January Jubilee

This week is already upon us, it seems. After last week's Chamber Classics concert and the Indiana Jones production, there are at least three concerts to look forward to. At the Tennessee Theatre TONIGHT will be the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert at 6:00 pm. Aaron Staple and alto Doris Talley will grace the stage once again for a stirring offering under the direction of Maestro Demirjian. The Carpetbag Theatre under the direction of Linda Parris-Bailey will perform- Black Atticus and Rhea Sunshine (pictured below) are featured. You may remember Rhea's dynamic poetry at the inaugural KSO Unstaged event at The Standard in November. The concert is free, as is parking at the State Street Parking Garage. So, with an eye to post-concert victuals, take advantage of your free spot (and the early show time) to make it Not Just Another Monday Night.

That same parking spot, or one just like it, would serve you well this coming Thursday or Friday when we shall offer a treasure of a symphony, Dvorak's 8th. I don't know where to start to describe the effect of this, the final work by Dvorak to be published before his move to America in 1892. One very important thing to note is that the cellos are heavily featured, bearing as they do the themes of the outer movements. (Not that I'm biased or anything...) Dvorak's musical palette was about to take on American affectations, but this Symphony is ground-breaking even in advance of that. The delicious dissonances that pepper the work are stock-in-trade for present-day pop composers and songwriting teams (cough cough The Beatles). The waltzy third movement is just one big, giant face-melting opportunity; look for two appearances of the “chord of life” just before a fermata in the trio section of that movement. The work as a whole is performed just once for every two or three times that Dvorak's “New World” is played, and in my book, that is just wrong.

Also on the program will be works of Brahms, Smetana, Adam Schoenberg and Queen, in partnership with Project Trio. This ensemble of flute, cello and bass brings a new vitality to the genre of soloing ensembles, and who can resist a work that is entitled Bohemian Rhapsody for Solo Viola and Symphonic Orchestra? Thursday and Friday night's concerts start at 7:30. 

Stay warm, y'all!