About the Orchestra

We would love to tell you a bit about the orchestra (Heart of Appalachia Community Orchestra – HACO):

Not many towns can boast that they have their own community orchestra, but Lebanon is fortunate to be the home of The Heart of Appalachia Community Orchestra. The late Ms. Janith Valley, a retired music teacher and teacher of violin, founded the orchestra in the fall of 2000. Ms. Valley and Mr. Charles Wallace, a former band director at Lebanon High School, directed the orchestra until 2004. Since the fall 2005 Kevin Townsend has been the director. The orchestra is known for its Christmas and Fourth of July concerts held in Lebanon and the surrounding areas of Russell County. With the motto “Music is too important to be left to professionals,” the community orchestra is a wonderful opportunity for musicians of all ages to be involved with an organization that publicly performs classical and popular music.

The orchestra’s seasons loosely line up with the school year. Fall rehearsals usually start mid-September and end with the Christmas concerts. Spring rehearsals generally start mid-January and end after the final concert of the season, the Patriotic Concert (July 4). Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings, 6-8 PM and alternate between Abingdon High School and Lebanon High School.

The 2025 Spring season begins on January 9th at Abingdon High School at 6PM.

Concerts are presented in both schools’ auditoriums and often at other locations as well (See the Performances page for details).