Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Announces 2024-2025 Season

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Aram Demirjian, has recently announced the program lineups and dates for its 2024-25 season for each of its five main series. Season subscriptions are on sale to current subscribers who want to…

Review: KSO and Violinist Geneva Lewis Present a Detailed and Subtle Beethoven

There are some concert program combinations that are simply too intriguing to pass up, for any number of reasons. Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra unlocked one of those combinations this past weekend, cutting an enjoyable swath through music history from early Romanticism through turn-of-the-century Impressionism, then finally introducing a compelling new work by a living American composer.

Next for the KSO — Geneva Lewis: Tennis Champ Turned Violin Star

In a tennis family where Lewis’ two brothers were also pros, it’s not surprising that daughter Geneva Lewis would excel at the sport. What is surprising is that she replaced her racket for a violin. And her career rise in the classical music world has been no less stunning than that of her father’s in the sports arena.

Review: KSO’s Present and Future Meet in a Celebration of Musicianship and the Mahler Fourth

The title given to this weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts was “The Heavenly Life: Mahler Symphony No. 4.” A less poetic, but perhaps equally accurate title might have been “Musicianship: Now and in the Future.”

KSO This Week: Why William Shaub Needs Two Violins for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4

BY DIANA SALESKY   William Shaub plays on one of the finest violins in the world – an 1865 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.  When he takes the stage of the Tennessee Theatre on January 25-26 as Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra,…

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…

Aram-isms: When the Conductor Speaks

BY DIANA SALESKY   Editor’s Note: Diana Salesky was the alto soloist in the recent Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at the Tennessee Theatre. There are moments during rehearsals and concerts when one connects with another performer for…

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…

KSO Announces Conductor Change for November Masterworks Concert

KSO Music Director Aram Demirjian is handing the baton over to KSO Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum for this week’s Masterworks concerts. The reason? On Saturday, November 11, Maestro Demirjian and his wife Caraline welcomed a daughter into their family. Congratulations!…

More on Charles Ives — “A Brass Band with Wings”

BY DIANA SALESKY   The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra under Aram Demirjian is performing Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 2 on Thursday and Friday, November 16 and 17, 7:30 PM, at the Tennessee Theatre.  [Tickets and Information] “I have so many fair…

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