Louisville Orchestra Unveils Custom-Made Conductor's Podium

The new podium and rail will be unveiled at a gala concert on April 18, held in celebration of Music Director Teddy Abrams' tenth anniversary with the orchestra

The Irish sculptor Joseph Walsh has designed and built a new custom conductor's rail and podium specially for the Louisville Orchestra and its Music Director Teddy Abrams. Completed in September 2023, the ash piece was inspired by Abrams' conducting style, and aims to capture the quality of his gestures in a static, sculptural format.

Walsh is renowned for his signature wood-bending technique, which he used to create the fluid lines of the rail. He was assisted by other members of the Joseph Walsh Studio, including Jonathan Otter (Senior Maker, Workshop Lead) and Gabriel Hielscher (Senior Maker, Assistant Workshop Lead).

As part of an ongoing creative exchange between the two artists, Walsh invited Abrams to participate in "Making in 2023," an annual seminar hosted by the studio in Fartha, Ireland. A particular aim of the seminars is to encourage artists from different disciplines to benefit from each other's knowledge.

The rail and podium will be presented to the public for the first time on April 18, at a gala concert celebrating Abrams' tenth year at the helm of the orchestra.

"As a conductor, Teddy Abrams is full of energy, and tries to reach each person in the orchestra, which gave me the idea of creating a rail that would curl around him, to hold him but also capture his movement, as if it were tracing the movement of his baton," Walsh said.

"The challenge of making such a piece did not concern its crafting – we are experienced in that area – but how relevant it would be in the orchestra," he added. "We were adding this new, very contemporary piece into an ensemble of instruments that have existed for centuries. We look forward to seeing how the rail and podium will fit in with all these instruments that were there long before."

"Joseph Walsh is one of the great artists and artisans of our time; he is also a truly generous, thoughtful, and deeply curious creative individual," Abrams said. "It is from his generosity of spirit and talent that this extraordinary podium and rail came to be."

"The piece is exquisite and unique – it lives and breathes with the same fluidity as a conductor and with the same energy as live music," he continued. "Joseph’s insight into the physicality of music-making is manifest in his brilliant and beautiful work. It is an exceptional honor to bring Joseph’s piece to Louisville, and I can hardly believe that I will have the privilege of performing in concert with his art."