March's Marvels

March is going to feature some old favorites and some new ground. Q Series, Masterworks and especially Pops (with the Midtown Men) are going to be mining the mother lode of our musical memories. At the other end of the month, Knoxville's indefinable avant-garde happening, the Big Ears Festival, will involve a bevy of our players for the first time.

Next in sight is the Jersey Boys cast performing boy-group and vocal ensemble hits from the 60s and 70s. The Turtles, the Zombies, the Mamas and the Papas, and especially the Four Seasons will all be well represented. That's next Saturday at 8 at the Civic Auditorium, aka the “Mike and Gloria Stivik Auditorium." (If you get this reference, then this is just the show for you).

On the 19^th and 20^th, The Masterworks Series will guest-host a maestro (James Feddeck) and a pianist (Conrad Tao) in a traditional concert of must-see standards. How standard, you say? Try Rossini's Overture to William Tell and Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. The cello quintet that opens the Rossini is some of the most sublime music ever, the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 refreshingly is NOT one of the “big 3” Mozart concerti, and Mendelssohn gives us his take on the land of Robert Burns, Arthur Conan Doyle, and- these creatures...

Another old Mendelssohn favorite, one which I have waited 34 years to perform since my first time, (Jimmy Carter was president, good grief!) is his String Quartet, op. 44, No. 1. Again, one of those works that needs a better title than just a bunch of numbers. I bet if I said this is the 450SL, 911S or TR4A of string quartets, you would know what I meant. This work will be among others presented at the Q Series on March 25^th at noon at the Square Room on Market Square.

Finally, on the 29^th of March, a very interesting re-imagining of Vivaldi's Four Seasons by German Composer Max Richter will happen. This will be a small part of the weekend-long Big Ears Festival that boasts the Kronos Quartet, Laurie Anderson, guitarist Bill Frisell, and composer Terry Riley, among many others, as guests. 

As if that wasn't enough, The Principal String Quartet and Principal Flutist Nick Johnson will join harpist Cindy Hicks will perform a recital of music for flute, harp and strings on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 pm. at First Baptist Church downtown. This is a beautiful venue (as you can see below) for any kind of music, but especially harp music.