The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Classics Series concert on Sunday afternoon at the Bijou Theatre will feature KSO Principal Flute Devan Jaquez in Malcolm Arnold’s Flute Concerto No. 1. James Fellenbaum will conduct.
Most Read ARTS KNOXVILLE Stories of 2023
If one was looking for a definite sign that the peripheral effects of the pandemic had at last faded away, 2023 was an almost perfect answer. Readership of articles on Arts Knoxville grew some 20% over 2022, paralleling the increase…
Most Memorable Classical Music Performances of 2023
BY ALAN SHERROD We’ll probably look back on 2023 as something of a threshold year. With the pandemic restrictions and precautions fading into a dusty corner of our concert-going memory, we embraced the idea that a combination of luck…
Aram-isms: When the Conductor Speaks
BY DIANA SALESKY Editor’s Note: Diana Salesky was the alto soloist in the recent Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at the Tennessee Theatre. There are moments during rehearsals and concerts when one connects with another performer for…
Review: Demirjian Leads KSO, KCS, and Soloists in ‘Messiah’ and ‘A Carol Symphony’
BY ALAN SHERROD Just what does it take for something to become a tradition? A specific concert selling out two years in row is probably a good start. For the second year, Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony…
Review: Pianist Alessio Bax, Conductor James Fellenbaum, KSO Thrill in ‘Rach Three’
BY ALAN SHERROD For a brief instant, the pose caught me by surprise but seemed unmistakable. Pianist Alessio Bax had just brought the house down in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra…
KSO Announces Conductor Change for November Masterworks Concert
KSO Music Director Aram Demirjian is handing the baton over to KSO Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum for this week’s Masterworks concerts. The reason? On Saturday, November 11, Maestro Demirjian and his wife Caraline welcomed a daughter into their family. Congratulations!…
KSO This Week and Next: Ives, Rachmaninoff Set the Stage for “A Classical Christmas”
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks This Week: “Bax Plays Rachmaninoff” • Bernstein: Overture to Candide • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor (Alessio Bax, piano) • Charles Ives: Symphony No. 2 Thursday and Friday, November 16 and 17,…
Review: Bruch’s ‘Scottish Fantasy’ Comes Alive with Stefan Jackiw and KSO – A Sensational Beethoven ‘Pastoral’
BY ALAN SHERROD Concerts have an intriguing way of taking on a life and meaning of their own. That meaning may be obvious and intentional, or personal and ineffable. That is the joy—and burden—of those that program concerts: the…
Review: KSO’s Concertmaster Series—Nostalgia and History
BY ALAN SHERROD “Nostalgia is just History after a few drinks.” The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster Series as hosted by Concertmaster William Shaub has always enjoyed displaying its dual personality of virtuosic violin showmanship contrasted with deep dives into…