By Alan Sherrod For the previous two seasons, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra music director Aram Demirjian has concluded those seasons with programs that mixed repertoire stalwarts with exciting newer works that had the effect of flinging open the door to…
Review: KSO’s “Mozart in the City” Wraps Its Chamber Classics Season
By Alan Sherrod Creating concert programs that satisfy and challenge an audience, as well as providing intellectual connections that intrigue the listener, is an art—an art that Knoxville Symphony Orchestra maestro Aram Demirjian obviously relishes. His program for the…
Review: KSO and Choral Colleagues Combine for a Sublime Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
By Alan Sherrod If works of music were living human beings, they would no doubt be nervous, if not outright frightened, to be paired on a concert with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Yet, the pairing of contemporary works with Beethoven’s…
Review: Shaub, Chen, and KSO Combine for An Evening of Symphonic Delights
By Alan Sherrod It is something of an understatement that Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor is a vehicle for violinist stardom—either for those who already have acclaim and reputation, or for those who seem destined for acclaim…
KSO’s 2019-20 Masterworks Season Lineup: A Q&A with Maestro Aram Demirjian
By Alan Sherrod The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra released the news of their 2019-20 season programming last month, planting the seeds of excitement in Knoxville classical music listeners. KSO music director and conductor Aram Demirjian took the time to answer…
Review: Pianist Chih-Long Hu and KSO Brighten a Sunday, Rainy Sunday
By Alan Sherrod It is sheer speculation on my part, but I’m betting that if KSO music director Aram Demirjian had known that Sunday afternoon would be yet another gloomy, rainy, soporific day, he might have programmed his Chamber Classics…
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…
Review: The Present and the Future Collide in KSO’s Majestic “New World”
By Alan Sherrod A collision of the present and the future occurred on the stage of the Tennessee Theatre this weekend—an experience that was noticeably transformative for both performers and audience. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and its Knoxville Symphony…
Review: “The Music of John Williams” – Fellenbaum and the KSO Summon the Force
By Alan Sherrod It is said that everyone has at least one awakening moment in their life when music and culture collide at a particular time and place. For those in their pre-teen years, such a music/culture moment is…
Review: Virtuosity and Warm Reflection Highlight January’s Concertmaster Series Concert
By Alan Sherrod If Tchaikovsky’s ballets, symphonies, and operas tell us anything, it is that the composer gravitated to the richness and complexity of orchestral textures as a main vehicle for musical creation. Chamber music seems to have had…