Alan Sherrod

With over 400 years of music in our western repertoire, modern concerts devoted to just one composer often run the risk of appearing overly focused, fussy, and academic, even for listeners with more than a casual interest. The Knoxville Symphony ...

The reasons for La Traviata's popularity are clear—Giuseppe Verdi’s score is tuneful, lush, and addictively evocative; the libretto has a seemingly perfect balance of character complexity, stage simplicity, and literary intrigue. The challenge, of course, is to embrace the popularity ...

It was an evening of exploration—and perhaps even discovery—as the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra trod familiar trails and also ventured into some new territory with its concerts last weekend.

Of huge importance to the theme of “American” music on the program is the presence of the world premiere of Theodore Wiprud’s Violin Concerto (Katrina).

The orchestra was back, and in ways that were phenomenally impressive in both form and spirit.

When I first saw the programming lineup for the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra fall season, I sensed right away that something big and significant must be afoot.

I admit I never asked whether the joint occurrence of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and the opening concert last Sunday of the University of Tennessee Faculty Chamber Series was by design or by coincidence of the calendar. ...

“School’s Out” was a big hit for Alice Cooper in 1972, and has since become an iconic statement of euphoria for a summer with little to offer except a few mindless pleasures. Unfortunately, though, the song’s anthemic refrain—“School’s out for ...

Given recent sad events and important personnel changes, I wasn’t necessarily expecting the final Masterworks concerts of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2010-11 season to be an exhilarating and euphoric experience, but that’s exactly what happened last weekend.

Making sense of the Baroque period of music today is no small task, for probably no other period of music has suffered as much at the hands of both history and contemporary marketers.