Music School Festival Orchestra Artistic Director Timothy Muffitt leads the end of the final movement in Joseph Haydn’s “Symphony No. 96 in D Major, Hob. I:96 ‘Miracle’ (21)” during the MSFO’s opening concert of the season Monday in the Amphitheater. African American Heritage House Distinguished Fellow and author of An American Story Kwame Alexander narrates the world premiere of “An American Story,” a commissioned piece by Alexander based on his #1 New York Times bestselling picture book with music composed by Damien Geter. The MSFO’s double bass section perform “An American Story.” Alexander and Geter receive applause after the premiere of “An American Story.” Christopher Wheaton and principal violinist Ayana Dalley perform “Symphony No. 96 in D Major.”
Sam Huffman is a visual journalist born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He is a photography intern for The Chautauquan Daily’s 2026 summer season and is a current senior visual journalism and photography major at Western Kentucky University. He is interested in a variety of topics, including community stories, art and culture, politics and human rights. He is always seeking new experiences and opportunities to document everyday people and to share their stories with the wider public. As a current staff photographer for WKU’s College Heights Herald, he has been lead to political protests, demolition derbies, Kentucky Supreme Court hearings and even the second inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. When he is not on the streets taking photos, you can find him out reading in the park, taking long evening walks, listening to CDs in his car or sorting through his never-ending watchlist of Hong Kong action movies. If you manage to track him down, feel free to give him some movie recommendations and talk his ear off on any topics you are passionate about, for he is always eager to learn new things.
