Picardy is Back!

I think this has been the busiest week of the season for me. We have had rehearsals all week for our Masterworks concerts last night and tonight. Tomorrow we will have more rehearsals, this time for our first Family Concert of the season.

I'm excited. Tired, but excited.

KSO family concerts are delightful. There are all sorts of things to do before the show. The lobby and some of the dressing rooms at the Tennessee Theater are turned into a sort of musical playground for children and their parents. Kids can make crafts, see instruments close-up, pretend to run the box office or be the conductor... It's really a lot of fun. If you're heading to the concert this Sunday you should definitely come early. The concert is at 2 but the activities start at 12:45.

My favorite part of the Family concerts is not the pre-concert activities. (Possibly because the orchestra is having a sound check during that time!) My favorite thing about the Family concerts is Picardy Penguin. Picardy is an animated penguin who is projected on a large screen above the orchestra. He interacts with the orchestra and guests by singing, talking, playing instruments, and even conducting. This family concert is all about dance and dance music, so I expect we'll see Picardy dancing, too!

KSO family concerts are geared toward children between the ages of 3 and 8. The concerts are played without intermission and are just the right length for antsy kids. My daughter has been coming to the concerts since she was three. She is now five and she always enjoys them. The concerts are enjoyable for adults as well.

The first KSO family concert will take place this Sunday at 2:00 at the Tennessee Theater. Picardy's Playground will be open at 12:45.

KSYO Concert Tonight!

Tonight is the first Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra concert of the year. Actually, five ensembles will perform tonight: the Junior Philharmonia, the Philharmonia, the Sinfonia, the Youth Chamber Orchestra, and the Youth Symphony. The 250+ young musicians who participate in the KSO Youth Orchestra program range in age from early elementary school all the way to seniors in high school. The level of playing also varies from students who have studied just a few years to kids who plan to make music their career. The quality of the playing is high across the board, though. The younger kids always impress me just as much as the kids in the more advanced ensembles. Also at peak levels are the energy on stage and the excitement and passion these kids have for making music. It is truly something to see. The future of classical music is in great hands.

Tonight's concert starts at 7:00 and will be held at the Tennessee Theater. Seating will begin at 6:30. The concert is open to the public and is free.

November in a Nutshell

There is a lot going on with the KSO in November!

Last week the KSO performed educational concerts for thousands of area school children. Beginning this week and continuing through the month, small ensembles of musicians will be touring the Knox County Public Library branches for special musical story time presentations. These are always very entertaining. I have participated in story time concerts both as a musician and as an audience member with my daughter. It's hard to say which was more fun. There are many opportunities for the children to participate, from singing along with familiar tunes to playing small percussion instruments. It is a great (and free!) way to introduce young children to live classical music. The full story time schedule can be found here.

This week is also the KSO's debut Chamber Classics Series performance of the season. Sunday afternoon's concert is a concert of string serenades by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, and Suk. Don't let the parking situation around the Bijou deter you from attending this concert. Once again the KSO will be providing a shuttle service from the State Street Garage (behind the Tennessee Theater) to the Bijou.

On the 16th the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestras will give their first performance of the season. These kids work incredibly hard and their concerts are not to be missed.

Later in the month is the November Masterwork's Concert featuring pianist Benjamin Hochman playing Mendelssohn. We'll also be playing Der Rosenkavalier Suite by Strauss, the gorgeous Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Haydn's 16th Symphony.

Also mid-month is our first Family Concert of the season. Picardy Penguin will be back in a program entitled, "Shall we Dance?" Our family concerts are more like events than concerts. There are plenty of activities for children and their families to participate in before the actual concert. It's a nice way to spend a cold afternoon.

Finally, the end of the month brings two free community performances. On November 27th (aka, "Black Friday") at 6:00 the KSO Brass Quintet will be performing in Krutch Park near Market Square for the City of Knoxville Celebration of Lights. The next day a string quartet will be at West Town Mall playing holiday music.

