Thursday, November 7, 2013

Catching our breath

Personally, I am finding it hard to put on the brakes this week after the last was so action-packed. Kiddie concerts and Chamber Orchestra, plus a whole lotta Halloween celebrations. It’s a good chance to catch my breath and notice what’s on my calendar and that of others in the group.

On a journey that has actually already started, one of our core quartets will be touring the Knox County Public Libraries on the “Dig Into Reading” tour. Violinists Rachel Loseke and Yin Wu, violist Bill Pierce and cellist Ildar Khuziakhmetov started Tuesday at the South Knoxville branch. They will hit Fountain City on Friday at 10:15, Karnes on Nov. 13 at 11 am, downtown Thursday the 14th at 11 am, and Murphy, Farragut, Burlington, Norwood, Powell, and Cedar Bluff the week of Nov. 18th.

The Saint John’s Cathedral Monday Noon Recital series is a fine Knoxville classical music institution that brings chamber and solo repertoire to a downtown audience. I have performed many times in this series, and not merely for the free (for performers) lunch that follows each concert! On November 18th, KSO board member Dr. Frank Gray will be teaming up at the piano with Emi Kagawa in a program of piano four-hands music. There will be music of Schubert, and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes. The concert is free of charge, but the lunch afterwards is $5 for guests. Ms Kagawa will be joining the KSO Principal Quartet in January for a show on the new "Q" Series, in Schumann’s Piano Quintet at American Piano Gallery in Turkey Creek.

The Fall Youth Orchestra concerts are less than a week away! The 40th season of KSYOA starts off on Monday Nov. 11 at 7:00 pm at the Tennessee Theatre. All five groups will perform, starting with the Preludium orchestra, directed by Erin Archer. Her cool sister Megan Tipton will be conducting one of the pieces. Katie Hutchinson’s Philharmonia will present selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Wired by Lauren Bernofsky. Kathy Hart-Reilly will lead her Sinfonia ensemble through music of Yukiko Nishimura, Beethoven and J.C. Bach. Wesley Baldwin’s Youth Chamber Orchestra will be focusing on music of Scandinavia, with Arvo Pärt and Carl Nielsen in the spotlight. The Youth Orchestra proper will close with a Suppé Overture (Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna, with cello solo by Daniel Hong), and the Finale of Tchaikovsky’s 3rd symphony. A big thank you goes out to UT-Battelle for their generous support.

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