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!…
On Sunday: UT Symphony Orchestra Takes On Sibelius, Schumann, and Brahms
BY ALAN SHERROD It is simply too easy, if not dangerous, to take the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra for granted. Year after year in the 20-year tenure of Conductor and Director of Orchestras James Fellenbaum—of the now UT…
NY Phil Concertmaster Huang to Perform in Knoxville With UT Symphony
BY DIANA SALESKY The New York Philharmonic is, inarguably, one of the finest orchestras in the world. Therefore, it stands to reason that its Concertmaster position would be occupied by one of the finest violinists in the world. And…
Friday: UT School of Music Honors the 80th Anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s Last Concert
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 Journeys Through Color and Emotions in Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, and McKay
BY ALAN SHERROD The fall Masterworks season for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has been an exploration of the colors of emotion in its various forms. Elgar’s Enigma Variations from the September concert described characters and toyed with our heartstrings,…
UT Symphony Orchestra on Sunday: Bartok and Shostakovich
University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra Viola Celebration Finale Sunday, October 24, 4:00 PM James R. Cox Auditorium on the UT Campus FREE Bartok: Viola Concerto Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 In Viola Celebration Finale, Three Notable Violists Combine for Bartok’s Viola…
Review: KSO Opens Its 2021-22 Chamber Classics Series
BY ALAN SHERROD Tchaikovsky By Any Other Name Would Sound As Sweet… The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra continued its season openers this past Sunday afternoon—this time with the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra and resident conductor James Fellenbaum starting off their…
KSO Chamber Classics On Sunday: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Something Sorta New
Knoxville Symphony Chamber Classics Series Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, conducted by James Fellenbaum Bijou Theater in Downtown Knoxville Sunday, October 3, 2:30 PM Jessie Montgomery: Strum Josef Suk: Serenade, Op. 6, E-Flat Major Theofanidis: Chamber Symphony No.1 (an arrangement of…
UT Symphony Orchestra on Sunday: Audiences Welcome For American Premiere of Work by Emilie Mayer
BY ALAN SHERROD The University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra Conductor: James Fellenbaum “Unfinished Business” Sunday, September 19, 2020 – 4:00 PM James R. Cox Auditorium on the UT Campus Free When one mentions the notable prolific symphonists of the…