Thursday, September 23, 2010

Tchaikovsky Gala

I looked at the calendar today and am shocked that it is already the end of September. Things have been so hectic with rehearsals and performances that the days have started to run together. Although we finished performances of Amadeus on Sunday, this week has been just as busy. On Tuesday the KSO went "home" to the Tennessee Theater to begin rehearsals for the opening concert of our 75th anniversary season.

It's been a wonderful week. It's nice to be back in our own space. At the first rehearsal it was interesting to note the difference in acoustics compared to the stage at the Clarence Brown Theatre. The sound in the hall at the Tennessee is something that always takes me by surprise at the first rehearsal back from break, but it was even more pronounced this time. I'm also happy to be sitting in a traditional arrangement again with the winds and brass behind the strings.

This week has also been exciting because we had two guests attending rehearsals. Rudy Ennis is a long time champion of the symphony. Although he now lives in Texas, he still writes all our program notes. Also, Doc Severinsen is in town visiting our principal trumpet player Cathy Leach and stopped in to listen to a few rehearsals.

Tonight and tomorrow night the KSO will present our opening gala concert. The concert is an all Tchaikovsky program and features violinist Dylana Jenson performing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. Ms. Jenson is a superb violinist, and she has also been great to work with. It's strange - the Tchaikovsky violin concerto is a cornerstone of the violin literature, but I think this is the first time in my ten years with the KSO that we have performed the piece.

The other pieces on the program are the 1812 Overture, Coronation March, and Capriccio Italien. It is a brass heavy concert and they are sounding awesome! More information about this concert can be found here.

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