Top 10 Reasons...

Not to Miss the Knoxville Symphony's Opening Concerts :

10. The concerts have a special 7:00 start time, so there is plenty of time to see people and socialize afterward.

9. You will hear at least one piece you have never heard before. I guarantee it. The American Scene: The South by William Grant Still has never been recorded and is rarely performed. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear this great piece of music!

8. Maestro Richman has been after John Williams to make his music to The Reivers available for YEARS. Williams finally agreed when Maestro Richman told him he wanted to put the piece on this year's opening concert. That makes Lucas the only person other than John Williams himself to conduct this score in concert. Very exciting. (Maestro Richman interviewed John Williams for one of this concert's podcasts!)

7. Speaking of The Reivers, Bill Williams is the narrator for the piece and, as usual, does a fantastic job. His story-telling is not to be missed.

6. Have you ever heard a car horn in the middle of a symphony concert? How about a piano that has been loaded down with coat hangers on the strings? You will if you come to the concert....

5. We have some new faces on stage as well as some old friends in new places. Ellen Connors joined the symphony as principal bassoon, Calvin Smith is now sitting principal horn, Miro Hristov is back sitting associate concertmaster and Edward Pulgar is principal second violin.

4. There's a lot of people on stage and several opportunities to hear instruments that don't usually have the spotlight. There is a tuba solo in The Reivers, and there is a euphonium solo in Pictures (Bydlo, which is my absolute favorite moment in the whole piece.). Saxophone is not an instrument that is typically heard in a symphony, but Moussorgsky wrote an extensive solo for it in the second movement of Pictures.

3. We're playing a piece written about Knoxville with a local soloist! Soprano Jami Rogers has been tremendous this week in rehearsal of Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915.

2. The KSO brass section is on fire this week. They always sound good, but this week especially they've taken my breath away. Principal Trumpet Cathy Leach, Principal Trombone Sam Chen, Principal Horn Calvin Smith and Principal Tuba Sande MacMorran all have substantial solos this concert and they all sound amazing.

1. It's going to be a great concert!