The Kentucky Center And KMEA Present Annual Gheens Great Expectations Concert, Featuring Cellist Anne Richardson

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts and The Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) are proud to present the annual Gheens Great Expectations Concert - a musical celebration featuring The Louisville Orchestra, The Louisville Youth Orchestra and renowned Gheens cellist Anne Richardson. The concert will take place on Wednesday, February 6 at 6:30 p.m. at The Kentucky Center's Whitney Hall. Gheens Great Expectations has an established 15-year history of identifying extraordinarily talented young musicians, many of whom rise to national and international prominence. The concert is free and open to the public.

This year's featured Gheens artist, cellist Anne Richardson, has had a passion for the arts since the age of five, when she began playing cello under the mentorship of Wayne Krigger. From then on, the Louisville native became immersed in the city's vibrant arts community, spending her summers attending the University of Louisville's Suzuki Camp and winters studying ballet at the Louisville Ballet School and dancing in the Louisville Ballet's annual "Nutcracker." At ten years old, she made her solo debut with the Louisville Orchestra, later making three additional appearances. In 2012, she moved to New York to focus on her music studies and now attends the acclaimed Juilliard School of Music, honing her craft as a student of renowned cello professor Richard Aaron.

Richardson has already appeared across the country in performances with the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Bryan Symphony Orchestra, Massapequa Philharmonic and Juilliard's PreCollege Symphony Orchestra, among others. Most recently, Richardson made her Lincoln Center debut soloing with the Juilliard Orchestra, led by Alan Gilbert in David Geffen Hall. Along with the valuable guidance provided by her many mentors, she credits Louisville for fostering her development as an artist.

"I am incredibly lucky to have grown up with such unwavering support from my hometown community here in Louisville," said Richardson. "I often feel if I had been raised somewhere else, my commitment to music and the arts overall would not have been same...I will always be thankful the community surrounding me in Louisville encouraged me to not just dance or play the cello, but rather make art."

Performances for this year's Gheens Great Expectations Concert, conducted by Louisville Youth Orchestra Music Director Doug Elmore, include Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, featuring cellist Anne Richardson and The Louisville Orchestra. The concert will also include collaborative performances by Richardson, The Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Youth Orchestra of Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Opus 96 and Bernstein's Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront."

This collaboration is presented by The Kentucky Center in partnership with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestra and KMEA, with support from the Gheens Foundation, KMEA, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and Dr. Laman Gray & Mrs. Juliet Cooper Gray.

The mission of The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is to build lifelong relationships with the arts. As an integral member of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet, The Center, along with the other agencies, seek to preserve and promote the history, heritage and arts of the Commonwealth.