Alan Sherrod
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Drawing from a career background in music, motion pictures, and theatre, Alan Sherrod has been writing about Knoxville's diverse art and music scene since 2007 — first as the classical/new music writer for the alternative weekly Metro Pulse, then later in the same capacity for the Knoxville Mercury. After the closure of Metro Pulse in 2014 by its parent company, Sherrod created ARTS KNOXVILLE to provide a home for Knoxville arts journalism. In August, 2017, he expanded ARTS KNOXVILLE into the site it is today — a site dedicated to continuing the arts journalism legacy of those alternative weeklies. In addition to covering Knoxville's arts scene, he has also contributed music content to the Nashville Scene and other arts and entertainment publications around the U.S, including the website, Classical Journal. Mr. Sherrod was a recipient of a 2010 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts — the Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera — under the auspices of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2019, Sherrod was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.

Review: ‘MJ the Musical’ – All that Glitters

BY ALAN SHERROD   Jukebox musicals have become an important slice of the pie that is the craft and business of Broadway, mixing the power of nostalgia with a wink and a nod,  and a dusting of exploitation. Fueled by…

On Sunday: Amadeus Concert Ensemble Presents “Organ Spectacular”

Knoxville will witness a musical first this Sunday when Amadeus Concert Ensemble pairs its orchestra with the towering Casavant Frères organ at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Internationally renowned organist Dr. Byongsuk Moon will be featured…

Review: Gluzman and KSO Combine For A Dynamic Brahms Violin Concerto

BY ALAN SHERROD   For a variety of reasons, the January Masterworks concerts of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra always seem to acquire a disproportionate amount of unforeseen drama. For example, it was ten years ago this month that Aram Demirjian…

2025 Most Memorable Classical Music Performances in Knoxville

Change in the art and music world can come swiftly or cautiously, but finding meaning in either one is not necessarily easy to manage. Generally, new start-up organizations are a good sign, as is major news from those groups already…

From the Archives: “The Most Famous Reindeer of All” (2016)

BY ALAN SHERROD   [This story was originally published in 2016] You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen, But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the Red-Nosed…

Review: River and Rail Theatre Company – ‘Little Women’

BY ALAN SHERROD   Adapting classic literature for the stage filtered through a contemporary lens has been the province, if not the raison d’etre, of playwright and actress Kate Hamill. Concentrating on works with significant and important female characters, Hamill…

Review: A Clarence Brown Theatre Tradition Refreshed — Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’

BY ALAN SHERROD   It is fair to say that our Christmas season today would be vastly different had Charles Dickens not treated us to the novella masterpiece that is A Christmas Carol. The work influenced and popularized many of…

Review: Pianist Park, Guest conductor Di Russo, and KSO Shine in ‘Rhapsody’ et al.

BY ALAN SHERROD   With the beginnings of the holiday season now upon us, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Maestro Aram Demirjian took the week off and handed the baton for its November Masterworks pair of concerts this past weekend to guest…

Review: A New Beginning – UT Opera Theatre Presents Rossini and Menotti Comedies

BY ALAN SHERROD   As the Bijou Theatre’s red curtain closed on the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre’s performance of two one-act comic operas this past weekend, one had the distinct feeling that this was not a closing at all,…

KSO Extends Aram Demirjian’s Contract Through 2030

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has announced that Music Director Aram Demirjian has signed a new four-year contract that will continue his leadership of the orchestra through the 2029-30 season.  “We have made such inspiring strides together over the last 10…

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