By Alan Sherrod In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, it is Christmas Eve and time is of the essence for Ebenezer Scrooge. The familiar tale of Scrooge, from the 1843 Dickens novella that inspired a plethora of film and…
Preview: Two Weekends of Appalachian Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’
This weekend and next – it’s the 47th season for Appalachian Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. One American holiday tradition that sparkles with timelessness is that of productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker during the winter season. The Appalachian Ballet Company…
Review: A Feast of Variety in “Classical Christmas” from KSO and Knoxville Chamber Chorale
By Alan Sherrod In 2015, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra took a chance and moved its November Chamber Classics concert to the weekend following Thanksgiving and titled it “Classical Christmas.” That incredibly popular concert took a different direction from the…
Review: CBT’s ‘Santaland Diaries’ – A Delicious Clash of Holiday Comedy and Reality
By Alan Sherrod Two Christmas seasons working as an elf in Macy’s flagship store on New York City’s Herald Square was the inspiration for David Sedaris’ essay Santaland Diaries. Read by Sedaris on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition in…
Review: An Exciting Circle – Conductor Eric Jacobsen and Pianist Gabriela Martinez Join KSO For “Schumann’s Circle of Friends”
By Alan Sherrod It begins and ends the same way, simply enough, with four chords from woodwinds building onto each other. Yet, that four chord progression is one of the most magically captivating in all of music history and…
Review: UT Opera Theatre’s Colorful ‘The Secret Gardener’
By Alan Sherrod Performances reviewed: Friday evening, November 9; Sunday afternoon, November 11 When the opera La finta giardiniera (The Secret Gardener) premiered in Munich in 1775, its composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was still two weeks shy of his…
Review: William Shaub and Friends Illuminate a Treasure of Baroque Gems in KSO’s Concertmaster Series
By Alan Sherrod Many Baroque composers are known for prolific output—J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel among them—but none so much as Antonio Vivaldi. His concerto output alone totals more than 500 works, yet none of these have been rewarded…
Review: John Orr Leads Knoxville Choral Society in Handel ‘Masterworks’
By Alan Sherrod Ask a classical music listener to describe the Baroque Period in music and a generic answer will invariably gravitate to two composer’s names—Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. While the pair was born only a…
Review: ‘Nero Monologues’ from Sarah Toth and Marble City Opera
By Alan Sherrod The often curious intersection of art and history was discovered in South Knoxville last evening, as Marble City Opera offered its latest—a production created and performed by soprano Sarah Toth—Nero Monologues. The work, currently being staged…
First Friday at the Emporium and UT Downtown Gallery
There are a lot of notable openings on November’s First Friday. Here are two in the 100 block of S. Gay Street. At the Emporium (November 2 – 30) “The Familiar” — Eric Buechel (Main Gallery) This solo exhibition features…
