The closing
Masterworks concerts were the most well-attended that I can recall in
recent memory. It was also the first time in a LONG time that
Beethoven's 5th Symphony has had a fair audience, having had some
unfortunate coincidences the past two times it was programmed. In
March of 2006, the work's performance fell on the same
night that the Lady Vols competed in the NCAA tournament, limiting
our attendance, and the time previous to that, (not sure of the date)
it snowed. It wasn't just the Beethoven that drew a crowd, though.
Mason Bates' Mothership,
which included soloists Christina Horn and Jorge Variego, attracted a
new element of our community by blurring the genre lines between
classical and electronica.
Also
at those May concerts, a KSO violist was honored for her work in the
area of Music and Wellness. Instead of paraphrasing a perfectly good
press release, I'm including the release here…
Eunsoon
Lee-Corliss, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal
Violist, is
one of just five orchestra musicians from across the U.S. to
receive the Ford
Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service from the League
of American Orchestras. The program, made possible by Ford Motor
Company Fund, celebrates orchestra musicians and the inspirational
work they do in their communities.
Lee-Corliss
will be honored for her exceptional work in the Knoxville Symphony
Orchestra’s (KSO) Music
& Wellness program, which places professional musicians
into healthcare settings to provide live therapeutic music for
staff, patients, and their families to enhance the healing process.
She will be presented with her award at the League of American
Orchestras’ 72nd National Conference in Detroit, June 6-8, and
will discuss her work at an elective session for Conference
delegates.
Eunsoon
and her husband Scott are enjoying an extended trip to New England
before she goes to Detroit to accept her award. New
England is very lucky.
-----------------------------------***************************------------------------------------
On
a beautiful Memorial Day Sunday morning in Poughkeepsie, NY, the
Vassar College class of 2017 stepped forth into the future. We were
on hand to see our son Richard receive his B.A. in Geography. I can't
believe how fast that four years went! An
astounding, “small-world” aspect of this Commencement was that
Vassar's Interim President turns out to be Jonathan Chenette, the
father of KSO principal oboist Claire Chenette! A respected
pedagogue and accomplished
composer, he has had a work
performed by the KSO's Principal Woodwind Quintet at the Q Series. It
was truly a treat to hear his opening and closing remarks, and to see
him hand out 612 diplomas and shake 612 hands.
