Return of Guest Conductor Sameer Patel – Works by Higdon, Mozart, Sibelius – Knoxville Arts
Masterpieces from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Sameer Patel
Tennessee Theater, 604 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville
Thursday and Friday, February 17 and 18, 7:30 p.m.
Jennifer Higdon– blue cathedral
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 25 (Weiyin Chen, piano)
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Tickets and information
When conductor Samir Patel last appeared with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in 2014, his visit as guest conductor came on a particularly dark day for Knoxville arts journalism. Patel was in town to lead the Thursday/Friday pair of KSO Masterworks concerts featuring Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain, Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprenticeand the major attraction of Hector Berlioz’ Fantastic Symphony. However, on Wednesday of this week, the alternative weekly Metro Pulse on which I had contributed classical music coverage for seven years, was unceremoniously shut down by its then-parent company, EW Scripps.
Of course, the closure spurred the start of the Knoxville Arts website, although the Mercury of Knoxville would make a valiant, but ultimately futile, 2-year effort to completely replace Metro Pulse. Keeping my commitment to revisit this KSO concert, I finished this first Knoxville Arts review with thanks for an uplifting experience—
“Given Maestro Patel’s personal warmth and apparent authenticity, as well as his clever renditions of the weekend’s performance, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear more from him in the future.”
And, no surprise. We hear more from Patel. Maestro Patel will be the guest conductor for this week’s Masterworks concerts, concerts which will include Jennifer Higdon blue cathedral, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, and Symphony No. 1 in E minor by Jean Sibelius. Mozart’s concert pianist will be Weiyin Chen.
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