Last year—2020—will forever bear an asterisk in the history books to indicate that we had foregone normal life for reasons of safety and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Arts Knoxville’s own yearly “Most Memorable” list of notable performances in Knoxville was similarly skipped for obvious and understandable reasons—there had been few, if any, relevant live performances of anything in the art and music world.
Of course, live performances have thankfully returned in Knoxville, albeit with various precautions in place that have severely tested the resilience, patience, and commitment of both audiences and performers. While it is probably extremely unfair to place 2021 up against those pre-pandemic years, we feel it is, nonetheless, worthwhile to point out those music performances and performers that, in our opinion, rose above the level of the merely impressive in a year that offered more obstacles than usual.
We have dropped the normal categories, and instead, offer our picks for “Most Memorable Music Performances” in reverse chronological order from latest to earliest in the Knoxville music scene of 2021.
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Big Ears: Julian Lage Trio
After the cancellation of the 2019 Big Ears Festival and the absence of a festival in 2020, it is somewhat miraculous that the organization has not only retained its determination, but also moved forward with an impressive energy. Keeping audiences intrigued outside of the festival has obviously been a key approach for the future. In September, Big Ears launched an outdoor installation by contemporary composer, Ellen Reid, at Ijams Nature Center, called SoundWalk, an installation that also appeared in other locations internationally. In December, they presented the Julian Lage Trio offering works from that trio’s enticing new Blue Note Records album release, Squint.
Although guitarist Lage and his trio members, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, were sidetracked by the pandemic shutdown, Lage used the period to reconsider new work in light of 2020/2021 current events. The result was a stunning album, recorded in August, followed by a live December performance at St. John’s Cathedral in Knoxville. This was an example of beautifully rendered, optimistic lyricism floating in a pool of complex, but intimate, jazz/blues textures.
The trio, itself, is an example of one of Big Ears most essential and remarkable attributes—connections. Lage is a member of the Nels Cline 4; Dave King is the drummer for the trio The Bad Plus.
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The Knoxville Chamber Music Society
The very act of launching a new, professional chamber music organization in November was important news for the Knoxville scene. The startup leaders of KCMS are clarinetist/composer Jorge Variego and violist Hillary Herndon, both on the music faculty of the UT School of Music. Importantly, they will be drawing upon their professional colleagues in the Knoxville area to create a diverse range of programming.
On their inaugural concert at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was Inner Voices String Quartet (Ruth Bacon Edewards, Sarah Barker Ringer, Christina Marie Graffeo, and Jeanine Wilkinson), pianist Bernadette Lo, singer Jennifer D’Agostino, and oboist Rebecca Van de Ven.
KCMS has a second concert planned for next April.
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Audrey Babcock in Lily – presented by Marble City Opera
Conceived, written, and performed by Audrey Babcock, Lily featured music by German composer Kurt Weill that meanders through the story of a fictional German Jewish cabaret singer, Lily Weiss.
From the Arts Knoxville review:
“Babcock was unequivocally spellbinding, both vocally and dramatically, as Lily, calling up both specters of darkness and moments of optimism with a voice that can range from raw, guttural despair to powerful clarity with perfect, seemingly effortless diction. Dramatically, Babcock was able to paint her smoky, dark character with a controlled sense of physical desperation, but also with expressions of tenacity that defines such survivors existing in down-in-the-gutter hardship.”
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Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and guest violinist Paul Huang
In October, the KSO’s Masterworks featured an impressively satisfying performance of Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique and an equally satisfying and exciting performance by violinist Paul Huang in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The conductor on this marvelous concert was Maestro Aram Demirjian.
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KSO Concertmaster Series: William Shaub and Colleagues, Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2
Also in October, Concertmaster William Shaub opened the Concertmaster Series with the Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2. Shaub was joined by violinist Audrey Pride, violists Kathryn Gawne and Jennifer Bloch, and cellist Andy Bryenton.
From the Arts Knoxville review:
“There is definite substance to this Mendelssohn quintet, substance that Shaub and his KSO colleagues leapt into with spirit, strength, and agility.”
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Marble City Opera: Puccini’s Tosca at St. John’s Cathedral
Last, but certainly not least, was Marble City Opera’s production of Tosca at St. John’s Cathedral. From the Arts Knoxville review:
“This weekend’s current production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca by Marble City Opera represents a quantum leap in artistry, complexity, and sophistication from where the company began eight years ago. … this Tosca has been staged in downtown Knoxville’s St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, its three acts taking place in three locations within the church—the nave, the assembly hall, and the outside courtyard…”
“[In the role of Tosca] … was Kathryn Frady, Marble City Opera’s executive artistic director. In addition to having those requisite vocal and dramatic qualities that make for great melodrama, Frady, appropriately costumed and coiffed, simply looked and sounded like the Tosca that one carries around in their mind’s eye.”
