Knoxville Symphony Orchestra: “Bohemian Rhapsodies: Dvořák, Smetana & More”
Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Downtown Knoxville
Thursday and Friday, January 18 and 19, 2018 – 7:30 PM
Tickets and Information
Put a group of classical music musicians or listeners together for any extended period, factor in an alcoholic beverage or two, and the conversation will inevitably find its way to the question—“what’s the future of classical music?” Admittedly, classical music writers—but especially those for the major city newspapers—bear a lot of responsibility for rehashing the issue, since their own continued existence depends on keeping readers interested and the conversation going. Still, the question is an extremely valid one, as music organizations make determinations on how to create programs in the future, how to market those programs, and to whom.
I fully expect that question to arise this week as the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and music director Aram Demirjian have invited guest artists, PROJECT Trio, to join the January Masterworks Series concert—“Bohemian Rhapsodies: Dvořák, Smetana & More”.
PROJECT Trio consists of flutist Greg Pattillo, cellist Eric Stephenson, and double bassist Peter Seymour, who joined forces in 2005 recognizing that combining music education programs with high-energy performance and recording of diverse, eclectic content, works toward attracting new audiences. From their website bio:
“Gramophone Magazine singled out the group as “an ensemble willing and able to touch on the gamut of musical bases ranging from Baroque to nu-Metal and taking in pretty much every stylism in between,” while The Wall Street Journal hailed the Trio for their “wide appeal, subversive humor and first-rate playing.” The New York Times has called beatboxing flutist Greg Pattillo “the best in the world at what he does.”
On the KSO concert, PROJECT Trio will perform their own arrangement of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5, Raja Raja, and Djangish, an homage to the great guitarist Django Reinhardt. They will also perform Adam Schoenberg’s Scatter, a concerto for PROJECT Trio and orchestra, commissioned by a consortium of orchestras in 2016.
The orchestra will also perform Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Bedřich Smetana’s “Dance of the Comedians” from his opera The Bartered Bride, and conclude with an orchestra arrangement of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Freddie Mercury of the rock group Queen. I understand medical personnel will be standing by to assist those who sprain their necks in the finale.
