This Week: KSO Concertmaster Series Leaps Into Autumn — and the Dvořák Piano Quintet No. 2

This week on Wednesday and Thursday at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster William Shaub and his colleagues will be opening the 2024-25 Concertmaster Series with the spirit of early autumn evocatively infused into its programming—an evening of chamber music that concludes with one of the great examples of the piano quintet.

“After intermission,” Shaub indicates, “we will close with Antonín Dvořák’ s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81 and all of the melancholic, folksy melodies that it brings. With fascinating movement titles such as “Dumka” and “Furiant”, we are excited to share the intricacies and flavors that are embedded in this amazing piece of chamber music.”

Of course, the Concertmaster Series is known for Shaub’s opening violin virtuosic solo and duet pieces designed to warm up the audience’s ears and hearts. To that end, Shaub and pianist Kevin Class are starting with Saint-Saens’ electrifying Danse Macabre. After some barn-burners by Fritz Kreisler, the first half concludes with Sarah Kirkland Snider’s string quartet Drink the Wild Ayre.