BY ALAN SHERROD Believe it or not, it has only been since 2015 that the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has marked the beginning of its busy holiday season with a “Classical Christmas” offering for its late-November Chamber Classics Series concert.…
Review: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Salutes Veterans Day
BY ALAN SHERROD Seizing on the opportunity of November 11th and Veterans Day coinciding with its Masterworks concert schedule for November, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Aram Demirjian chose to honor the occasion with a program entitled “Service…
KSO Joins 30-Orchestra Consortium in League of American Orchestras’ Commissioning of Women Composers
As the story from 1943 goes—composer Florence Price once wrote a letter to Maestro Serge Koussevitsky asking him to consider programming her music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In introducing herself, she wrote: “To begin with, I have two handicaps,…
Review in Brief: KSO and Laura Beth Wells Bring A Sunday Afternoon Audience To Joy and Tears
BY ALAN SHERROD While a sudden fall rain fell outside the Bijou Theatre on Sunday afternoon, those inside may have noticed a little moisture as well. No, not a leaky roof, thank heavens, but rather a tear or two…
Review: KSO and Demirjian Find Freshness in Grieg and Tchaikovsky for Season Opener
BY ALAN SHERROD The four months of summer break for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concerts always seems a bit interminable. But there we were—strolling into the Tennessee Theatre lobby feeling that strange sense of excitement that is not…
KSO’s 2022-23 Season Nears as Individual Concert Tickets Go On Sale
The hypnotic music of late summer cicadas will soon give way to autumn’s music—just as hypnotic—from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Although one can still purchase a 2022-23 season subscription to any of their series, single tickets to individual concerts are…
Review: KSO Concludes 2021-22 Season with Fascinating Rhythm
BY ALAN SHERROD In days of yore—which now includes anything prior to the pandemic shutdown—one could count on the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for a season-ending concert that somehow included both an energetic musical experience and an emotional one. Heartstrings…
Review: KSO Premieres Schachter’s ‘Cycle of Life’ – Offers a Phenomenal Rachmaninoff
BY ALAN SHERROD To say there was an air of excitement at the past weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts at the Tennessee Theatre would be an understatement. The occasion was the world premiere performances of Michael Schachter’s Violin Concerto:…
Review: KSO Honors Ukraine’s Struggle; Brilliant in Tchaikovsky and Brahms
BY ALAN SHERROD Orchestra programming and guest artist booking by symphony orchestras are done a year or more in advance, so it hardly seems fair to dwell on unfortunate coincidences that somehow manage to sneak their way onto an…
KSO This Week: Connecting Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Ethel Smyth
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Series Aram Demirjian, conductor— Guest artist Tanya Gabrielian Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street Thursday and Friday, March 17 and 18, 7:30 PM Tickets and Information Dame Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain’s Mate: Overture Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Piano…