"Music lovers who pass by its office building on the corner of High Street and South Ashland Avenue may not realize that "UBS" stands for more than the presence in Lexington of a premier global financial services firm. The company has a longstanding tradition of supporting the arts worldwide, and with the debut of the UBS Chamber Music Festival in August, Lexington will become the latest beneficiary of this prestigious imprimatur.
"Everybody drives by this location every day, but I'm amazed by the number of people who have no idea what we do here," lamented UBS branch manager Clyde Pelton as he explained why a company offering wealth management, investment banking, asset management and business banking services has an interest in becoming title sponsor of a summer classical music event. "There are a lot of synergies between what musicians do and what UBS does with clients in that it's really all about collaboration. It's a tie-in that we think represents our brand really well."
The brainchild of publishing consultant Charlie Stone, the Festival is co-sponsored by Highbridge Spring Water and is scheduled for August 15-19 at Fasig-Tipton. "A couple of years ago, I visited a few chamber music venues in Portland, Ore., in Seattle and in Skaneateles, N.Y., and I realized that this is an asset to a community," recalled Stone. "So I came back home and said to Charles (Thompson, long-time president of the Chamber Music Society of Central Kentucky), let's run with this thing and see if we can't get some kind of support."
With Thompson on board, Stone set out to transform the idea into reality. Observing that the Skaneateles festival had as its principal guest musician hometown violinist Hilary Hahn, he was inspired to recruit Tates Creek High School graduate and Chicago Symphony first violinist Nathan Cole to serve as music director. "Nathan's wife, Akiko Tarumoto, is also a first violinist with the Chicago Symphony, and they were very excited about helping us with this. I realized what a charismatic couple they could be for this event," he said.
After visiting various potential venues around Lexington, Stone approached Fasig-Tipton about the possibility of renting the Thoroughbred auction firm's sales pavilion on Iron Works Pike.
He was surprised by the response: an offer to provide the space free of charge. "When Fasig-Tipton said they would love to help us with this and be a partner, it solved everything."
That it was Charlie Stone who presented the idea made the pivotal impression on Fasig-Tipton Marketing Director Terrence Collier. "I have a friendship with Charlie Stone that goes back to the early '70s, when he was with the Blood Horse (as executive editor). In the last five years, Charlie and his company, Stone Advisory Services, have worked with Fasig-Tipton on a number of projects, the highest profile of which is preparing a catalogue for our November sales. I have always found him to be a man of wisdom and taste. It was essentially our relationship with Charlie that persuaded us to go ahead with this."
Collier also recognized an opening to engage in some elegant public relations with clients of North America's oldest Thoroughbred auction firm. "It's not often that we have the opportunity to bring our consignors and buyers to events here when we're not trying to get something from them," he noted. "With this, we're trying to give something back."
The Fasig-Tipton pavilion is currently undergoing renovation and once completed will provide a seating capacity of slightly fewer than 1,000, according to Collier.
Highbridge Spring Water, credited for rescuing the Troubadour Concert Series after the Kentucky Theater event lost its chief sponsor in 2005, has signed on as supporting sponsor of the Chamber Music Festival. "We're interested in things that improve the community," said Highbridge President Linda Griffin Slagel. With a chuckle and a nod to branch manager Clyde Pelton's angst over his company's local identity crisis, Slagel said she didn't fully comprehend the rarified status of the festival's title sponsor until she stopped by the UBS office to discuss the event. "I understood it when I came to the meeting at UBS's office with dirty shoes from the cave!" (Highbridge extracts its product from a cavern near Wilmore, Ky.) "It was like oh, I know what that stands for now!"
UBS, incidentally, is the result of the 1997 merger between Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation. The firm merged with PaineWebber, Inc. in November 2000.
With UBS involved, the Festival elevates Lexington into an echelon of cities hosting many of the world's leading arts events. Those currently sponsored by the firm include Art Basel Miami, an international art fair and American sister event of Art Basel in Switzerland; The Colorado Music Festival in Boulder; The Boston Symphony Orchestra (season); the Philadelphia Orchestra (season); The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (presenting); and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's "Anselm Keifer: Heaven and Earth" Exhibition.
With the arts viewed by many as a critical component of urban renewal, supporters of the Festival say such events can make all the difference in the quality of a city's economic development efforts.
"When businesses offer relocation packages, one of their concerns is always about the presence of art in the community," said Festival Board treasurer Sue Weant, co-owner of the bookkeeping firm Ridgewood, Ltd., and a columnist for Business Lexington. "We hope also to have a part of the weekend as an opportunity for young people from every part of town to experience the beauty of chamber music, which will further enhance their education in the arts," Weant added, referring to master classes to be taught by the participating professional musicians.
In addition to Cole and Tarumoto, the festival will feature three other outstanding musicians: violinist Burchard Tang of the Philadelphia Orchestra, prize-winning cellist Priscilla Lee and internationally acclaimed pianist Alessio Bax.
Stone is continuing in his quest for additional sponsorships and suggests interested parties contact him at (859) 252-2775.
Look for updates on the Festival in the pages of Business Lexington.