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…
Review in Brief: KSO Offers Beautiful Bach; Coincidences Abound in Shostakovich
BY ALAN SHERROD As Maestro Aram Demirjian indicated in his preface of Sunday afternoon’s Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra concert, the programming for it had been done over a year in advance. So, it was both a grand and somber…
Review: Demirjian and the KSO Present Gems from the Past: Mozart, Farrenc, and Still
BY ALAN SHERROD Browsing the obituaries of notable citizens in the New York Times in September 1875, readers may have come across an obit for “Mme. Jean Louise Farrenc…a musician and composer of considerable distinction in the generation immediately…
Review: William Shaub and KSO Warm a Cold Evening in Barber’s Violin Concerto
BY ALAN SHERROD There is something of a notable history to the January Masterworks concerts by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra—a history that seems a bit contradictory on its face. In our coldest month, when inclement weather is likely to…