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 […]
Category: Behind the Music
Bringing Music to Young Learners
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 […]
Star-Crossed Lovers
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 […]
Finding Freedom Inside Bach
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 […]
How Clayton Comes Together
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 […]
Joining a 300-Year Story
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 […]
Rhapsody in Blue: Behind the Music
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 […]
A New Era for KSO’s Chimes
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 […]