Changing of the Guard

Good morning everyone! I get a kick out of reading the entries that Katy has been posting so diligently for the last two years. Thanks to the thoroughness of electronic media in bestowing me with the title of author of every previous entry, I must now provide the disclaimer that no, I am not responsible for the awesomeness which preceded me. I have big shoes to fill.

There’s a lot to talk about. Luckily, I like to talk. The music: a vast menagerie of styles, nationalities and personalities. Involving groups ranging in size from soloist to a cast of hundreds. Moments which are best experienced LIVE. Those CDs- they’re just not the same. The KSO’s output is but the tip of the musical iceberg, but what a glorious tip it is!

I really enjoyed Katy’s interviews with orchestra members and will try to keep up that good work. Although most of us are content to be adored onstage as classical music idols with superhuman musical powers, it may come as a pleasant surprise to you’uns that we require and desire the same things as “normal” people; e.g. food, clothing, shelter, chocolate and the beach.

It was a full week last week, with the violin doing most of the filling. Guest Concertmaster candidate Gabe Lefkowicz blazed through a well-balanced recital at Pellissippi State on Monday. Then on Thursday and Friday’s Masterworks concerts Midori set fire to Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Gabe volleyed back on solos in Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben with impressive zest. Saturday the 5th brings romantic tunes from Broadway and Hollywood on the Clayton Valentines Pops, and next weekend Massenet’s Manon takes the stage with the Knoxville Opera Company. Plenty to do indoors in this cold weather.

Stay tuned....