Fourteen Louisvillians were killed and many other residents are coping with grief and loss following the UPS plane crash earlier this month.
“These past few weeks have been an incredibly difficult time for our entire community, and nobody did have to go through this tragedy alone,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg at a press conference Tuesday.
In response, city leaders and the Louisville Orchestra aim to help Louisville residents heal and process their feelings through music.
This Thursday at 7 p.m., the Louisville Orchestra will perform a tribute concert in honor of the victims in the UPS plane crash. The free concert will be held at Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.
The orchestra will perform six selections, according to a news release.
Louisville Orchestra music director Teddy Abrams said at the press conference that the concert is a combination of “spiritual, reflective, and contemplative music.”
The performance will begin with sorrowful pieces like Samuel Barber’s “Adagio of Strings,” transition to more uplifting melodies like Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare” and finish with a “comforting” arrangement of “Amazing Grace.”
For Abrams, music is “a language of healing.”
“When the community confronts a tragedy and a challenging period, it is incumbent upon all of us, and especially our institutions, like an orchestra, to step up and do whatever it is that we can, to offer something that helps us heal,” Abrams said.
Overall, Abrams said the concert will honor the victims of the crash, the first responders who helped, the UPS employees and leadership and the entire city of Louisville.
City officials encourage those planning to attend to register online. The city will also provide free parking in the PARC Riverfront Parking Garage at 141 N. Sixth St.
Editor’s note: The Louisville Orchestra and the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts provide support to Louisville Public Media.
This story was updated to include additional information about financial supporters.
