As reported previously, ACE is now the Amadeus Concert Ensemble—a reflection of its sizable presence in Knoxville’s classical music scene and the impressive scale of its performances with full orchestra and chorus in Knoxville’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. Its 2024-25 season…
Review: KSO Delights with Season Opener of Beethoven and Gershwin
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra opened its 2024-25 season with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, plus ‘Kauyumari’ by the contemporary Mexican composer, Gabriela Ortiz. Aram Demirjian conducted.
Review: The WordPlayers – Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ – A Chilling Tale of Female Empowerment
The WordPlayers’ production of Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ honors this tale of radical female empowerment and navigating the unintended consequences of our most personal choices.
KSO Season Opener This Week: Beethoven’s Fifth and Gershwin’s Concerto in F
BY ALAN SHERROD As 21st Century listeners, we discover there is something strangely satisfying about the familiar “ta-ta-ta-DAH” opening passage of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. That satisfaction, though, goes well beyond the pleasure of simple recognition. The remainder of the…
Review Bits: UT Symphony Orchestra Opens the Season with “Italian” Flavor
There was a time in Knoxville’s music past when we treated the accomplishments of the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra under music director and conductor James Fellenbaum as news. Sunday’s season opening concert program of the UTSO, which had as…
Review: ‘Our Town’ at River & Rail Theatre Co. – Americana at Its Finest
Director Joshua Peterson and his ensemble of talented actors and musicians bring Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, to Knoxville in their tender production of Thornton Wilder’s classic 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘Our Town.’
On Sunday: UT Symphony Orchestra Begins 2024-25 Season with Italian Flavor
“Italian” is the key word for Sunday afternoon (September 15) as the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra begins its 2024-25 season. UTSO music director and conductor James Fellenbaum will lead the orchestra in a program of works that were written…
Big Ears Festival Announces the 2025 LineUp
Since its launch in 2009, the Big Ears Festival has pushed the boundaries of the music world for listeners with its genre-defying, multi-dimensional programming. The 2025 Festival participants—at least some—have been announced and, once again, the mind boggles at the…
Review: A Provocative and Poignant ‘Knoxville’ at Clarence Brown Theatre
The latest adaptation of Agee’s ‘A Death in the Family’ is the musical ‘Knoxville’ written by the late Frank Galati with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. ‘Knoxville’ opened this past weekend at the University of Tennessee’s Clarence Brown Theatre sporting superbly polished staging and a uniformly strong cast. The production continues through September 22.
Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s ‘The Revolutionists’— Liberté, Égalité, Sororité
Lauren Gunderson’s 2018 play The Revolutionists at Theatre Knoxville Downtown blends the historical with the hysterical in a production that will make you laugh, then cry, then get really angry. It is an emotional rollercoaster as swiftly changing as late 18th century France itself and reminds us of the turmoil that comes with substantial change.