The Soul of Chamber Music in the Heart of Downtown

The chamber side of the KSO will be in evidence this week as the Principal String Quartet will present a concert at noon at the Square Room on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will bring a diverse program to the Bijou on Sunday afternoon at 2:30.

The Square Room is on Knoxville's Market Square downtown, hence the name. It also happens to be square in shape, but most rooms are, so in this case, the venue is named after its location, not its design.

The quartet will perform music of Mozart, Piazzolla and Mendelssohn. Mozart's quartet K. 159 is not your average “Baby Mozart” quartet; there is a quirkiness to it that indicates the composer's impatience with convention- with being square. The first movement Andante grazioso has a gentle start and is neither slow nor fast; a piece you might peg as a middle movement. Oddly sized phrases and differing textures keep you guessing as to the musical destination. The middle movement in this case is an urgently skittish Allegro. It has to be one of the best G minor movements ever written, on a list dominated by Mozart's “emo” gems. The finale is a Rondo, but you will probably want to call it a Theme and Variations. More punchy, boppy, B-flat major fun than you can shake a stick at, from a 14-year-old composer who was holed up in Milan working on his eighth opera.

Astor Piazzolla took traditional string quartet playing for a wild ride in 1989 with his Four for Tango, written for the Kronos Quartet. Its highly percussive, urban complexion will set the table for Felix Mendelssohn's String Quartet op. 44, No. 2 in E minor. Mendelssohn's rich palette keeps the music bright and charming in spite of the minor tonality.

The Sunday Chamber Classics series concert will begin in Revolutionary times, with Haydn's Symphony No. 60, the “Distraught” from 1775. Prokofiev's “Classical” Symphony will bridge the 140-year gap between itself and the Haydn by melding classical-era constructs with 20th-century tonal cheekiness. The concert will close with Maestro Aram Demirjian leading HK Gruber's Frankenstein!! This narrated showpiece from the Third Viennese School has every trick in the book coming in to play; “a show with everything but Yul Brynner,” as we used to say in the '80s. Gruber is said to be a distant relative of the composer of Silent Night, Franz Gruber, but that is where the similarity ends. This is music you will want to fasten your seatbelt for! Listen safely...

Knoxville's Classical Heritage

Opening night of the 2017-18 Masterworks series is at hand! As the season unfolds, the repertoire will resemble a travelogue, with the first concert's offerings appropriately enough delving into things Knoxvillean.  Acclaimed soprano Joelle Harvey will grace our stage for Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a work which has put our town on the map in the most positive way possible.  Preluding that performance, Knoxville's Poet Laureate R. B. Morris will read the text of the work, which is pulled from James Agee's Pulitzer-winning novel from 1959, A Death in the Family.

The Agee connection will be evident again in Aaron Copland's Suite from his opera The Tender Land, which is inspired by Copland's brush with that author's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.  No one does classical Americana better than Copland, and this luminous work contrasts beautifully with the Rachmaninov.  A commissioned work by Michael Schachter entitled Overture to Knoxville will open the concert.  Schachter's compositional style is somewhere between Copland's and Rachmaninov's; I will be curious to hear audience members' opinions as to how the work musically relates to our city.  A crew of brass instruments placed in various places in the the Theatre gives the piece a "surround-sound" ambiance that will take you away.

The concert will close with Sergei Rachmaninov's final composition Symphonic Dances, a suite of three darkly vivacious movements brimming with Rachmaninov's orchestrating genius.  The Knoxville connection here is that the composer-pianist's last public recital took place at UT's Alumni Gym, just six weeks before his death.  The work means a lot to me because our son Thomas performed the two-piano version of the work at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts in 2006.  Luckily, Thomas will be in attendance at the Friday night concert.  Yay!

This will all be Thursday and Friday night, at the Tennessee Theatre, 7:30 pm, tickets and info here. Please be aware of and bear with the various road closures in the immediate vicinity of the Tennessee; right now, it looks as though Clinch Ave. between State and Gay is closed to traffic, but the sidewalks are open.

Arts Educator Profile: teacher, violist, conductor Nina Mikos

Arts in Education week celebrates those making a difference through arts and music education in our community. Nina Mikos has been teaching in Maryville City Schools for 8 years and has been conducting with Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra for 4 years. She is most passionate about music education because it truly makes a difference in children's lives by fostering creativity, discipline, and social interaction.

Ever since the moment I played my viola for the first time, music has been at the center of my life. I was very fortunate to have incredible orchestra directors and private teachers in my community. Growing up, I was involved in as many musical groups as I could be whether it was orchestra, choir, or piano. Music became my identity and my source of inspiration.

As much as I have always enjoyed performing, I enjoy the human connection to music even more. The friends that I have made through music will last a lifetime. The students that I have
taught over the years have probably made a bigger impact on my life than I have on theirs. I started teaching private lessons when I was 15, and I have always felt strongly that to be a good performer, you have to be a good teacher, and to be a good teacher, you have to be a good performer. Because in the end, we are all working on the same skill sets and have the same drive to be successful.

"As much as I have always enjoyed performing, I enjoy the human connection to music even more. The friends that I have made through music will last a lifetime. The students that I have taught over the years have probably made a bigger impact on my life than I have on theirs."

