JEFFREY REED
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 17, 2008
- JEFFREY REED
Nine years ago, Jeffrey Reed had a vision that moved him to give up a
successful law practice and lead a small group of passionate volunteers to
form the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra. After only eight years in
existence, the orchestra has become the centerpiece of Bowling Green arts
community. The Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra gave its first concert on
Sept. 10, 2000, and has grown under Reed’s leadership to include an annual
free Fourth of July concert that draws 15,000 people. He has spent
countless hours creating musical opportunities through the orchestra,
Chamber Singers, the Chamber Players, Youth Orchestras and the String
Academy. Reed is both music director and conductor for the orchestra, and
works on a strictly volunteer basis. He and his wife Sherry, are both major
monetary contributors and have pledged a significant gift for the endowment
as well. It has been estimated that the economic impact of the Bowling
Green Chamber Orchestra locally is in excess of $2 million. This is in part
because of the variety of musical programming that Reed seeks to present,
which reaches a wide audience. In addition to the VIP Series, the Retro
Series involves local musicians in performance of popular music of all
kinds. Also, for the past three years the orchestra has presented a variety
of children’s concerts. Looking to the future, Reed in 2001 started a youth
orchestra which has grown into three orchestras and gives 50 young local
musicians the opportunity to perform. In 2003, Reed recognized the need for
the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra to establish a string academy where now
about 120 students receive private lessons weekly from professional
musicians.