Renowned Oklahoma City Philharmonic Conductor to Retire

 

Joel Levine
Image: okcphil.org

Duke Ligon, founder of Mekusukey Oil Company and board member of numerous energy-focused companies and charitable organizations, is among the notable supporters of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation. Duke Ligon’s contributions have enabled the Foundation to further the mission of the Philharmonic in providing a musical education for the city’s residents.

The 30-year-old orchestra and its conductor and music director, Joel Levine, have built a strong program of selections to enrich the culture of the region. Since the Philharmonic’s inception in 1988, Levine has led the professional musicians as they developed into a widely respected ensemble.

Over Levine’s tenure, the orchestra developed its popular holiday program called “The Christmas Show!” Other seasonal programs include concerts in celebration of the Fourth of July and Labor Day. The Labor Day concert, in particular, has become a local tradition, with many families including it in their long weekend.

Under Levine’s direction, the Philharmonic has hosted world-renowned guest performers, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman. After the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, Joel Levine will step aside to allow new music director Alexander Mickelthwate to take the Philharmonic to further successes.

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The Met Honors Noted Mexican Baroque Painter with Exhibit

 

Cristóbal de Villalpando
Image: metmuseum.org

The owner of Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Duke Ligon serves as a board member of several regional energy companies as well as some of the country’s leading cultural and nonprofit organizations. Among his affiliations, Duke Ligon is a board member of the Major Gifts Committee for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

For three months, the Met will showcase the work of 17th-century Mexican painter Cristóbal de Villalpando. The exhibition features rare pieces by the artist such as Adoration of the Magi and The Holy Name of Mary.

In an unusual confluence of themes drawn from the New Testament and the Old, the Met is displaying Villalpando’s large-scale altarpiece painting depicting the prophet Moses with the bronze serpent alongside Jesus as He underwent the Transfiguration. The work, which the artist created for Puebla Cathedral, has never been part of a curated exhibit outside of Mexico.

Considered by critics as a master of the Mexican Baroque, Villalpando modified the European Baroque style with a lighter touch and brighter coloration to his work, while keeping the style’s richness of ornamentation and cultural references.

Heritage Trust Takes Four-Step Approach to Planning and Engagement

Heritage Trust
Image: heritagetrust.com

    The former general counsel and senior vice president of Devon Energy Corporation in Oklahoma City, Duke Ligon is a legal professional with years of experience in corporate litigation. In addition to his current role as the owner and founder of Mekusukey Oil Company, Duke Ligon maintains a position as a member of the Board of Directors of the Heritage Trust Company, a privately owned trust bank also located in Oklahoma City.

Founded in 1998, Heritage Trust is responsible for the management of $15 billion in assets. The company operates with the goal of establishing positive, personalized relationships with clients, and takes a four-step approach to the engagement and planning process, as outlined below.

1. The planning begins with the execution of agreements. On the first day of dealings, the professionals at Heritage Trust focus on establishing a client’s trust or agency agreement, arranging for the transfer of assets, and completing the necessary paperwork.

2. Over the next two to four weeks, Heritage Trust employees work alongside clients to discuss account objectives, financial plans, and a questionnaire on risk tolerance before making asset investments as detailed in the client’s personalized plan.

3. As the partnership progresses, Heritage Trust maintains consistent communication with the client by producing monthly statements, releasing performance reports once per quarter, and taking the initiative to reach out and discuss decisions about the direction of a portfolio proactively.

4. At the year mark, Heritage Trust presents an annual review, in which the performance of a client’s portfolio is judged, financial plans receive updates, and investment objectives can be reviewed and changed as needed.

Nature Conservancy Protects Key Oklahoma Environments

 

Oklahoma
Image: nature.org

Duke Ligon, an energy executive based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has started or developed numerous natural resource-focused companies over the course of his long career. A University of Texas graduate and the current head of Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC, Duke Ligon supports a range of nonprofit groups that work to improve the quality of life for the people of the southern Central West. One of these nonprofits is the Nature Conservancy, where he is a member of the board of directors.

Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy strives to preserve the biodiversity of the world’s lands and waterways. And for the past 31 years, the organization has worked to protecting notable environmentally-sensitive sites in Oklahoma. These protected areas now total 100,000 acres.

Four of these sites maintain public access. The more than 1,500 acres of central shortgrass prairie in Black Mesa Nature Preserve, located in Oklahoma’s Panhandle, are home to dozens of species of rare plants and animals. Visitors to the preserve can climb to the state’s highest point, a plateau almost 5,000 feet above sea level.

The Keystone Ancient Forest Preserve safeguards red cedar trees and oaks that are, in some cases, more than 500 years old. The Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, at close to 40,000 acres, is the world’s largest stretch of unspoiled tallgrass prairie and is now ranged by thousands of bison. The J. T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve encompasses 17,000 acres of Ozark land, filled with spring-fed creeks and biomes ranging from savanna to forest and pine-filled woodlands.