BY ALAN SHERROD Asked to describe American orchestral music over the last 130 years in a few words, we may find ourselves struggling for a quick answer. Admittedly, that’s probably because our own music history doesn’t necessarily feel like…
Review: KSO Offers a Valentine of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev
BY ALAN SHERROD Admittedly, Valentine’s Day is one of our stranger holidays. Having been commercialized into a merchandizing platform for chocolate, roses, jewelry, and anything pink, the day also impacts the programming of events in February. Classical music falls…
Review: Gluzman and KSO Combine For A Dynamic Brahms Violin Concerto
BY ALAN SHERROD For a variety of reasons, the January Masterworks concerts of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra always seem to acquire a disproportionate amount of unforeseen drama. For example, it was ten years ago this month that Aram Demirjian…
KSO This Week — A Perfect Pairing: Gluzman and Brahms
BY DIANA SALESKY One of the most important jobs a Music Director has is selecting soloists for its symphonic season. Maestro Aram Demirjian never disappoints in the violin category. In fact, he may have outdone himself this season with…
2025 Most Memorable Classical Music Performances in Knoxville
Change in the art and music world can come swiftly or cautiously, but finding meaning in either one is not necessarily easy to manage. Generally, new start-up organizations are a good sign, as is major news from those groups already…
KSO Extends Aram Demirjian’s Contract Through 2030
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has announced that Music Director Aram Demirjian has signed a new four-year contract that will continue his leadership of the orchestra through the 2029-30 season.  “We have made such inspiring strides together over the last 10…
Review: Demirjian, Fung, and Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Deliver a Magical Evening
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts this past weekend, as programmed by Maestro Aram Demirjian and delivered by the orchestra, featured a brilliant take on Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto by the young dynamic cellist Zlatomir Fung. The orchestra players were in the spotlight for the 1947 concert hall version of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka and its dramatic orchestral storytelling. And, the opener, Meilina Tsui’s Floridian Symphony, was a delightfully vibrant and atmospheric new work that calls on orchestral instruments and their players to explore and artistically replicate the natural sounds of a rural Florida environment and its world of insects, birds, and other animals.
KSO This Week: Essential Elgar, Storybook Stravinsky
Following its compelling opening Masterworks Series concerts last month, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra embraces an intriguing program for its October concerts this week that feature Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor with guest soloist Zlatomir Fung, along with Igor Stravinsky’s delicious folk-fantasy ballet score, Petrushka. Maestro Aram Demirjian will be opening the concert with the eight-minute Floridian Symphony by Meilina Tsui—receiving its first performances in the state of Tennessee.
Review: Magical Season Opener for KSO Chamber Series at the Bijou
BY ALAN SHERROD With a big helping of momentum from its recent Masterworks season opener, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra turned its attention to the popular Chamber Series for its season opener Sunday at the Bijou Theatre. Once again, the…
On Sunday: KSO Chamber Classics Opens With Price, Strauss, and Mozart
Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra — “Mozart & More” Roy Cockrum Chamber Series — Aram Demirjian, conductor –Works by Florence Price, Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sunday, September 28, 2:30 PM Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street Tickets and Information …