BY ALAN SHERROD As Maestro Aram Demirjian indicated in his preface of Sunday afternoon’s Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra concert, the programming for it had been done over a year in advance. So, it was both a grand and somber…
This Week: Knoxville Opera Returns to the Stage with Boito’s ‘Mefistofele’
BY ALAN SHERROD In the opera world of the 1860s, more than the mere Alps separated Italy from Germany. The battle between the influences of Giuseppe Verdi in the Italian opera world and the supporters of Richard Wagner and…
Review: Marble City Opera Premieres Important Theatre in ‘I Can’t Breathe’
BY ALAN SHERROD It would be impossible to find a more relevant topic for contemporary theatre than that found in the Marble City Opera production of I Can’t Breathe, a new opera that received its world premiere on Thursday…
Confessions of a Bachophile: KSO’s Rachel Loseke and I-Pei Lin Take on Bach’s Double Violin Concerto
It is unlikely that any musician living today can claim that they were thrown into prison by their employer for petty affronts and for asking to be let out of a contract. Yet, that was the situation for one Johann…
Performances This Week: ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Premiere, Master Arts Recital at CSUMC, KSO Chamber Orchestra
Marble City Opera: World Premiere of I Can’t Breathe Demand was great for tickets to Marble City Opera’s World Premiere production of a new opera, I Can’t Breathe, music by Leslie Burrs and libretto by Brandon Gibson. The three performances…
Review: KSO, Pianist Weiyin Chen, Conductor Sameer Patel Combine for a Memorable Evening
BY ALAN SHERROD While Knoxville Symphony Orchestra maestro Aram Demirjian was away on a guest conductor gig with the Santa Rosa Symphony this month, the baton in this week’s KSO Masterworks concerts went to guest conductor Sameer Patel. It…
This Weekend: UTSOM presents UT Symphony Orchestra and Recitals
University of Tennessee School of Music Concerts and Recitals UT Symphony Orchestra Music director and conductor James Fellenbaum is focusing on the musical “Narrative” in this Sunday’s UT Symphony Concert. In the three works on the program, composer Caroline Shaw…
KSO This Week: Guest Conductor Sameer Patel Returns – Works by Higdon, Mozart, Sibelius
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…
Review: River & Rail’s ‘In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play’
BY ALAN SHERROD Technical innovation always seems to outpace society’s understanding. If you doubt this statement, look no further than the history of the vibrator for proof. A shortcut might be to check out the current offering at the…
Tuesday Arts Miscellany: Go! Contemporary Dance, River & Rail, Organ Recital, Blakemore Trio
Go! Contemporary Dance Works: In the Shadows of Pine Mountain Delving into the often raw and turbulent history of Appalachia, Go! Contemporary Dance Works is presenting a full length contemporary ballet, In the Shadows of Pine Mountain: the Scots-Irish exodus…