Teaching has dramatically improved my playing, and performing has informed my teaching. I have
seen children grow in to young adults through the discipline, focus, and training that being in an
orchestra gives them. I don’t believe in talent – I believe that every child can be successful in music
through hard work, persistence, and dedication. There’s always a “hook” to loving music for every
child. Some students thrive off of challenge, some love collaboration with peers, and others simply
enjoy the music-making process. But every child will continue if they feel successful. And it is my
job to make them successful from the very first note they play on their instrument.

I am so fortunate to be a part of a vibrant musical community in Knoxville. I have 140
students in my orchestra program (grades 5-7) at Montgomery Ridge Intermediate School in
Maryville, I have the tremendous honor of conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra with Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra, and I also often play viola with the Knoxville Symphony. I feel blessed beyond words to be a part of this wonderful community with amazing friends and colleagues.

This post was authored by the KSO Communications Dept.

Arts in Education Profile: Violinist Zofia

This profile highlights a new KSO violinist and arts educator who spreads joy through music in many ways. Zofia Glashauser joined the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra as a core violinist in the 2017-18 season and has contributed to Education & Community Partnerships programs such as Musical Story Times and Classroom Quartets in addition to lighting up the main stage with her professional and passionate playing. She has shared her personal story of how music education shaped her life path and changed her future, leading her to Knoxville. During the week of Sept. 10-16, Arts in Education week, the KSO is celebrating all arts educators, especially our beloved music educators, including Zofia, by telling their stories.

It is almost impossible for me to imagine life without the influence of the arts. My mother was a professional violinist and teacher. I grew up in Krakow, Poland where I went to a public music school from elementary through high school. At this school, music was not an elective, but the primary focus of

my studies. And so I began playing the violin at the age of seven, the same time I was learning to read and write. As a result, music is a fundamental part of who I am; it has shaped my personality and perhaps even my soul. It has helped me to appreciate the beauty found in the natural world as well as in artistic expression,
and has motivated me towards the pursuit of excellence in all parts of my life. A lifetime of music study has helped me to better appreciate history, style, and the diverse cultures of different countries.

"Music is a fundamental part of who I am...it has shaped my personality and perhaps even my soul."

Music opened my mind to a bigger world from a very young age. As a child, I traveled and performed with my school choir in many European countries. Later, I traveled even more with high school orchestras and an international youth symphony. Although being able to travel was in itself a wonder, meeting many great world class musicians was an eye opening experience. It was the primary reason I wanted to become an even better violinist. And, of course, music brought me to the United States, where I received music degrees from Western Michigan University and Northwestern University.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of learning a musical instrument, even for those who have no intention of pursuing music as a profession. It demands a strong attention to detail, a high level of preparation, and a great deal of personal responsibility. These are all traits that are valuable in most
professions. In my case, violin study helped form me into a bit of a perfectionist who can juggle multiple responsibilities and manage time well in the pursuit of meaningful artistic expression.

Before I joined the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, I was a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Northwest Indiana Symphony, and I was the Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. This position in particular gave me some very memorable experiences, including the opportunity to perform as a soloist several times with the orchestra. As a result of the various roles I played in these orchestras, I developed a strong work ethic in my preparation for a performance in addition to a strong understanding of the importance of the role of each member of an orchestra. Whether as a soloist, chamber musician, or as a section member, I am always thinking of being as
prepared as possible to play as beautifully as I can.

This post authored by the KSO communications dept.

This Season's Heavy Hitters

It's September! I think we're all surprised. There's a full musical inbox for the musicians of the KSO, with a season that I can only describe as “hard-hitting.” Every month brings a major repertoire piece with a signature moment for every instrument. Month by month, it's Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances, Ravel Bolero, and in November Strauss' Death and Transfiguration AND Tchaikovsky's tone poem Romeo and Juliet. January starts up with Dvorak 8th, then in February both Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini AND Scheherazade! Carmina Burana will be our March Madness, then Schumann's 2nd Symphony with that ridunculous violin part in the Scherzo. We'll close out the season in May with an all-American concert featuring both Rhapsody in Blue AND Copland's 3rd Symphony.

The Chamber Classics series is no less laden with treasures. Right off the bat, our October begins with Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, which along with the Schumann 2nd are violin audition staples. February 4th brings Bach's cherished 2-violin concerto featuring principal 2nd violin Edward Pulgar and new Concertmaster Will Shaub. The finale of the series looks to be one of the best ever, highlighted by Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and Mozart's final symphony, the Jupiter.

I have to interject that it happens to be Antonin Dvorak's birthday! What a great canon of works has been left to us, and along with Tchaikovsky, one of two great composers to have spent time in the USA. I'm going to give my best effort at a pronunciation here, "div-OR-Jacques." Our season will include two keystone Dvorak works, the 8th Symphony in January, and his “American” Viola Quintet on the final Concertmaster Series concert in March.  Dvorak is best known for his New World Symphony and his “American” String QUARtet, but there is so much more than that. Recent years have seen KSO performances of his Piano Quintet and Quintet, his Bass Quintet, Symphony No. 6, Carnival Overture, Stabat Mater, and the Scherzo Capriccioso. His compositional style is always highly European, but his stateside stint cast a distinct PENUMBRA on his works, from the New World through to that phat Cello Concerto he wrote. Although I have never performed the concerto in its entirety, the techniques it requires have served me well in countless other musical circumstances, be they jazz, chamber, or orchestral. They force the cellist to learn to play in B Major, which is not a particularly kind key for the cello.

So anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TONY!!