BY ALAN SHERROD University of Tennessee School of Music: “Rachmaninoff Remembered” UT Symphony Orchestra, UT Concert Choir, Pianist Chih-Long Hu, Guest Victor Yampolsky James R. Cox Auditorium, Alumni Memorial Building on the UT Campus Friday, February 17, 7:30 PM…
Review: KSO, Lecce-Chong, and Michelle Cann Take ‘Rach’ to the Heights
BY ALAN SHERROD Just what are the elements of a successful symphony orchestra season? Most will agree there has to be challenges to both the orchestra and the audience in the season’s programming. That programming has to have drama,…
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.
Review: Pianist Tanya Gabrielian and KSO Uncover Russian Passion
Given the current revelations of the past week, I couldn’t help feeling that Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra may have wished they had titled the week’s Masterworks concerts something other than “Russian Passion.” On the other hand,…
Review – KSO’s ‘Knoxville Postcards’ Paints the Past, Rejoices in the Future
As I threaded my way along the bustling sidewalks of downtown amid the intoxicating sounds and smells of the warm evening, headed for the Tennessee Theatre and the opening performances of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2017-18 season, I realized the…
This Week: KSO Will Open Season with ‘Russian Passion’
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents the Masterworks debut of its new music director and conductor, Aram Demirjian, Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m., September 15 and 16, at the Tennessee Theatre. The concert features two works by Russian composers,…
KSO This Week: Guest Conductor “Z” Kuwahara and Pianist Stewart Goodyear
This week’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concerts will feature the second of six guest conductors auditioning for the vacant music director position—Shizuo “Z” Kuwahara. I continue to suggest that every Knoxville classical music listener catch all of the candidate concerts…