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,…
KSO Joins 30-Orchestra Consortium in League of American Orchestras’ Commissioning of Women Composers
As the story from 1943 goes—composer Florence Price once wrote a letter to Maestro Serge Koussevitsky asking him to consider programming her music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In introducing herself, she wrote: “To begin with, I have two handicaps,…
This Week: KSO Welcomes Guest Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong and Pianist Michelle Cann
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks: “Michelle Cann Plays Rachmaninoff” Guest Conductor: Francesco Lecce-Chong Pianist: Michelle Cann Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street in Downtown Knoxville Thursday and Friday, October 13 and 14, 7:30 PM • • • Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.…
KSO’s Concertmaster Series Returns: A Q&A with Concertmaster William Shaub
BY ALAN SHERROD Although it seems like decades in our post-pandemic world, it was only five years ago in 2017 that we were introducing William Shaub as the new Concertmaster of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Since that time, the…
Review in Brief: KSO and Laura Beth Wells Bring A Sunday Afternoon Audience To Joy and Tears
BY ALAN SHERROD While a sudden fall rain fell outside the Bijou Theatre on Sunday afternoon, those inside may have noticed a little moisture as well. No, not a leaky roof, thank heavens, but rather a tear or two…
Review: KSO and Demirjian Find Freshness in Grieg and Tchaikovsky for Season Opener
BY ALAN SHERROD The four months of summer break for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concerts always seems a bit interminable. But there we were—strolling into the Tennessee Theatre lobby feeling that strange sense of excitement that is not…
Music on the Square This Week: KJO and KSO – Free!
Jazz on the Square continues on Tuesday this week in Market Square (and every Tuesday in September) courtesy of the City of Knoxville and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. Tonight’s FREE show features Matt Coker’s Hammond Organ Trio. Bring a chair…
2022-23 Season Begins: September Promises Non-Stop Events
While summer heat still prevails, one can sense the coming of fall. One sign of the inevitable change is the arts calendar for September, which is already bulging with opening concerts, shows, and events for the 2022-23 season. Most organizations…
KSO’s 2022-23 Season Nears as Individual Concert Tickets Go On Sale
The hypnotic music of late summer cicadas will soon give way to autumn’s music—just as hypnotic—from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Although one can still purchase a 2022-23 season subscription to any of their series, single tickets to individual concerts are…
Review: KSO Concludes 2021-22 Season with Fascinating Rhythm
BY ALAN SHERROD In days of yore—which now includes anything prior to the pandemic shutdown—one could count on the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for a season-ending concert that somehow included both an energetic musical experience and an emotional one. Heartstrings…