Sep 4 – Mélisse Brunet & Brooke Rabey – Lexington Philharmonic

For almost sixty-five years the Lexington Philharmonic (LexPhil) has been at the heart of Lexington’s artistic and cultural heritage. Today Rotarians will hear from two remarkable women charged with keeping LexPhil true to its traditions while being responsive to the rapidly changing environment faced by all of the arts, Artistic Director Mélisse Brunet and Executive Director Brooke Raby.

Renowned as a conductor of “uncommon emotional intensity” (Marie-Celine) and a “force at the podium” (Eugene Scene), American conductor Mélisse Brunet is a native of Paris, France with Spanish and Italian roots. In July 2022, she became the fifth Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic, and the first woman to hold the position. She is also in her fifth season as the Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. Brunet is one of the five conductors featured in the documentary Maestra by the Director Maggie Contreras and produced by David Letterman and Melanie Miller (Navalny). Maestra garnered 2nd place and the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film’s exploration of Brunet’s daring journey at the international La Maestra competition has received rave reviews in the press, including two articles in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Hollywood Reporter. The 2025/26 season features Brunet’s Carnegie Hall debut in a program of new works leading the American Composers Orchestra. Other upcoming highlights include performances with the Phoenix Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Charlottesville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Canton Symphony.

As a dynamic advocate of contemporary music, Brunet has collaborated with composers such as Shawn Okpebholo (appointing him as the Lexington Philharmonic’s first-ever Black composer-in-residence), Mary D. Watkins, T.J. Cole, Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Shulamit Ran, James Barry, Loren Loiacono, and Jennifer Higdon, among others. Brunet is a respected educator in both France and the USA. Most recently, she served as the first woman Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Iowa-School of Music. She holds diplomas from the Paris Conservatory, the Université la Sorbonne, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctorate in conducting from the University of Michigan.

Brooke Raby has been the Executive Director of LexPhil since July 2024, following a 10-month appointment as Interim Executive Director in 2023. A native of Russellville, Kentucky, she has called Lexington home since starting at the University of Kentucky in 1998. Brooke has worked as Special Projects Coordinator at Kentucky Monthly magazine; Director of Sales & Marketing for the University Press of Kentucky; Development Manager for the Hope Center in Lexington; and Kentucky Book Festival Manager for Kentucky Humanities. She also held various positions at Joseph-Beth Booksellers between 2000 and 2013.

Rotary In Review

LEXINGTON PHILHARMONIC ENRICHING CENTRAL KENTUCKY

Last week’s speakers were Mélisse Brunet, Music Director and Conductor, and Brooke Raby, Executive Director, representing the Lexington Philharmonic (LexPhil). Now in its 64th year, LexPhil provides eight large scale performances and 150 educational programs annually that reach over 20,000 people. Founded in 1961 as the Lexington Philharmonic Society, it began as a volunteer orchestra of about sixty-five musicians, playing three concerts at the “old” Henry Clay High School on Main Street. LexPhil is now a fully professional orchestra with forty-eight core musicians and hundreds of other performers who are hired as needed. Speaking first, Raby said the mission of the Lexington Philharmonic is to enrich the lives of central Kentuckians through the core values of innovation, collaboration, access and, artistic excellence. She observed that LexPhil has been the fortunate beneficiary of regional, national and international grants that further enrich the scope and quality of music provided to the community and supplement financial support from ticket sales and local contributors and sponsors.

Next up was Maestra Brunet, now in her fourth year as LexPhil’s Music Director and Conductor. Mélisse will have the honor of conducting the American Conductors Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City on October 29 in a performance featuring new music. She provided a brief review of the 2025-26 LexPhil season. On September 7, the Concert for Lexington at the Singletary Center for the Arts, will feature both classical and popular music to help celebrate Lexington’s 250th year. This free event features performers who are “local”, either being from or now based in Lexington. A second performance is scheduled for September 20 with Symphony Stroll, an immersive evening of music, art, and nature at the Josephine Sculpture Park in Frankfort. Brunet remarked that food and beer trucks will be available that evening, and she encouraged Rotarians to bring their dogs to the performance.

The Witching Hour, on October 11, kicks off LexPhil’s formal season. This will be a Halloween-themed concert featuring Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Heartsong, featuring Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 will be on November 22 at the Singletary Center. December 12 and 13 bring Cathedral Christmas, two holiday performances featuring the Lexington Singers at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Twist & Shout, a pops concert featuring Beatles music, will be on January 23 at the Singletary Center. The Lexington Singers will again be featured on February 21 with Jubilee & Joy, a tribute to Beethoven and his famous Ninth Symphony. The season concludes with American Stories, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. Also at the Singletary Center, Aaron Copeland’s Lincoln Portrait will be performed with Poet Laureate Silas House narrating.

Brunet concluded the program discussing Maestra 2023, a documentary film which follows fourteen female conductors – including Mélisse – competing in Paris for top honors in the prestigious La Maestra competition. Directed by Maggie Contreras and produced by David Letterman, it garnered numerous awards at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and elsewhere. Out of 202 women who applied to enter the competition, not only did Brunet become one of the fourteen finalists but she ended up being a central figure in the film. Maestra is now on Netflix and highly recommended viewing.

– Paul B. Chewning