Alan Sherrod
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Drawing from a career background in music, motion pictures, and theatre, Alan Sherrod has been writing about Knoxville's diverse art and music scene since 2007 — first as the classical/new music writer for the alternative weekly Metro Pulse, then later in the same capacity for the Knoxville Mercury. After the closure of Metro Pulse in 2014 by its parent company, Sherrod created ARTS KNOXVILLE to provide a home for Knoxville arts journalism. In August, 2017, he expanded ARTS KNOXVILLE into the site it is today — a site dedicated to continuing the arts journalism legacy of those alternative weeklies. In addition to covering Knoxville's arts scene, he has also contributed music content to the Nashville Scene and other arts and entertainment publications around the U.S, including the website, Classical Journal. Mr. Sherrod was a recipient of a 2010 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts — the Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera — under the auspices of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2019, Sherrod was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame.

UT’s ‘Writers in the Library’ Presents Kevin Young and Brenda Hillman

The University of Tennessee’s Writers in the Library reading series wraps up its Spring with poets Kevin Young and Brenda Hillman on April 12 and April 16, respectively. Both readings begins at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library and are free and open to the public.

Review: CBT’s ‘The Dream of the Burning Boy’

Our perception of David West Read’s play, The Dream of the Burning Boy, in current production at Clarence Brown Theatre’s Lab Theatre, might have been quite different without the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,…

Review: Knoxville Theatre Club’s ‘The Story Story’

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…

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