Knoxville Theatre Club’s current production is titled The Story Story and uses as its advertised premise “the seemingly impossible question: where do Stories come from?” Of course, the author/directors of The Story Story, JP Schuffman and Sara Gaddis, intended that…
Review: KSO Indulges in a Lusty ‘Carmina Burana’
The KSO performance put the spotlight on what is important in the piece: a relatively simple musical language that wallows in the indulgent fantasies of spring, charms and satisfies the listener musically, and supports the bawdy and poetic spirit of the Medieval texts.
On Sunday: A Magic Moment? Pianist Igor Lipinski Concludes Young Pianist Series
When one reads about “magical performances” in music commentary, one can assume that a fair amount of hyperbole is being thrown about. After all, music may transport us to a state of enlightenment or bliss, but actual magic is rarely…
Preview: KSO, Knoxville Choral Society, and Soloists Take on ‘Carmina Burana’ This Week
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks: “Carmina Burana” Conductor: Aram Demirjian Gustav Mahler: Blumine Kurt Weill: Suite from Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) Carl Orff: Carmina Burana Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Downtown Knoxville Thursday and Friday, March 15 and 16, 7:30…
Review: KSO Goes Bach to Mozart with a Freshness and Sparkle
Confessions of a Bachophile — Chapter 17 In my review of the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra’s February concert that included the J.S. Bach Concerto for Two Violins, I stated—humorously, I thought—that it seemed listeners simply could not get enough of…
Preview: Marble City Opera Follows Up With ‘Follow Suit’
Marble City Opera World Premiere of Follow Suit — music by Griffin Candey, libretto by Emily Anderson Cast: Kathryn Frady and Morgan Smith Stage Director: Matthew Haney Conductor: Griffin Candey Windows on the Park Lounge in Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park…
Yikes! Performance Choices Galore on Sunday March 4th
There was a time when one could just hang out and relax on Sundays without having to anguish over how to fit in all the various performances that were available and enticing. This Sunday, March 4, is definitely not a…
Big Ears 2018 – Bang on a Can Celebrating 30 Years
There is only one thing surprising about Bang On A Can founders Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon being composers-in-residence at the 2018 Big Ears Festival. The surprise is that it hasn’t happened before now. It is simply impossible…
Review: CBT’s ‘the strangers’
As way of preface, the strangers was commissioned by the Clarence Brown Theatre from playwright Christopher Oscar Peña for performance by eight of the UT Department of Theatre MFA acting candidates. The work was developed over a two year period…
Review: Spectacle Abounds in Knoxville Opera’s ‘Turandot’
It was inevitable that Knoxville Opera would eventually come around again to Giacomo Puccini’s final opera Turandot. Last produced by the company in October 2003, the work virtually cries out for lavish spectacle, given its exotic setting of the Imperial…
