During the 2021–2022 academic year, faculty and students in the UK School of Music have built back our live concert season after two very challenging years that upended our approach to rehearsing and performing. It has been a hope-filled journey this year, as students and faculty have been thrilled to be back making music in person for our audiences. But it’s also been a time to look with fresh perspective at how we operate, program, rehearse, and manage the live concert experience. This is a good thing: we are first and foremost an educational enterprise, and we need to always be considering anew how the student experience can be sustained and improved, even when life is turned upside down.

Your participation in our return to live concerts on campus has been invaluable to us. You’ve brought energy and excitement back to our concert and recital spaces, and you’ve confirmed for us that the musical arts are at their best when they are living, breathing, shared experiences. We are better because you’re back in partnership with us. Thank you for the gift of being here! Thank you for the gift of being patrons of the musical arts!

We are already planning our 2022–2023 season, so I invite you to start planning your calendar for the Fall semester as well. Please be sure to save some dates so that you can return to campus to enjoy our concerts and recitals and to fulfill your critical role in our educational efforts. And if there are young people in your life who are interested in pursuing a college education in music, please encourage them to be in touch with the UK School of Music or our faculty members. We would welcome the opportunity to welcome them into our thriving musical community.

Stanley Pelkey
Director, School of Music