By Alan Sherrod It is something of an understatement that Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor is a vehicle for violinist stardom—either for those who already have acclaim and reputation, or for those who seem destined for acclaim…
Review: Portraits of Three Strong Women Mark Marble City Opera’s Latest at Blount Mansion
By Alan Sherrod Strength and courage in the face of the ugliness of war was the thread running through Marble City Opera’s latest evening of chamber opera performances—a production with the emphasis squarely on “chamber.” A period room in…
KSO’s 2019-20 Masterworks Season Lineup: A Q&A with Maestro Aram Demirjian
By Alan Sherrod The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra released the news of their 2019-20 season programming last month, planting the seeds of excitement in Knoxville classical music listeners. KSO music director and conductor Aram Demirjian took the time to answer…
Review: Southern Gothic Meets Comedy in Flying Anvil Theatre’s ‘Crimes of the Heart’
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,…
