About

The Orchestra

The Louisville Civic Orchestra is an open and inviting collective of professional and non-professional musicians brought together by our love of orchestral music and our desire to bring the joy of live music to the entire Louisville community at zero cost! We meet once a week (on Wednesday nights) to rehearse and perform multiple concert cycles throughout the year at venues throughout Kentuckiana. We pride ourselves not only on our high quality music making (often taking on some of the most challenging but rewarding orchestral repertoire!) but also on the strong sense of community we seek to foster for our musicians and audiences. Click here to learn how to join the LCO!

The Louisville Civic Orchestra is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization in the state of Kentucky.

Join Us!

The Louisville Civic Orchestra is all about providing a fun and energized outlet for artistic expression to our city’s incredible musical talent, no matter their background! Our members are professionals, teachers, hobbyists, and students, all of whom love coming together to play great music as an orchestra. If you’re looking for a warm and inviting community of folks to play music with, please email musicians@louisvillecivicorchestra.org to inquire about joining us!

We generally rehearse on Wednesday nights from 7 pm to 9 pm at Springdale Presbyterian Church.

Artistic Director & Conductor

American violinist and conductor Gabriel Lefkowitz concurrently serves as Concertmaster of The Louisville Orchestra and Artistic Director & Conductor of the Louisville Civic Orchestra, and is a highly sought after guest concertmaster, concerto soloist, conductor, chamber musician, and teacher. A progressive musician of the 21st century, Gabriel has also composed music for films, video games, circus shows, and was the featured violin soloist on the soundtrack for the film Harriet (Focus Features).

As Artistic Director & Conductor of the Louisville Civic Orchestra since 2020, Gabriel has led the organization to new artistic heights and civic distinction for its high quality performances, diverse programming and audience engagement, and fundraising/outreach initiatives on behalf of homeless shelters, cancer support networks, healthcare workers, and more.

At the Louisville Orchestra, Gabriel has become a familiar and engaging podium presence, having conducted multiple concert cycles featuring repertoire ranging from Baroque concerti to Holiday Pops, Romantic symphonies to Disney Classics, and more. Gabriel has become especially beloved by LO audiences for his ability to perform as both conductor and conductor-soloist within the same program. Gabriel served as Cover Conductor of the LO during the 2021-2022 season, stepping in twice on short notice to the acclaim of audiences and musician colleagues alike.

Other professional conducting appearances include the University of Louisville’s 2021 Festival of New Music, the NouLou Chamber Players, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Dubuque Festival Orchestra, and the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra, of which he was Music Director during the 2014-2015 season, and the youth orchestras of Boston, Taiwan, Knoxville, Central Kentucky, and Juilliard’s Pre-College division.

During his 6-year tenure as Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra so far, Gabriel has led nearly 200 different programs from the concertmaster chair and has performed the violin concerti of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Bach, Vivaldi, and others. In October 2019, Gabriel performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with LO music director Teddy Abrams, Jim James, and several LO colleagues to promote the orchestra's new album The Order of Nature.

In 2011, at the age of 23, Gabriel became one of the youngest concertmasters of a professional orchestra in the U.S. when he was appointed Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. During his 6-year tenure with KSO, Gabriel performed the concerti of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Korngold, Mozart (No. 3), and others. He also founded the KSO’s still beloved and wildly successful Concertmaster Series (then called Gabriel Lefkowitz & Friends) at which he performed over 30 recitals (16 different programs with no overlapping repertoire) over the course of 5 seasons.

Recent guest engagements include concerto performances of Brahms (Brevard Philharmonic), Stravinsky (Monteux School and Music Festival Orchestra), Florence Price No. 1 (McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra - the Ohio premiere of this work), Mozart No. 4 (Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra), Mozart No. 5 (Oak Ridge Symphony), Philip Glass No. 1 (Ocala Symphony), and performing as guest concertmaster with the Brevard Music Center, Britt Festival Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Nu Deco Ensemble.

Gabriel holds a Bachelors from Columbia University where he studied music and economics, and a Masters from The Juilliard School in Violin Performance.

More about Gabriel: www.gabriellefkowitz.com

Executive Director

Jonathan R. Wysong currently serves as the Executive Director of the Louisville Civic Orchestra. Jonathan brings a wide range of experience in trumpet performance, teaching, arts administration, fundraising, graphic design, and faith community leadership.

