For high school orchestra students, the opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside members of the KSO offers a new perspective on what it means to make music together. This fall, the KSO’s Side-by-Side program brought the orchestra’s core string musicians to Farragut High School for hands-on coaching and a joint concert conducted by Music Director […]
The acclaimed pianist makes his Knoxville Symphony Orchestra debut November 12–13 with one of the most demanding concertos in the piano repertoire. But for Denk, the music is about much more than technical virtuosity. Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 has a reputation as one of the most challenging works ever written for piano and […]
Rarely performed Bernstein 12-song cycle brings together six vocalists and the words of 13 American poets Oct. 15-16 The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Aram Demirjian will present the Tennessee premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s complete Songfest on Oct. 15–16 at the Tennessee Theatre. The program also features Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Julia Perry’s […]
Living composers, celebrated guest artists and a new Poet-in-Residence highlight the KSO’s 91st season. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2026-27 season invites audiences to experience orchestral music through timeless masterworks, acclaimed guest artists, innovative collaborations, and performances beyond the concert hall. Led by Music Director Aram Demirjian in his 11th season, the KSO presents nearly 50 […]
Free Independence Day concert features community leaders, Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone David Crawford, Grand Ole Opry performer Wyatt Ellis, broadcasters Hallerin Hilton Hill and John Becker, and inaugural KSO Poet-in-Residence Rhea Carmon KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (June 17, 2026) – The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with its 42nd Annual Lawson Family Foundation Free Independence […]
Season-ending concerts honor retiring musicians The KSO closed its 2025-26 MoxCar Marketing + Communications Masterworks Series on May 14-15 with Marsalis Swing Symphony, a collaboration with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra that celebrated the rich connections between jazz and symphonic music. The concerts at the Tennessee Theatre also provided an opportunity for the KSO to honor […]
A 9 for 90 premiere rooted in community After the first half of the KSO’s April Masterworks concert closed with Quilts, a new work by Jonathan Leshnoff, many audience members made their way back to the Tennessee Theatre lobby. They returned to the quilts that inspired the music, seeing new connections in the patterns and […]
Former KSYO student shapes the next generation When Kathy Hart first joined the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestras as a high school violinist, she had just moved to Knoxville from upstate New York. It was a new city, a new experience, and a moment of uncertainty that would quietly shape the direction of her life. “You […]
Seven World Premieres from March to May KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2026) – In celebration of the KSO’s 90th Anniversary Season, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) and Music Director Aram Demirjian created the 9 for 90 season-long commissioning initiative that welcomes the world premieres of nine works, each composed specifically for the KSO and performed […]
How the KSO Crafts the VYPC Concert Experience In February, the KSO will welcome more than 3,500 kindergarten through second-grade students to three sold-out performances of its Very Young People’s Concerts (VYPC). These 45-minute shows, designed especially for early-elementary learners, blend narration, visual storytelling, dance, and live orchestral music. For many children, it is their […]
Love, Fate, and the Music of Romeo and Juliet Valentine’s Romance: Star-Crossed Lovers brings together three Russian composers whose music confronts a familiar human question: how love persists – or fails – when shaped by conflict, fate, and loss. For Music Director Aram Demirjian, the program offers a way to mark Valentine’s Day without reducing […]
Inside the Woodwind Quintet with Duncan Henry For the upcoming Q Series concert, there’s an opportunity to listen a little differently: through the ears of one musician. Principal Bassoon Duncan Henry offers a way into the music that’s less about expertise and more about attention, curiosity, and conversation. At the center of the program is […]
Devan Jaquez and Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 In Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, the flute steps into the spotlight, but never does so alone. Written in the late 1730s, the suite places the flute at the center of a musical dialogue, moving through a series of dances that range from stately to […]
Reflections on Performance and Collaboration When violinist Vadim Gluzman steps onto the Tennessee Theatre stage for the KSO’s January Masterworks concerts, he brings with him one of the most revered works in the violin repertoire and a lifetime of lived experience inside its music. Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major is often described as […]
KSO Presents Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert Knoxville, Tenn. (January 7, 2026) – The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will present Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Audiences will experience the complete film on the big screen while the […]
Behind the scenes of Knoxville’s favorite holiday tradition For 39 years, the Clayton Holiday Concerts have brought together thousands of East Tennesseans for a festive weekend of music at the Civic Auditorium. With four performances – one Friday, two Saturday, and a Sunday matinee – the concerts are among the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s largest annual […]
Premiering Kevin Day’s “Sing to the Moon” As part of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 9 for 90 commissioning project – a season-long initiative marking the KSO’s 90th anniversary with nine new works by nine composers – Kevin Day contributed a piece for brass quintet titled Sing to the Moon. The work receives its world premiere […]
Handel’s Messiah Returns to the Tennessee Theatre Nov. 24, 2025 – When the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Knoxville Choral Society take the stage this Sunday at the Tennessee Theatre, they’re doing more than performing a beloved holiday tradition. They’re stepping into a story that has connected performers and audiences across three centuries. “Performing Messiah means […]
The KSO Extends Music Director’s Contract Through 2030 Knoxville, Tenn. (Nov. 19, 2025) – The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors announces that Music Director Aram Demirjian has signed a new four-year contract, extending his leadership through the 2029–30 season. This marks Demirjian’s fourth contract with the KSO and will bring his tenure to 14 […]
