Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Announces the 2008-2009 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks and Chamber Classics Season
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Lucas Richman are thrilled to announce the new 2008-2009 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks and Chamber Classics Series. All eight Masterworks programs will be held at the Tennessee Theatre on Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m. under the direction of Maestro Lucas Richman, unless otherwise noted. All five Chamber Classics concerts will take place on Sunday afternoons at 2:30 PM at the Bijou Theatre.
Maestro Richman has selected some phenomenal works for the KSO to perform this season and invited world-renowned guest artists to accompany the musicians. “We're continuing in the programming direction that has inspired many new audience members to attend KSO concerts this year alongside our loyal subscribers,” says Richman. “Next season's Masterworks and Chamber Series will highlight our cultural gem of an orchestra with world-class solo artists in a continued mix of masterpieces that span from the Baroque era to the modern.
2008-2009 KSO Masterworks Season
Subscriptions to the 2008-2009 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks series begin at just $126 and are currently on sale to the general public.
Opening Night: Gershwin & Bernstein
September 18 & 19, 2008
7:00 PM (Note New Time)
This season’s opening concerts will take place on Thursday and Friday, September 18 & 19, at the Tennessee Theatre and will honor American composers of the past and present. The orchestra will open with Maryville native Jennifer Higdon’s Fanfare Ritmico. Ms. Higdon is the leading composer on the contemporary music landscape. Next, pianist Spencer Myer will join the orchestra on stage to perform Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. The orchestra will then perform Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story and Candide Overture.
All Tchaikovsky
October 16 & 17, 2008
On October 16 and 17 the orchestra will present the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The program will open with Hamlet, which completed the set of Tchaikovsky’s symphonic tone poems based on Shakespeare. Cellist Reynard Rott will then take the stage to perform Rococo Variations, one of the most charming and graceful works for cello. The orchestra will then perform the Symphony No. 5, a heroic work that catapulted Tchaikovsky into a whole new realm of composition.
Beethoven & Bruch
November 20 & 21, 2008
On November 20 and 21, the KSO will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini with Preludio Sinfonico. Augustin Hadelich, a gold medalist in the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, will perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The orchestra will then continue the ongoing cycle of Beethoven symphonies with his Symphony No. 7.
Mozart & Mendelssohn
January 15 & 16, 2009
In January the orchestra will perform a more intimate concert concentrating on three Germanic greats: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian,” and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 featuring Navah Perlman, daughter of violin legend Itzhak Perlman. A fantastic musician in her own right, Ms. Perlman has performed to critical acclaim in major concert venues throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Brahms Symphony No. 2
February 26 & 27, 2009
KSO horn player Mark Harrell was commissioned by the KSO to compose the opening work in February’s program: Time Like an Ever Flowing Stream. The orchestra has performed other works by Harrell that have received great response from the audience; the KSO expects nothing less from this world premiere. Keeping the theme of Valentine’s Day alive, the orchestra will then perform two works by Brahms - Liebeslieder (translated “Love Songs”) Waltzes, featuring members of the Knoxville Choral Society’s Chamber Chorale, and his Symphony No. 2.
Boléro!
March 19 & 20, 2009
March’s masterworks program focuses on a theme of orchestral colors. The orchestra will begin with Theofanidis’ award winning contemporary composition Rainbow Body, and end with Ravel’s Boléro, a one-movement orchestral piece originally composed as a ballet. Maestro Richman is also continuing the ongoing exploration of Strauss’ tone poems with Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, a most perfect tone poem in construction and dramatic use of orchestral instruments. Sphinx Competition winner Elena Urioste will join the orchestra to perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto.
Choral Spectacular
April 16 & 17, 2009
The Knoxville Choral Society will join the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra on April 16 & 17 for the annual Choral Spectacular. This season’s concerts focus on a spiritual program contrasting the sacred and the profane. The orchestra will open with Messian’s Les Offrandes Oubliées and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7, his last symphony and possibly the most profound demonstration of his inner faith. Stravinsky’s Symphony of the Psalms and Borodin’s Polovstian Dances, from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Prince Igor, will feature the Knoxville Choral Society, under the direction of Eric Thorson.
Richman Conducts Mahler May 14 & 15, 2009
The conclusion of this Masterworks series features Mahler’s grand Symphony No. 5, the centerpiece of which is the eloquent Adagietto, a “love letter” for harp and strings that Mahler wrote to his wife Alma. Alexander Ghindin, winner of the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition, will perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Mr. Ghindin is also the youngest winner ever at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, clinching the title in 1994 at the age of 14.
2008-2009 KSO Chamber Classics Season
Subscriptions to the 2008-2009 Chamber Classics series begin at just $91.50 and are currently on sale to the general public.
KSO Principal Quartet
November 9, 2008
The opening concert of the 2008-2009 Chamber Classics series features the KSO Principal Quartet: Miroslav Hristov and Eric Kline on violin, Kathryn Gawne on viola and Andy Bryenton on cello. The quartet will perform Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, Puccini’s Chrysanthemums and Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1.
Basically Bach
January 25, 2009
January’s Chamber Classics concert features four Baroque concerti: Handel’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 and three works by Bach - Viola Concerto, featuring KSO Principal violist Kathryn Gawne, Concerto for Two violins, featuring KSO Concertmaster Mark Zelmanovich and Associate Concertmaster Miroslav Hristov, and Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.
Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony
March 1, 2009
The Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn’s Overture to The Fair Melusina, Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, featuring the Knoxville Choral Society’s Chamber Chorale, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” The vibrant Italian Symphony bears the distinction of being the only major symphony whose last movement is set in a minor key, largely due to Italian influenced saltarello finale.
Chamber Music of America
April 5, 2009
April’s Chamber Classics concert features American Chamber music that runs the gamut from serious early works of notable American composers to the less high brow songs of their colleagues. The concert opens with Bernstein’s Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, featuring KSO Music Director Lucas Richman on piano. Richman will also join members of the Chamber Orchestra for Aaron Copland’s Vitebsk. Soprano Jennifer Barnett will join the Chamber Orchestra to perform Bowles’ Blue Mountain Ballads and selections of Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs. Also on the program is Richman’s original composition Our Waking Life and a Dream and Barber’s String Quartet, which includes the popular Adagio for strings.
Schubert in Spring
May 3, 2009
The Chamber Classics season will conclude with the music of Franz Schubert including his glorious cello quintet and the vibrant Symphony No. 3 from which one can truly experience this master of melody at work.
About the KSO and Lucas Richman
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has contributed to the cultural life in East Tennessee since 1935. The KSO is part of the Knoxville Symphony Society which includes the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Pops Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, five orchestras of the Knoxville Youth Orchestra Association and several smaller performing ensembles. Under the leadership of Lucas Richman, the orchestra consists of more than 80 professional musicians and performs more than 250 programs throughout East Tennessee each season. Performing in traditional venues such as the Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theatre and the Civic Auditorium, and in non-traditional places like hospitals, school classrooms, nursing homes, city parks and churches, the KSO reaches more than 160,000 people throughout the region each year.
The 2008-2009 season will mark Lucas Richman’s sixth year as Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Society. He comes to Knoxville from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra where he was Resident and Assistant Conductor from 1998 through 2004. Maestro Richman is also a respected leader in the field of planning and conducting concerts for young people and an accomplished composer. His music has been performed by over two hundred orchestras in the last ten years.
For more information about the 2008-2009 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks or Chamber Classics season, log on to www.knoxvillesymphony.com. Subscriptions to either series may be purchased through the KSO Box Office by calling (865) 291-3310 or in person at the Emporium Building, 100 S. Gay. St.