YPC

This week the KSO is performing a series of concerts for area school children. Young People's Concerts, or, YPC's for short, have a very special place in my heart. I love kids and I love teaching kids about music. Before they attend a YPC, most of the students have been working with a docent and have had some symphony musicians visit their classroom. The kids learn about the repertoire in advance. There are CD's for the music teachers to play for the students and sample lesson plans. The symphony members visit the class to give the kids an up-close preview of what they will hear at the concert. Before I came to Knoxville I had performed in numerous young people's concerts in other cities. I think that of all the places I've played, Knoxville has the best educational concerts. The KSO's education department and our area music teachers do a fantastic job preparing the students for the concert. The students are familiar with the music they will hear and are eagerly anticipating their favorites. They participate and are engaged. They know the basics of audience etiquette and are a joy to play for.

Aside from the kids, I love YPC's because people in the orchestra let their hair down. Not to say that the playing is sloppy, it's just that it's hard to be completely serious when you're wearing a fake mustache. Or listening to Principal Trombonist Sam Chen "talk" to long-deceased Richard Wagner on his cell phone. Or when you're keeping one eye on your music and the other on the real live donkey and praying that when it gets scared and runs off-stage it decides to run AWAY from you. People smile during YPC's. We laugh. We wear costumes that we would never be caught dead in otherwise. We dance the macarena and the can-can. And it's all in the name of education. How can you beat that?

Reaching Out

On the Knoxville Symphony's main web page, a calendar at the right of the screen gives you links to information about public performances in a given month. If you looked right now, you would notice that the next highlighted date is October 16th (a FREE performance at the Morrell Rd. Borders!). October 16th is nearly two weeks away, so is the orchestra on fall break?

The answer is a resounding no. Actually, the next two weeks are packed with performances, 22 in all! The KSO is dedicated to bringing music into the community. In fact, 80% of our performances every season take place OUTSIDE our Pops, Masterworks, and Chamber Classics subscription series. Musicians play in area hospitals as part of our award-winning Music and Wellness program and they also bring classical music into area schools and libraries. These performances use small groups of instrumentalists in quartets, duos, and even playing solo.

These performances don't show up on the regular calendar because, as a rule, they aren't open to the general public. (Although, if you happened to be in a hospital lobby during a Music and Wellness performance you would be welcome to sit and listen.) Despite this, these concerts are, in my opinion, some of the most important performances the KSO gives. The sick and worried are comforted. Children who have never seen a stringed instrument in person get to hear one live and ask the musicians questions about music and their life as a musician. It's important work.

If you know of a place that you think the KSO could be reaching in the community you can contact Jennifer Barnett, KSO's Director of Education and Community Partnerships.

It's the Smart Place to Be!

When a musician is completely engrossed in a piece everything around them disappears. You lose yourself in the music. It's a lot like reading a good book. You forget your surroundings and join a world that, while only words, is completely real in your mind. For this reason I have always loved reading. I also love libraries. (And librarians... I married one!) The library has always been one of my favorite places because you can walk out with a stack of books, a few CD's and a movie or two, peruse them at your leisure in the comfort of your home and then go back and repeat the procedure all for FREE.

The Knox County Public Library system is great. First of all, it's huge: in addition to the main library downtown there are 17 branches all over Knoxville. If the branch in your part of town doesn't have the materials you want, it's not a problem. You can reserve them and have them delivered to your chosen branch. If you need a book that the KCPL doesn't own they will try to get it for you from a different library system.

The library offers many programs from story time for children (including musical story time with members of the KSO!), to family game night, to computer workshops for adults. There is something going on every day at the library and the variety of programs is so wide there is something for everyone.

I am a veteran library user, but until very recently my experience with KCPL's website was limited to reserving books and checking the due dates on my books. Boy was I missing out.

The library's media collection is called Sights and Sounds. They have a sub-page online called The Music Room. It has all sorts of databases you can access online from the comfort of your home with your library card. There is a source for classical music scores, African American Song, a classical music library with audio you can listen to right at your computer, the Smithsonian Global Sound for libraries, and several others. There is a link to their collection of CD's by local artists, local music venues (including the KSO!), and a list of upcoming events by AC Entertainment. The Sights and Sounds web pages are a great way to stay on top of the Knoxville music scene.

Fairy Godfather

The results are in and the winner of the opera twitter contest is Stephen Llewellyn, a former barrister who is now the blogger for the Portland Opera. His winning entry tweeted Wagner's Ring Cycle: “There was a young lady called Fricka Who... who... *snore* 'Wake up-- its over.' It's good, I just wish it were quicka.”