A Spark of American Genius Meets Two Rising Stars When George Gershwin stepped onto the stage of New York’s Aeolian Hall on February 12, 1924, he did so almost sheepishly. The audience, restless and drifting after a long experimental program, had no idea that the next sixteen minutes would change American music forever. What followed […]
Behind the Repertoire of the 2025 Young People’s Concerts This week, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents one of its most cherished traditions: the Sheena McCall Young People’s Concerts, specially designed for students across East Tennessee. This year’s event includes three performances — one on October 29 and two on October 30 — all held live […]
Composer Meilina Tsui’s Masterclass at UT As part of her visit to Knoxville for the Tennessee premiere of her new orchestral work, composer Meilina Tsui met with music composition students at the University of Tennessee’s Natalie L. Haslam College of Music for an engaging masterclass. The session was presented in collaboration with the KSO, whose […]
Cellist Zlatomir Fung’s Masterclass at UT The day before his Knoxville Symphony Orchestra debut, internationally-renowned cellist Zlatomir Fung led a captivating masterclass at the University of Tennessee’s Natalie L. Haslam College of Music—a collaboration made possible through the KSO’s Community & Education program and its ongoing partnership with the university. In front of an attentive […]
KSO launches 90th Anniversary Season with Beethoven’s Ninth The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra opened its 90th anniversary season with a program that celebrated both contemporary creativity and symphonic grandeur. Led by Music Director Aram Demirjian, the concert began with a burst of energy in the form of XC Blast by Jennifer Higdon — the first commission […]
For more than three decades, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s chimes have been part of its musical voice: marking triumphant moments, adding sparkle to holiday favorites, and ringing out like church bells in Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. But after 30-plus years of service (and hundreds of miles on the road), our trusty chimes had reached the end […]
On July 4, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra brought patriotic spirit and musical joy to the World’s Fair Park Amphitheater for its 41st Annual Independence Day Concert, presented by the Lawson Family Foundation. Thousands gathered with lawn chairs and picnic blankets as part of the City of Knoxville’s Festival on the Fourth. Music Director Aram Demirjian […]
In May 2025, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presented the world premiere of Between Suns, a groundbreaking new concerto for West African drums and orchestra, composed by Derrick Skye and performed by Obayana Ajanaku and Indigenous Vibes. The KSO-commissioned work was met with enthusiastic applause at the Tennessee Theatre, where audiences experienced an electrifying fusion of […]
In January 2025, , the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presented its Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert to a full house at the Bijou Theatre. The free performance, presented in partnership with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and the Bijou, honored the enduring legacy of Dr. King through the powerful music of gospel legend Mahalia […]
What a nice way to end a season with a wide variety of music from France, Spain and America! Gershwin’s “American in Paris” is a fun piece describing the clamor and beauty of Paris, a city that has been on our minds a lot recently. Part of the clamor comes from traffic noises that are […]
Leslie Odom. Jr. is a “Triple Threat” (singer, dancer, actor) and he’s done everything from the TV screen to Broadway, and he’s coming to Knoxville for one night only. “The world will never be the same…” (Yes, that’s a lyric from Hamilton…) If you’re not familiar with the Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” it’s a spellbinding work, […]
Aram Demirjian, Music Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, received the 2019 Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., the foremost organization in the United States dedicated to assisting outstanding young conductors to further develop their talent and careers. Demirjian was one of just ten recipients. The Foundation endeavors to seek out those musicians […]
Just because it’s an interesting transition between playing the music of Pink Floyd on Saturday and moving on to Masterworks this week doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. The Pink Floyd crowd loved the concert, and it’s always nice to play for an appreciative audience. (Picture a rock band backed by a full orchestra playing […]
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will travel to Washington, D.C. in March 2020 to participate in the ‘SHIFT: Festival of American Orchestras’- where only four American orchestras will perform. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts have announced the four orchestras selected to participate in the third SHIFT: A Festival […]
One of the improvements the symphony has made in the last few years is in finding new ways to showcase the players. We have some really strong players in the orchestra, and the relatively new Q Series is a great way to hear some of our core players. This Wednesday, Feb. 27 you can hear the […]
Last week’s masterworks was a fun concert, especially with the addition of the Appalachian Ballet Company dancers. Obviously, I didn’t get to watch everything that they did, but the part that really intrigued me was part of the “Ritual Fire Dance” where the dancers entered while shaking prop branches. Not only did it look cool, but I […]
I always have a seat under the stage for ballet, so while I get some interesting views of fog, I never get to see whatever is going on in the show. This week changes everything because we have the Appalachian Ballet Company performing while we play romantic music. I always marvel at the dancers and […]
This past Tuesday, as part of the Knoxville Symphony League’s Elegant Dining Series, the musicians of the KSO hosted a “Symphony Soiree” where we musicians cooked the food and provided the entertainment. The event was a unique chance to get to hear somewhat different music from fellow classical musicians in the orchestra along with the […]
Playing movie scores is challenging because you have to be flexible and adjust tempos within scenes, but you also do not have the luxury of being able to slow down scenes that are difficult. The rehearsals tend to be intense because you don’t wait for the action in the movie to pass by, you just […]
Get to know conductor, coffee drinker and crossword puzzle enthusiast Aram Demirjian in this Q&A post, Part II of II. Read Part I here. 1. Can you briefly describe what made you *sure* you wanted to pursue music as a career? What, if anything, bolstered that decision? I remember I was walking home in college […]
As a musician, I enjoy it when people trust me enough to allow me into their world for important events in their lives. We see them at weddings, funerals, church services, and sometimes in the hospital. It’s a privilege to be invited into someone’s world. I’ve enjoyed being a part of the city’s Martin Luther […]
