If one was looking for a definite sign that the peripheral effects of the pandemic had at last faded away, 2023 was an almost perfect answer. Readership of articles on Arts Knoxville grew some 20% over 2022, paralleling the increase…
Most Memorable Classical Music Performances of 2023
BY ALAN SHERROD We’ll probably look back on 2023 as something of a threshold year. With the pandemic restrictions and precautions fading into a dusty corner of our concert-going memory, we embraced the idea that a combination of luck…
Review: River & Rail’s ‘It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ – Fabulous Holiday Theatre
For its December offering, River and Rail Theatre Company has chosen a work that is a delightful and entertaining contradiction in such a theatrical discussion—It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.
Wednesday Arts Miscellany: Another Busy Weekend
This week and weekend, holiday-themed theatre offerings abound at River & Rail Theatre Company, Clarence Brown Theatre, and Theatre Knoxville Downtown. While I haven’t heard of any sing-alongs, Nief-Norf is sponsoring its annual participatory “walk-along” Unsilent Night. And, of course,…
Knoxville Museum of Art Launches Re-Named Concert Series — ‘Soundscapes at the KMA’
By any other name… The Knoxville Museum of Art is launching a newly re-designed Friday evening concert series, Soundscapes at the KMA, beginning this Friday evening, December 8, and continuing monthly through August. Formerly known as “Alive After Five,” the…
Thursday Arts Miscellany: The Busiest First Friday of the Year?
Twenty years ago, it would have sounded impossible—Downtown Knoxville deluged again with bustling crowds delighted for a Christmas Parade, parking garages filled to overflowing, and sidewalks trying their best to accommodate those headed elsewhere to galleries, theatres, and shopping. But…
Review: Demirjian Leads KSO, KCS, and Soloists in ‘Messiah’ and ‘A Carol Symphony’
BY ALAN SHERROD Just what does it take for something to become a tradition? A specific concert selling out two years in row is probably a good start. For the second year, Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony…
UT Symphony Orchestra Wins The American Prize in Orchestral Performance For 2023
The University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra has been named the 2023 winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance for larger college/university programs. The UTSO, under music director and conductor James Fellenbaum, is a part of the UT College of…
Review: Traditions Get Even Better with CBT’s ‘A Christmas Carol’
CBT has been offering up various theatrical productions based on the Charles Dickens classic novella for decades, with many regular theatre-goers—and many occasional ones—making attendance a part of their own Holiday tradition.
Review: Pianist Alessio Bax, Conductor James Fellenbaum, KSO Thrill in ‘Rach Three’
BY ALAN SHERROD For a brief instant, the pose caught me by surprise but seemed unmistakable. Pianist Alessio Bax had just brought the house down in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra…
