In 2019, David Byrne—known for being the face of Talking Heads and for his diverse solo work—announced a venture called Reasons to be Cheerful, a project that calls itself “part magazine, part therapy session, part blueprint for a better world.”…
Tuesday Arts Miscellany: March Comes In Like A Lion
Dogwood Arts: “Converge: Coming Together, Embracing Balance” Dogwood Arts opens a new exhibition on FIRST FRIDAY (March 3) entitled “Converge: Coming Together, Embracing Balance.” The show is a group exhibition featuring artwork by twenty-five local immigrant and refugee artists. The…
Review: KSO and Violinist Blake Pouliot Take Mendelssohn Concerto To An Electric Finale
BY ALAN SHERROD If art thrives on turmoil and risk-taking—which is often the case—it should come as no surprise that the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, last week faced with the turmoil of a last-minute soloist cancellation, would find an exciting…
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra Announces NXT GEN Spring ’23 Concerts
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra’s NXT GEN series, a platform for a younger generation of jazz musicians, picks up where it left off last fall and returns for a Spring ’23 set of three double-header engagements. Performances are scheduled for Sunday evenings…
Tuesday Arts Miscellany: February 21 – 26
Go! Contemporary Dance Works: Cleopatra, the Last Pharoah “Deviating from Hollywood’s traditional portrayal of Cleopatra, GO! will explore the mysteries of this young woman and her political battles for dominance over the Ptolemaic Throne… Intertwining Egyptian rituals, mysticism and traditions,…
Review: Powerful Theatre – Katori Hall’s ‘The Mountaintop’ at River & Rail Theatre Co.
BY ALAN SHERROD They say “You never want to meet your heroes,” a statement that can certainly be bandied about when discussing Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop which opened this past weekend at River & Rail Theatre Company. In it,…
Friday: UT School of Music Honors the 80th Anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s Last Concert
BY ALAN SHERROD University of Tennessee School of Music: “Rachmaninoff Remembered” UT Symphony Orchestra, UT Concert Choir, Pianist Chih-Long Hu, Guest Victor Yampolsky James R. Cox Auditorium, Alumni Memorial Building on the UT Campus Friday, February 17, 7:30 PM…
Review: Clarence Brown Theatre’s ‘Trouble In Mind’ Throws a Powerful Spotlight on Lost Opportunities
BY ALAN SHERROD Had things gone differently for playwright Alice Childress in 1957, her play Trouble in Mind would have had the honor of being the first play written by a Black woman on Broadway. Of course, things didn’t…
Wednesday Arts Miscellany: February 8 – 12
Knoxville Museum of Art: Current Exhibitions • Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art: RE-PAIR January 27, 2023 – May 07, 2023 • Landfall Press: Five Decades of Printmaking December 16, 2022 – April 30, 2023 [Above: Barrettes no. 2, Althea Murphy-Price…
Review: Amadeus Chamber Ensemble Assembles a Feast of Mozart
BY ALAN SHERROD True to its title, the Amadeus Chamber Ensemble’s “Mozart! An Operatic Feast” delivered on its promise of being anything but a one-course meal. For nearly two hours, the near-capacity audience for Sunday evening’s presentation in the…
