BY ALAN SHERROD Staying safe from the ravages of the current pandemic while also laying the groundwork for the eventual return to normalcy has been an ongoing conundrum for musicians, artists, and their organizations. While we wait for live…
Review in Brief: KSO’s Concertmaster Series Dives Into Beethoven, Haydn, and Bates
By Alan Sherrod Since its humble beginnings in the backroom of a coffee house, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster Series has evolved organically, continuing to dazzle with small ensemble virtuosity, while also exploring the music’s connections to history and…
Tuesday Arts Miscellany: January 21, 2020
This may be the last week before the big winter crush of performances and shows that inundate us with conflicting choices. Take these events in while you can. “William Shaub and Friends”, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster Series concert…
Review: Baroque Excitement from KSO Concertmaster William Shaub and Friends
By Alan Sherrod One of the themes that musical Baroque-ophiles love to espouse about their adored Baroque era—after the impassioned joy it produces in them as musicians or listeners—is the inspirational effect that the music has had on subsequent…
Review: Virtuosity and Warm Reflection Highlight January’s Concertmaster Series Concert
By Alan Sherrod If Tchaikovsky’s ballets, symphonies, and operas tell us anything, it is that the composer gravitated to the richness and complexity of orchestral textures as a main vehicle for musical creation. Chamber music seems to have had…
Review: William Shaub and Friends Illuminate a Treasure of Baroque Gems in KSO’s Concertmaster Series
By Alan Sherrod Many Baroque composers are known for prolific output—J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel among them—but none so much as Antonio Vivaldi. His concerto output alone totals more than 500 works, yet none of these have been rewarded…
Review: KSO’s Concertmaster Series Explores the Power of String Duos
In a way, it feels like eons have passed since October 2012 when the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra launched its Concertmaster Series of solo and small ensemble music events under then-Concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz. During those five seasons, much has changed: the…
William Shaub Takes the Reins of the KSO’s Concertmaster Series
Most regular concertgoers have, at least, a vague idea of the role of an orchestra’s concertmaster. He or she symbolically represents the orchestra as a whole, occupies the first chair position of the first violins, calls for tuning at the…
Review in Brief: The Final “Gabriel Lefkowitz and Friends”
After last weekend’s stellar final Masterworks concert appearance by outgoing concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz performing the Brahms Violin Concerto (see the review in the Knoxville Mercury), this week’s final Concertmaster Series events (“Gabriel Lefkowitz and Friends”) may have seemed a bit anticlimactic…
KSO This Week – William Shaub’s Audition and Gabriel Lefkowitz’s Finale
This week’s Masterworks concerts by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra mark yet another transition for the organization. Just as the KSO’s Aram Demirjian begins the last three programs of his first season as music director and principal conductor, the KSO’s concertmaster Gabriel Lefkowitz ends his six year stint with the orchestra having taken up the comparable post with the Louisville Orchestra.