring international guest artists, pops performances, and education and family concerts. In 1942 the orchestra adopted the name of the former Louisville Philharmonic Society (founded in 1866), which it kept until 1977 before reverting to its original name (Korda 2001). The orchestra is the resident performing group for the Louisville Ballet and the Kentucky Opera, and presents several concerts across the Kentucky/Indiana area. The orchestra performs its concerts at Whitney Hall (named for its founder) in the Kentucky Center for the Arts (Korda 2001) and The Brown Theatre (Anon. 2014). The current Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra is Teddy Abrams, who began his tenure in 2014 (Anon. 2016).