The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra began its landmark 90th season in September, hailing its special project “9 for 90” in which nine world premieres of commissioned pieces would be spread across the schedules of the various series. On the news front, the KSO announced that Music Director Aram Demirjian had signed a new four-year contract, continuing his leadership through the 2029-30 season.
The University of Tennessee College of Music, now the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music, saw its first full year embrace some serious program expansions and achievements. Among the many visible ensembles was the UT Symphony Orchestra under Maestro James Fellenbaum, showing off some very impressive performances in its fall concerts.
The Most Memorable Classical Music Performances list for 2025 follows, with choices in chronological order of performance in 2025. No other ranking should be assumed or implied.
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Knoxville Symphony Orchestra: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 (January 2025)
“Although performances in the classical music world generally lag programming intentions by a year or more, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has at last given Knoxville audiences something Mahler to talk about—Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 was the sole work on the weekend’s Masterworks concerts. Judging by the impressive attendance, anticipatory buzz, and post-concert ebullience, the KSO audience was ready for an event—and they got one, thanks to an epic performance by Maestro Aram Demirjian and the orchestra that was sprawling and ultimately triumphant, yet carefully detailed in all the appropriate places.”
“Review: KSO Offers A Mahler Symphony No. 5 of Mythical Proportions”
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Knoxville Opera: La Boheme (February 2025)
“This deliciously romantic KO production, directed with his usual energy and cleverness by Dean Anthony, hit the heart of the work: the sadness of lost love. As the opening curtain rises on a gray, wintry Paris and the shabby garret of the four poor artists, we meet Rodolfo (tenor Ben Gulley), Marcello (baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco), Colline (bass-baritone Kevin Short), and Schaunard (baritone Scott Purcell). As the four resort to the expositional burning of Rodolfo’s latest play for warmth, the romantic duo of the opera becomes complete as the sadly doomed Mimi (soprano Rebecca Krynski Cox) stops by for a light for her candle, leading to them falling in love.”
“Review: Knoxville Opera Offers a Deliciously Romantic La Boheme”
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Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat Major (April 2025)
“In what was a magnificent performance of the Schumann, one immediately noticed the rich balance of the strings, an acoustic fact that remains a happy mystery in the Knoxville Museum of Art great room with its hard floor and glass. Perhaps more important, though, was the modestly clean and cheerful personality that Shaub and friends were able to extract and magnify, a personality that oozed freshness without betraying its lush Romantic underpinnings. Class and Shaub were clearly conscious of the tempos and the world of movement they communicated. Texturally, Senn and Gawne’s contribution was especially beautiful in the Andante cantabile movement where the give and take of melody is discussed with the violin. The finale flows over the listener like a waterfall, although this listener would have unabashedly walked through one to hear the entire piece again.”
“Review: KSO Concertmaster Wraps Season With Schumann Piano Quartet“
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KSO Chamber Orchestra: Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (April 2025)
“Maestro Aram Demirjian allowed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to showcase as soloists four separate violinists from the orchestra in the four concerti…Violinist Sean Claire was first up with “Spring” followed by Zofia Glashauser in “Summer.” Kyle Venlet took “Autumn” and I-Pei Lin finished with “Winter.” All of the soloists brilliantly exceeded the challenges of their respective concerto, each making their interpretation distinct, but smartly placing their performance in the middle of the lyrical-dramatic scale, avoiding both edginess on one extreme and matter-of-factness on the other.”
“Review: KSO Wraps Chamber Classics Series with Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ & Baroque Inspirations“
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KSO: Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 (May 2025)
“…this was a beautifully played performance by the orchestra that was nicely infused with the “American” flavor and motifs. Demirjian kept the focus clean, interesting, and compelling, with intriguing variations of dynamics and colors. Of course, the second movement, the achingly poignant Largo, stands apart from the other movements in more ways than mere tempo. Following the introduction by the brass, this Largo was given a soft and gentle solo painting by KSO English horn Jessica Smithorn. Also important here was the orchestra’s deliciously subtle balance underneath that supports the movement’s poignant melody.”
“Review: KSO Wraps 2024-25 Season with Impressive New World Symphony“
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Marble City Opera: Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (June 2025)
“MCO artistic director Kathryn Frady had shouldered the responsibility of both directing the production of Pagliacci and singing the lead soprano role of Nedda. As evidence of the professionalism and abilities of Frady and the five-singer cast, the two performances in vastly different environments had different personalities but each exploded with marvelously devised characters and truly impressive vocal performances.”
“Review: Marble City Opera Vies With Mother Nature for a Rewarding Pagliacci”
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KSO: Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (September 2025)
“Although one can imagine the temptation to over-exploit Beethoven’s final tug of gravity, Demirjian, orchestra, chorus, and soloists embraced the ebullience of the moment and rendered a coda that was as magical as any in memory. The audience felt it and after leaping to their feet, rewarded all concerned with a significant ovation. One can only imagine what this may mean for the remainder of what should be a stellar season.”
“Review: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Turns In A Sublime Beethoven Ninth To Open 2025-26 Season”
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KSO Chamber Orchestra: Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major – Jeffery Whaley, horn – (September 2025)
“Audiences know full well the talent of the KSO’s horn section, led by Principal Horn Jeffery Whaley. In this performance, Whaley stepped into the soloist’s spotlight for Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major—an early, but accomplished work from 1883 by a teenage Strauss. Although Strauss had not yet come under the sway of deep Romanticism in the work, Whaley and Demirjian recognized the connections. Ultimately, though, one was simply riveted by Whaley’s command of his instrument, a command that never failed to impress. That ability transcends technique and places him in the rarified air of hornists who have mastered both the intricate craft and sublime art of horn performance.”
“Review: Magical Season Opener for KSO Chamber Series at the Bijou”
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George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – pianist Chaeyoung Park (November 2025)
This concert featured guest conductor Michelle Di Russo.
“Despite that familiarity, one of the delights of the work is its jazz improvisational opportunities for pianists, something set in motion by Gershwin’s own little freedoms he took as the original 1924 soloist. Park’s take was impressive, gloriously charming, and sublimely intriguing in her departures not just of melodic tweaks and twists, but also in jaunts of rhythms which were in themselves an American music history lesson.”
Review: Pianist Park, Guest conductor Di Russo, and KSO Shine in ‘Rhapsody’ et al.
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