By Alan Sherrod The tradition of Southern Gothic literature from Faulkner, O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Tennessee Williams, and many others, runs deep in our consciousness, throwing open the shutters and exposing the dusty rooms of cultural decay, and the dusty…
Sunday, March 10: Young Pianist Series Wraps With Elliot Wuu
“Young” has been a key word in the 2019 Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series recitals. Following last month’s recital by 17-year-old Ray Ushikubo, the series wraps up this month with 18-year-old Elliott Wuu this Sunday, March 10, at the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall.
Review: Pianist Chih-Long Hu and KSO Brighten a Sunday, Rainy Sunday
By Alan Sherrod It is sheer speculation on my part, but I’m betting that if KSO music director Aram Demirjian had known that Sunday afternoon would be yet another gloomy, rainy, soporific day, he might have programmed his Chamber Classics…
Review: The Cast of CBT’s ‘Detroit ’67’ Finds Treasure in the Basement
By Alan Sherrod Detroit in the incendiary “long, hot summer of 1967” is the setting for Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit ’67 which opened on Friday evening at Clarence Brown Theatre’s Carousel Theatre. While that summer was defined by racial tensions…
Review: Nief-Norf’s Knoxville Concert Series – Fresh Ink
By Alan Sherrod The overture for the evening was the random, staccato beat of raindrops on an umbrella, a sound that somehow made for a reassuring counterpoint to the sloshing of footfalls on wet concrete. Coming upon Market Square…
Review: Soprano Meryl Dominguez and Knoxville Opera Make for a Sensational ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’
By Alan Sherrod The rich history of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor has always been a tale of notable dramatic coloratura sopranos who have taken the title role to stratospheric heights—Nellie Melba in the 19th Century and 20th Century…
Recital Report: UT’s Hristov and Hu Survey the Beethoven Violin Sonatas
Leading up to the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven in 2020, musicians and listeners worldwide will be celebrating the creative genius whose music is fully ingrained in our musical consciousness. With festivals and performances going on around the globe,…
Recital Report: A Stunning Performance from 17-Year-Old Pianist Ray Ushikubo
Even though I had previewed the Young Pianist Series recital appearance by Ray Ushikubo, I admit that I was not at all prepared for a performance that literally left me speechless. On paper, one might assume that the 17-year-old pianist would be your average supremely-talented teen at the beginning of his serious music education—Ushikubo has entered the Curtis Institute of Music this year to pursue his Bachelor’s degree. Average? No. Supremely talented? Most definitely.
Review: KSO Basks in the Romance and Drama of Ballet – With and Without the Dancers
By Alan Sherrod It was an evening of dance for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra last weekend, but that statement requires a bit of explanation. Much like the rhythm of a waltz, concert hall interest in music from Peter Ilyich…
Sunday, Feb 17: ‘Young Pianist Series’ Continues With Ray Ushikubo
The second of this season’s Young Pianist Series recitalists, the seventeen-year-old Ray Ushikubo, occupies a fairly rare position among young music artists, certainly rare among the recitalists in the YPS series—his solo abilities include both the piano and the violin.
Sunday, February 17, 2019, 2:30 PM
Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie Haslam Music Center on the UT Campus
