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. 
 


 
 
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