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…
Review: Pianist Park, Guest conductor Di Russo, and KSO Shine in ‘Rhapsody’ et al.
BY ALAN SHERROD With the beginnings of the holiday season now upon us, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Maestro Aram Demirjian took the week off and handed the baton for its November Masterworks pair of concerts this past weekend to guest…
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…
KSO This Week: Pianist Chaeyoung Park — Classical Jazz Hands
I am fascinated to hear her answer to Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue when she joins the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra on November 20/21 for her first performance of the piece, alongside conductor Michelle DiRusso. Pianists who perform this work have a lot to answer for, in that Gershwin demands not only classical virtuosity but also serious jazz chops.…
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: KSO Concertmaster Series Opens With ‘Vices’ and Virtues
BY ALAN SHERROD In the space of only two weeks, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has launched four of its five performance series, with a fifth series opening just days away. The most recent of these season openers was last…
Review: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Turns In A Sublime Beethoven Ninth To Open 2025-26 Season
BY ALAN SHERROD It came as no real surprise that Maestro Aram Demirjian chose to open the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-26 season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. After all, the work is perfect for celebratory occasions, in this case, the…
Jennifer Higdon’s XC Blast – KSO Celebrates the Past and the Future
She’s won three Grammys, a Pulitzer, and has been composer-in-residence for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Next on her plate, composer Jennifer Higdon has written a celebratory fanfare for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s opening concerts of its historic 90th season on September 18-19. And what a moment that will be for us lucky East Tennesseans.
KSO To Open 90th Season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and a World Premiere
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra opens its 90th season with a World Premiere by Jennifer Higdon, ‘XC Blast’; Aaron Copland’s ‘Old American Songs’; and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.