Review: KSO Joins with Appalachian Ballet for a Superb ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

Knowing what we know about Felix Mendelssohn and his artistic attractions and interests, it is exceedingly likely that he would have been superbly delighted with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s adventure into A Midsummer Night’s Dream on this past weekend’s Masterworks concerts. Not only did the evening include Mendelssohn’s amazingly mature A Midsummer Night’s Dream concert overture, Op. 21, written when he was 17 years old, but also his Op. 61 incidental music for the play composed 16 years later that includes parts for two sopranos and choirs. Maestro Aram Demirjian didn’t stop there, though, adding excerpted Shakespearean text delivered as a clever narration plus the visual feast of ballet storytelling. The KSO’s partners in all this were Laura Beth Wells as the Narrator, sopranos Jacqueline Brecheen and Tori Franklin, the Webb School of Knoxville Chamber Singers, Pellissippi State Community College Variations, and 27 members of the Appalachian Ballet Company choreographed by Amy Morton Vaughn.

Tuesday Arts Miscellany: First Friday, ‘The Nutcracker’, and More

Appalachian Ballet Company – The Nutcracker The Appalachian Ballet Company is presenting its 50th Anniversary production of The Nutcracker. The wildly popular Tchaikovsky ballet will be presented on two weekends in Knoxville and Maryville: December 4 and 5 at the…

Review: KSO Basks in the Romance and Drama of Ballet – With and Without the Dancers

By Alan Sherrod   It was an evening of dance for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra last weekend, but that statement requires a bit of explanation. Much like the rhythm of a waltz, concert hall interest in music from Peter Ilyich…

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…

Preview: Appalachian Ballet Offers Its 46th Season of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’

Irony has an amusing place in music and dance performance history, for that history is full of examples of works that were unimpressive to audiences when they premiered, but later became giants of the repertoire. Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ certainly finds itself in this historic group.

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