Jonathan began his tenure with the LCO as at-large board member in early 2015 when the organization sought to reorganize and establish key administrative foundations and documents. Jonathan was appointed Executive Director by the LCO musician body in 2022, but has served the organization as Board President (2020-2022), Vice President (2018-2020), and Secretary (late 2015-2018). During his service on the board, he was instrumental in acquiring first-time grant funding and co-managing an Artistic Director search during COVID-19. He has also served as Principal Trumpet within the orchestra during his tenure.

In addition to his role at LCO, Jonathan is the Development Manager at The Louisville Orchestra, Council President of Third Lutheran Church, and Trumpet Faculty at Louisville Academy of Music. Jonathan is a freelance trumpet player with specialization in Baroque trumpet and is a member of Chamber Winds Louisville and the Louisville Federation of Musicians.  He has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as a member of Kentucky Baroque Trumpets and at the Grand Ole Opry as soloist with the 2011 TNMEA All State Women’s Choir.

In March 2019, Jonathan participated in Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Action Summit and Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. As a member of the UK Arts Administration Student Cohort, he met with federal leaders representing Kentucky and led the meeting at Sen. Rand Paul’s Office to advocate for a vote of approval pertaining to the proposed budget for the National Endowment of the Arts that year.

Jonathan has a Bachelor in K-12 Instrumental Music Education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a Master in Trumpet Performance from the University of Louisville, and a Master in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky. He thanks his amazing teachers, Dr. Roland Carter, Dr. Stuart Benkert, Shane Porter, Dr. Erika Schafer, Dr. Michael Tunnel, Kris Kwapis, Friedemann Immer, and many more.

Assistant Conductor

Adam W. Thomas is honored and excited to join the Louisville Civic Orchestra as the Assistant Conductor.  A graduate of the University of Louisville, he holds a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and a Bachelor of Music Education.  Adam is currently the Assistant to the Music Director and Artistic Coordinator at the Louisville Orchestra, and a member of the Board of the Chamber Music Society of Louisville.

 A native of Henderson, Kentucky, Adam was the Director of Bands at Henderson County High School for four years.  Under his direction, Henderson’s concert ensembles received consistent distinguished ratings.  He conducted the Wind Ensemble in two performances at the 2016 National Memorial Day Concert Series in Washington, D.C.  During his time at Henderson, he served two years as the Kentucky Music Educators Association District 2 Band Chair and had an article published in the Bluegrass Music News.

 A clarinetist and percussionist, Adam has been a member of Chamber Winds Louisville since 2009, including performances at the KMEA Conference and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.  He performed in multiple countries across Europe on three tours as a Kentucky Ambassadors of Music staff member.  With the University of Louisville Wind Symphony, he performed concerts in Killarney, Ireland and twice in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.  He returned to Carnegie Hall a third time to perform with the University of Louisville Singing Cardsmen.  Adam has guest conducted the Kentucky Chamber Orchestra and the University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra. 

 Adam is grateful to his conducting mentors, Dr. Frederick Speck, Professor Kimcherie Lloyd, and Dr. Amy Acklin, for their guidance and encouragement.  He would also like to thank his parents, Susan and Steve Thomas, his family and friends, and Jake Chabot (as well as their dog, Joni!) for the many years of continuous support.

Executive Committee of the Board

The members of the LCO Board serve on an elected and rotating basis.

Kim Fanning, President (Cello)

Kyle Williams, Vice President (Viola)

(Open Position), Treasurer ()

Eric Norrington, Secretary (Music Lover)

Over a century of musical excellence and service in our community

The history of the LCO spans over 100 years! We’ve gone by various names but our core mission has remained the same - to nurture Louisville’s own musical talent and present high quality performances to the people of our city at no cost.

More about our history:

1915: The Young Men’s Hebrew Association Symphony is founded

1930: Louisville Civic Arts Association begins and adopts the YMHA Symphony

1931: A printed program from a performance reads “Dedicated to the principle that the most significant and meaningful cultural advance inheres in the encouragement of a city’s own talent and the attending increase of community appreciation, the Louisville Civic Arts Association presents a series of concerts within the reach of all and one which could not be imported except at prohibitive prices.”

1932: The musical ensemble starts billing itself as the Louisville Civic Symphony Orchestra

Further research is in progress ;)