By Alan Sherrod There are a lot of myths surrounding the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but one thing that we know for certain is that he absolutely loved a good joke—particularly if it ridiculed or parodied those in…
New Faces in the KSO – 2018 Edition
Symphony orchestras, by their very definition, work as an ensemble, sometimes making it easy to forget that the ensemble is a collection of individuals. And, those are individuals who have devoted years to honing their talents through training and education.
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has seen some changes in it’s individuals for the 2018–19 season. Here are the new faces in the orchestra.
Review: KSO’s Q Series Finds A New Home At The Emporium Center
The KSO’s Q-Series, built around its Principal Quartet and the Woodwind Quintet, has seen a major venue change this season, leaving the Square Room and its presentational arrangement for the long rectangular gallery of Gay Street’s Emporium Center.
Review: KSO’s Season Opener Finds Warmth and Sparkle in Brahms and Rachmaninoff
The arriving audience for the weekend’s concerts by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in the Tennessee Theatre were greeted with glasses of champagne, no doubt to add a bit sparkle and lightness to the usual anxious expectations of season-opening concerts. For those who had missed the real season-opener for the orchestra, the production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide with the Clarence Brown Theatre, the bubbly reinforcement may have been necessary. However, those who had already been dazzled by Candide arrived warmed up and ready for the season.
After a performance of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Starburst, the pianist Joyce Yang joined the orchestra for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with the second half taken up by Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.
KSO This Week: Pianist Joyce Yang, “Brahms and Rachmaninoff”
There have been some notable anniversaries in the music world of 2018, among them Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, for which there have been global celebrations of his music. It was also composer Charles Gounod’s 200th birthday, and the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets. And—although you probably won’t find it on any national lists—2018 was the 75th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s last public performance in Knoxville, on February 17, 1943.
The KSO’s opening Masterworks concert of the season features works by Jonathan Leshnoff, the Piano Concerto No. 2 of Rachmaninoff, and Brahms Symphony No. 1.
Monday Arts Miscellany – September 10
A few things to plan on this week— • The Carpetbag Theatre presents Ce Nitram Sacul at the Flying Anvil Theatre, Thursday – Saturday, September 13-15, at 7:30 PM; Sunday, September 16, at 4:00 PM Tickets and Information “…a play about…
Monday Arts Miscellany – September 3
The fall arts season has traditionally started with Labor Day, so here we are. This week, add in First Friday and you have a wide range of enlightenments and diversions. Here are a few highlights. THEATRE The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra…
Review: CBT/KSO’s ‘Candide’ – The Best of Dazzling Possibilities
By Alan Sherrod For the last year or so, productions of Leonard Bernstein’s comic operetta Candide have been popping up all over the globe, from Europe to South America, thanks in large part to the encouragement and celebration surrounding…
Monday Arts Miscellany – August 27
One can feel September sneaking furtive glances at us as August stubbornly hangs on a few more days. All will be different next week—patches of urban concrete and suburban grass, accustomed to basking in the early morning sun, may find…
Preview: Collaboration Key To CBT/KSO’s ‘Candide’
By Alan Sherrod It’s a bit ironic that Voltaire’s Candide, a novella that satirizes the 18th Century philosophy of optimism and its inevitable disillusionment, has required plenty of optimism and perseverance from those that have sought to turn it…