This past Sunday afternoon yielded two concerts that practically defined memorable, one of which was the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s season opening concert in their Chamber Classics Series at the Bijou that featured the world premiere of Dosia McKay’s ‘The Lure of the Flowering Fern’, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 with pianist Emi Kagawa, and Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Aram Demirjian conducted.
Sunday Spotlight: Pianist Emi Kagawa & KSO Chamber Orchestra—Mozart, Beethoven, McKay
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra begins its Chamber Classics Series on Sunday, September 29, at the Bijou Theatre. The concert will offer Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4, preceded by the world premiere of the KSO-commissioned, ‘The Lure of the Flowering Fern’ and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. KSO’s Emi Kagawa is the pianist in the Mozart concerto. Aram Demirjian conducts.
Review: KSO Delights with Season Opener of Beethoven and Gershwin
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra opened its 2024-25 season with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, plus ‘Kauyumari’ by the contemporary Mexican composer, Gabriela Ortiz. Aram Demirjian conducted.
Review: The Gravity of ‘The Planets’ – Resistance is Futile
Although last evening’s Masterworks concert—Part 2 of the KSO’s Cosmos Festival— had the massive orchestral suite The Planets by Gustav Holst as its focus, there were other attractions to enchant the listener.
Not To Be Eclipsed, KSO Celebrates the Cosmos With A Festival
While Knoxville mostly missed the celestial entertainment of the Total Eclipse this week due to cloud cover and rainy weather, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Cosmos Festival will not require special glasses or rain gear, but—at most—a ticket or two.
Review: KSO and Violinist Geneva Lewis Present a Detailed and Subtle Beethoven
There are some concert program combinations that are simply too intriguing to pass up, for any number of reasons. Maestro Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra unlocked one of those combinations this past weekend, cutting an enjoyable swath through music history from early Romanticism through turn-of-the-century Impressionism, then finally introducing a compelling new work by a living American composer.
Next for the KSO — Geneva Lewis: Tennis Champ Turned Violin Star
In a tennis family where Lewis’ two brothers were also pros, it’s not surprising that daughter Geneva Lewis would excel at the sport. What is surprising is that she replaced her racket for a violin. And her career rise in the classical music world has been no less stunning than that of her father’s in the sports arena.
Review: KSO’s Present and Future Meet in a Celebration of Musicianship and the Mahler Fourth
The title given to this weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts was “The Heavenly Life: Mahler Symphony No. 4.” A less poetic, but perhaps equally accurate title might have been “Musicianship: Now and in the Future.”
KSO This Week: Why William Shaub Needs Two Violins for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4
BY DIANA SALESKY William Shaub plays on one of the finest violins in the world – an 1865 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. When he takes the stage of the Tennessee Theatre on January 25-26 as Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra,…
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…