There are all kinds of fancy fundraisers for the Knoxville Symphony: the elegant Crystal Ball, dinners and lunches in fine homes, and special private performances by visiting guest artists.
But my favorite one of all is a simple pot luck supper held in a church meeting hall early on a Sunday night. Florescent lights, paper napkins and [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, Music | 2 Comments »

The Evergreen Ball, a fundraiser for Friends of the Smokies, was held at Cherokee Country Club Feb. 12th after being postponed from its original date by inclement weather.
Of course there was the usual silent auction, dinner, live auction, dancing routine. But my favorite thing about it each year is that the Chillbillies are usually the performers. Yes, that [...]

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After closing for renovations for a week after New Year’s and limping along without bar service for a couple more weeks, the Bistro at the Bijou is back in full swing and better than ever.
Martha Boggs, who has been general manager of the Bistro for 17 years, purchased the restaurant from absentee owners who have held it [...]

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If your child shows musical promise, you might at first think it would be less expensive to start him or her out on a violin rather than a piano because pianos are so expensive.
You would be wrong.
According to violin star Rachel Barton Pine, “the best piano you can find costs less than just the bow of [...]

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We thought we’d run to Nashville for a few days over Thanksgiving. But it was almost as if we had never left home.
We went to see some live music at The Rutledge, which Nashville’s Rage Magazine describes as “one of the most eye and ear pleasing venues in the entire Southeast.” Guess who was playing: Christabel [...]

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After this weekend, the farmers will pack up and head back to their farms until spring, leaving us city dwellers awaiting in cold anticipation the first tender lettuce leaves and asparagus shoots.
I never in a million suburb-dwelling years thought I would look forward every Saturday to going to a farmers’ market. But I have. There’s just [...]

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Maestro Brian Salesky, executive director of the Knoxville Opera Company, grew up in New York City in a household that played two kinds of music: gospel and opera.
Therefore, he said Sunday it was a “dream come true” when he was able to team up with Jeanie Turner Melton, the choir director of East Knoxville’s Mount [...]

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“I’m going to play a song from my very first album back in 1982,” announced crooner Jeffrey Osborne who played to a sold-out benefit for the Knoxville Area Urban League at the Knoxville Convention Center Thursday night. “I’ve sung this song about a million times. And it always puts a smile on my face - [...]

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I know. It seems pretty clear. You hear it all the time. Last week at the Clarence Brown Theatre production of “The Flu Season” (which was excellent, by the way), they said photography and audio and video recording of the performance were strictly prohibited. No big deal.
But they didn’t search purses and confiscate cameras as [...]

Filed under: Downtown, Knoxville, Music, Theater | 20 Comments »

On a weekend when the UT Pride of the Southland Marching Band was playing the mournful “Tennessee Waltz” following the Vols’ loss to Auburn, the rest of Knoxville was enjoying its usual diverse musical buffet. I just can’t believe all the live music that goes on here. If you can’t find some good music in [...]

Filed under: Art, Events, Knoxville, Music | No Comments »