Many opera companies ponied up prizes for this contest, which had over 500 entries. Llewellyn chose a generous prize offered by the Washington National Opera which included tickets to the final performance of the season as well as to the annual opera ball.

Then he gave it all away.

He felt that he has plenty of opportunities to enjoy opera and decided to give the package to someone who might not be able to attend as often. He decided to give the prize to a music teacher as a way of thanking them for exposing children to the arts. With some help, he chose Priscilla Barrow who has been teaching music in the D.C. Schools for 22 years. She is passionate about teaching and every year goes out of her way to immerse her students in the arts, often seeking out partnerships with area arts organizations.

Llewellyn found a donor to take care of incidental expenses and arranged for the Washington Opera's costume department to provide a ball gown, so Barrow will truly have a Cinderella experience. I hope she has a fabulous time.

We Need YOU!

Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale announced his proposed budget for 2010 on Tuesday. It's not pretty. Actually, it's downright ugly. This year the symphony received over $43,000 in county funds. Next year we are slated to receive just over $6000. (No. I didn't forget a zero. I wish the problem was that easy to fix.) Our friends at Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Museum of Art are in worse straits: neither organization will get any funding from the county if Mayor Ragsdale's budget is approved.

Here's the thing: the funds that the symphony receives from the county don't fund our subscription performances. They don't pay for guest artists. They don't go into a general slush fund. The funds that the Knoxville Symphony receives from the county go right back into the community. They pay for things such as free community concerts, sending small ensembles into the schools to expose and teach children about music, bringing children to our Young People's Concerts, sending musicians into area hospitals as part of our award-winning music and wellness program, and our long-term side by side partnership with Austin East High School and other area public schools. These are all programs that directly benefit the community that will have to be severely restricted or even cut out all together without adequate funding from the county.

For the data-minded, here are some numbers. This year:

• 200,000 people were reached through all of the Knoxville Symphony's activities.

• 60,000 were reached through our community outreach and education programs.

• 10,000 children in Knox County were reached through our Young People's Concerts.

• 5,000 children in Knox County had a KSO musician visit their classroom.

• 1,000 preschool children in Knox County were exposed to classical music through the KSO's story time program.

• 2,000 patients at UT hospital took part in the KSO's music and wellness program.

I love to perform, true, but in my opinion the most important work we do as musicians is community outreach. Music is for everyone, not just people who understand Webern or who can afford the best seats in the house. The idea that lack of funding could turn some of these numbers into big fat zeros is absolutely unacceptable.

The budget has not yet been approved by the board, so it's not too late. The board will meet on Monday and will vote on the budget in the next few weeks. If you are a Knox County resident, I urge you to write to your elected officials. Tell them you expect them to support the arts in our community. A trickle of dissent won't change anything. We each need to take responsibility to let the commission know how we feel. Only then can we hope to restore county funding to the arts.

To email Mayor Ragsdale, click here.

For a list of commissioners, districts, and email links, click here.

To email the Knox County Commission, click here.

I thank you in advance for your support.

Save the Music

Behind every professional musician there is a teacher who stoked the flames. I started playing the violin in 4th grade through my elementary school. I had been asking my parents to start playing long before that, not because I had a particular love for the violin, but because I adored the school strings teacher. My sister started playing the viola the year I was born and I grew up attending her orchestra concerts. Mr. Montzka, the orchestra teacher, was patient and friendly. He was happy to talk to me and somehow always seemed to have a few spare M&M's to share. After I had played for a few years through the public school I began taking private lessons with his daughter Ann, who shares his gentle demeanor and passion for music and teaching. Without the start I had, I wouldn't be on the stage with the KSO today.

Studying music teaches people how to recognize, appreciate and create beauty. In order to play an instrument well you must have perseverance, be able to compromise, have good time management skills, be able to look at your own work with a critical eye, know how to work with a group, and be able to perform under pressure. These skills are critical to success in just about any career one could choose and they are the things music teachers teach every single day. Participation in organized sports develops some of the same skills, however, people can play their instrument or sing their entire life. It is rare to find a senior citizen volleyball league.

Public school music programs, and orchestra programs in particular, are being cut back all around the country and Knoxville is no exception. I don't envy the administrators facing budget cut-backs and hard decisions. With music teachers teaching our children such critical skills, I think the real question is how can we NOT afford to fund music in the schools?