Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks with Guest Conductor Sameer Patel
Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street in Downtown Knoxville
Thursday and Friday, February 17 and 18, 7:30 PM
Jennifer Higdon – blue cathedral
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 25 (Weiyin Chen, piano)
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Tickets and Information
When conductor Sameer Patel last appeared with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in 2014, his guest conductor visit came on a particularly dark day for Knoxville arts journalism. Patel was in town to conduct the Thursday/Friday pair of KSO Masterworks concerts that featured Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the major attraction of Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique. However, on Wednesday of that week, the alt-weekly Metro Pulse on which I had been contributing classical music coverage for seven years, was unceremoniously closed down by its then-parent company, E.W. Scripps.
Of course, the closure spurred the beginning of the Arts Knoxville website, even though the Knoxville Mercury would make a valiant 2-year, but ultimately futile effort to fully replace Metro Pulse. Keeping my commitment to review that KSO concert, I ended that first Arts Knoxville review with thanks for an uplifting experience—
“Given Maestro Patel’s personal warmth and apparent genuineness, and the intelligent interpretations of the weekend’s performance, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear more from him in the future.”
And, no surprise. We are hearing more from Patel. Maestro Patel will be the guest conductor on this week’s Masterworks concerts, concerts that will include Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503, and the Symphony No. 1 in e minor of Jean Sibelius. The concerto pianist in the Mozart will be Weiyin Chen.
