When the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s appearance in the Kennedy Center’s SHIFT Festival was cancelled last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the energy in Knoxville’s classical music scene quickly evaporated. As the remainder of the season also fell away, the KSO musicians—and their audience—found themselves engaged in the now familiar wait-it-out and stay safe routine that most everyone was experiencing, in one form or another. In September, a further blow landed when the KSO 2020 fall season was cancelled and the musicians furloughed. While different organizations have handled performance limitations in different ways and with varying degrees of sensitivity, survival—both personal and artistic—is key if the Knoxville music and art world is to return with vitality.
To assist the furloughed musicians and provide some relief from the lack of performance, members of the KSO are offering a benefit concert to provide themselves a bit of support during the difficult period. That concert will take place on Sunday afternoon, October 25, at the Slovenian Consulate in Holston Hills (4801 Westover Terrace). The outdoor concert is at 2:00 PM. Of course, mask wearing and social distancing are necessary safety precautions for attendees.
Tickets, directions, and additional information on the outdoor concert are available here.
On the concert, Concertmaster William Shaub and Principal Oboe Claire Chenette will be featured in J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R. Also on the concert will be Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone; Mozart’s Horn Trio, K. 407; and Bluebird Animato, a work for English horn, violin, viola, and cello, by contemporary composer Gary Powell Nash.
The participating KSO musicians will be oboist Claire Chenette; violinists William Shaub, I-Pei Lin, Rachel Loseke, and Audrey Pride; violist Eunsoon Lee Corliss; cellist Andy Bryenton, hornists Sean Donavan, Kelsey Bentley, and Jeffery Whaley; Alex Pride, trumpet; and Sam Chen, trombone.
