The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster Series began life in 2012 in a crowded backroom of a coffee shop offering a mid-week audience something a little different with its cutting-edge attitude and broad approach to programming. The Series, now quartered in the Knoxville Museum of Art, is programmed and hosted by Concertmaster William Shaub and enjoys an evolution that continues the premise of solo and small ensemble music that varies from virtuosic violin works to major works from the chamber music repertoire performed by Shaub and his orchestra colleagues.
This week, the Series began its 2026-27 season of three pairs of concerts, but it has taken an intriguing diversion by inviting a guest performer, mandolinist Jeff Midkiff, to join Shaub for a different take on J.S. Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins—notably with Midkiff taking the second violin role. (Pianist Kevin Class handles the orchestral reduction) Interestingly, it was only ten days ago that Midkiff appeared with the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra in a concert that featured Midkiff and the mandolin in a variety of works. Read the review here.
In this performance, Midkiff and Shaub embraced the historical context of Bach adapting concerto instrumentation to suit the need and occasion. Although “plucked” versus “bowed” provides for different textures, the two instruments work well together to offer a fresh, clean sound and deliver the listener a different experience. Admittedly, there is an inherent imprecision between the two instruments, but energy and emotion from the musicians more than made up for any loss.
Shaub and pianist Kevin Class opened the evening with two energetic and tuneful building blocks, Fritz Kreisler’s Variation on a Theme by Corelli and Mozart’s Sonata in E minor for Violin and Piano. Shaub concluded the first half with J.S. Bach’s Chaconne in D minor (from the Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin).
There is one more performance of this Concertmaster Series concert, “Mythic Proportions”, tonight at 7:00 PM (Thursday, October 8) at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Tickets
