The Singers enter the new century

As the search progressed for a new Music Director, the Singers' lucky star continued to shine, and one name kept emerging as the obvious choice: Jefferson Johnson. UK's Music Department was poised to emerge as a nationally recognized center for voice studies, and one of the reasons was Dr. Johnson, the energetic new director of choral activities. Not only were his academic credentials impeccable, but the Atlanta native had previously sung under the direction of the legendary Robert Shaw, who made every rehearsal a workshop in choral methods. For his part, Jeff was keenly interested in taking on the challenge of directing such a large and accomplished group. It was a perfect match, and in December 1997, Jefferson Johnson conducted his first Lexington Singers concert in a performance of J.S. Bach's Magnificat.

The opportunity to do something special came almost immediately. For the group's 40th anniversary, the Singers decided to commission two new compositions. Jay Flippin turned to the work of Kentucky Poet Laureate James Still for his Appalachian Triptych, and no greater praise could be asked for than the broad smile on Mr. Still's face at the premier, when he pronounced the music "beautiful." The second commission, to UK Professor of Composition Joseph Baber, was originally planned as a short piece based on period Civil War texts. But the music took on a life of its own, demanding a larger treatment; and by the time it was finished, An American Requiem had become a full-scale work for chorus and orchestra. Thus, on November 14, 1999, the Lexington Singers gave not one but two world premier performances. It was the high point of the 40th anniversary celebration.

Since then, Jeff Johnson's leadership has been very much an "on the road" affair, with many performances outside the Singers' traditional venues. In March 1999, there was a second concert at Carnegie Hall, featuring Gabriel Faure's Requiem. In 2000 the Singers returned to Europe to tour Austria and France, singing four concerts including Mozart's Requiem at Vienna's Hofburg Palace and Bach's Missa Brevis in D minor at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In 2003, the Singers toured Italy, singing at St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican, St. Mark's cathedral in Venice, and the European University Institute in Florence. Back home in Kentucky, the Singers were honored in 2000 with an invitation to sing a "Performance in the Governor's Mansion." Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the Lexington Singers participated in a "Spirit of America" benefit concert for the victims. And in the summer of 2007 the Singers completed an exciting concert tour of Brazil, with five performances in some of South America's most prestigious venues.

When the Lexington Singers headed into their fiftieth season in 2009, a special celebration was called for. After half a century of musical successes, the Singers could claim a place among the oldest community choirs in the nation. To mark the occasion the Singers programmed an ambitious concert consisting entirely of world premiere music, appropriately entitled "Sing In the New." Jay Flippin came through with a composition based on his own poem about the ensemble, "Why Do We Sing?" and Johnie Dean wrote a lovely "Benediction of Peace." But the keynote work was a new composition by internationally recognized composer René Clausen, "Celebration Canticles". By happy coincidence, that same season the Singers made their Kennedy Center debut as part of Kentucky's monumental ensemble celebrating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, "Our Lincoln." The following season was marked by a Singers' collaboration with Kentucky's most beloved photographer, James Archambeault, to present "A Bluegrass Tapestry" to a sold-out Singletary Center audience, comprising an enchanting musical and pictorial portrait of the Commonwealth. And the Singers' Norton Center debut in February that year featured an exciting choral-orchestral re-interpretation of the Beatles' groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. All four keynote concerts of the 50th and 51st seasons were critical and box office successes, and set the stage for the next half century of ambitious new horizons to conquer.

The average life expectancy of a community choir is said to be around five years. The staying power of the Lexington Singers through five decades can be attributed to strong musical leadership, dedicated choristers, and loyal patrons. But surely the nucleus of that success can be found in the ambitions of that small group who, in 1959, established what any rational person would consider a totally unrealistic standard for such an underdog group: "the best possible performance of the most challenging music from the choral repertoire." Half a century later, the latest generation of Lexington Singers continues to carry that standard forward.