In the second Concertmaster Series outing of the 2023-24 season at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster William Shaub and his KSO colleagues chose to make the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz the connecting force for their recital.
Review: KSO’s Present and Future Meet in a Celebration of Musicianship and the Mahler Fourth
The title given to this weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts was “The Heavenly Life: Mahler Symphony No. 4.” A less poetic, but perhaps equally accurate title might have been “Musicianship: Now and in the Future.”
KSO This Week: Why William Shaub Needs Two Violins for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4
BY DIANA SALESKY William Shaub plays on one of the finest violins in the world – an 1865 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. When he takes the stage of the Tennessee Theatre on January 25-26 as Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra,…
On Sunday: KSO’s Chamber Classics Features Flutist Devan Jaquez
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Classics Series concert on Sunday afternoon at the Bijou Theatre will feature KSO Principal Flute Devan Jaquez in Malcolm Arnold’s Flute Concerto No. 1. James Fellenbaum will conduct.
Most Read ARTS KNOXVILLE Stories of 2023
If one was looking for a definite sign that the peripheral effects of the pandemic had at last faded away, 2023 was an almost perfect answer. Readership of articles on Arts Knoxville grew some 20% over 2022, paralleling the increase…
Most Memorable Classical Music Performances of 2023
BY ALAN SHERROD We’ll probably look back on 2023 as something of a threshold year. With the pandemic restrictions and precautions fading into a dusty corner of our concert-going memory, we embraced the idea that a combination of luck…
Aram-isms: When the Conductor Speaks
BY DIANA SALESKY Editor’s Note: Diana Salesky was the alto soloist in the recent Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at the Tennessee Theatre. There are moments during rehearsals and concerts when one connects with another performer for…
Review: Demirjian Leads KSO, KCS, and Soloists in ‘Messiah’ and ‘A Carol Symphony’
BY ALAN SHERROD Just what does it take for something to become a tradition? A specific concert selling out two years in row is probably a good start. For the second year, Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony…
Review: Pianist Alessio Bax, Conductor James Fellenbaum, KSO Thrill in ‘Rach Three’
BY ALAN SHERROD For a brief instant, the pose caught me by surprise but seemed unmistakable. Pianist Alessio Bax had just brought the house down in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra…
KSO Announces Conductor Change for November Masterworks Concert
KSO Music Director Aram Demirjian is handing the baton over to KSO Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum for this week’s Masterworks concerts. The reason? On Saturday, November 11, Maestro Demirjian and his wife Caraline welcomed a daughter into their family. Congratulations!…