Mardi Gras on Magnolia!

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Hostess Kim Trent opened her home and transported a bevy of bon vivants to Mobile — or New Orleans — not sure!

Kim Trent is an expert on Mardi Gras. She is from Mobile, where the first Mardi Gras was held. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I signed up to attend a Mardi Gras-themed Elegant Dining fundraiser for the Knoxville Symphony League to be held at her historic house in East Knoxville.

The Baumann and Baumann-designed home was built in 1926 by A.H. Whisman, whose firm went on to become today’s Johnson and Galyon Construction. It is located on Magnolia Avenue in the historic Park City neighborhood. In fact, the house has a name: “The Magnolia.”

As you will see, Kim enlisted some friends to co-host the event, several of whom are from New Orleans and know a thing or two about Mardi Gras, themselves!

The sold-out luncheon event was over the top in terms of food, drinks, music and decoration. Come along to the party and let the good times roll! Continue reading →

Filed under: Knoxville, Music | 6 Comments

KSO’s next season will be out of this world

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Music Director Aram Demirjian introducing the upcoming Moxley Carmichael Masterworks and Chamber Classics series of concerts.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra held a little cocktail party at The Emporium Center on Gay Street recently to unveil to its board members and major supporters the schedule for the 2023-24 concert season, which starts in September.

(You can see the entire Masterworks and Chamber Classics schedules when they are posted on the KSO website in a few weeks. The schedule for the next Pops season will be announced later.)

But — wouldn’t you know it? — the music I am most looking forward to seeing performed is near the end of the season. More than a year away. It’s the April 14, 2024, Chamber Classics program. It features a Charles Ives (whom I normally do not like) piece and four other classical works that are included on the so-called “Golden Record” that scientists sent into space in 1977 aboard the two Voyager spacecrafts.

The Golden Record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images that portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. Its contents were selected by a committee headed by scientific genius Carl Sagan. The four classical pieces are Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, “I;” Beethoven’s “Allegro” from Symphony No. 5; Beethoven’s “Cavatina” from String Quartet No. 13; and Mozart’s Symphony No. 4, “Jupiter.” Continue reading →

Filed under: Knoxville, Music | 3 Comments

Does your doc rock? These do!

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Dr. Mike Elliott is the front man for Whiskey Compass, which opened the evening’s festivities.

Hey, I like attending a fancy fundraiser at a swanky country club as much as the next person. But, sometimes, something a little different is what the doctor ordered! Case in point: Doc Rock, a battle of bands, whose members must include at least two physicians.

It was a couple of Saturdays ago at The Concourse, a relatively new location for the music venue in Northgate Plaza shopping center on North Broadway. Five bands played 45-minute sets and the audience voted for the winner. Each band played on behalf of a different medical charity — and the charities got the prize money, based on their sponsor band’s ranking in the votes. This fun annual event, sponsored by the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance, has been happening since 2006.

Audience members could attend for $25 for the standing area. Or, you could drop $125 and get a VIP ticket which got you into an area with seating, food and a private bar. That seemed like the obvious choice to us. Continue reading →

Filed under: Downtown, Knoxville, Music | 5 Comments

Artsy party announces Yo-Yo Ma appearance

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Jesse Fox Mayshark of Compass Knox.

If you were looking for anyone from Knoxville’s arts and culture crowd last night, chances are they were at The Mill & Mine music hall. That’s where Ashley Capps and his colleagues from the Big Ears Festival were making a major announcement.

Seems that acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma has asked Big Ears to spearhead a Knoxville appearance in May of Ma and some of his friends for a cultural extravaganza called “Our Common Nature: An Appalachian Celebration.”

That announcement — plus the fact that this year will be the 10th year of the Big Ears Festival — was enough to justify a gathering featuring music, huge puppets, interesting food and a smattering of politicians.

“Big Ears is one of my favorite cultural events in the city of Knoxville,” Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said. “It’s the arts that get us through hard times and help us celebrate the good times.”

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said the Big Ears Festival is so successful partly due to Knoxville’s friendliness. “It’s where mountains meet music, where culture meets cuisine, but where nobody meets a stranger,” Jacobs said. Continue reading →

Filed under: Art, Music | 5 Comments

Tips from a cancer fighter — and survivor

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Members of the Moxley Carmichael family had a big reason to celebrate last week. Our colleague Maria Cornelius, the best editor you’ll ever meet, officially hit her 10-year milestone of being cancer-free. Her oncologist officially discharged her into the care of her general practice doctor. And we all took that as a good reason for a party.

Everyone wore pink to the office last week to surprise Maria with a party! From left, Maria McHale, Christa Hall, Allie Clouse, Charley Sexton, Chris Weathers, Maria Cornelius, Lauren Miller, Shaun Fulco, me, Alan Carmichael and Amy Barger.

Maria joined Moxley Carmichael in 2013, six months after her double mastectomy. I had known and been friendly with her for years prior to that because of our mutual work in the local newspaper business and many friends we had in common in that circle.

At the time, we were looking for a writer/editor to join our staff. She was a freelance sports reporter and I had no reason to imagine that she, a hard-bitten journalist, would even consider a career in public relations, referred to by many in the reporting industry as “the dark side.” Continue reading →

Filed under: Knoxville, Public Relations | 9 Comments

MLK Celebration: a tale of two concerts. Or, ‘Sometimes things really do work out for the best!’

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

From left, Knoxville Symphony Music Director Aram Demirjian, Knoxville Poet Laureate Rhea Carmon, opera singer Michael Rodgers and Obayana Ajanaku, founder of Drums Up, Guns Down and Indigenous Vibes, at a curtain call following a KSO performance at the Tennessee Theatre on Sunday.

After more than 20 years, this year the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission decided not to partner with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for its annual MLK Celebration Concert. Instead, the Commission moved its program from the traditional location of the historic Tennessee Theatre to the much smaller Cox Auditorium on the University of Tennessee campus.

“We just decided to go in a different direction,” Deborah Porter, chair of the MLK Commemorative Commission, told me back last fall when the decision was made.

“We were really surprised and saddened,” said Rachel Ford, chief executive officer of the Knoxville Symphony. “It had become an important event for us. It was something all the musicians and staff looked forward to every year.” Continue reading →

Filed under: Art, Music | 5 Comments

Here’s to 2023 — and an amazing Knoxville eatery!

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Cynthia Moxley

Chef Joseph Lenn, center, poses with his parents, Jerry and Emily Lenn at his restaurant, J.C. Holdway, on New Year’s Eve.

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends at J.C. Holdway gave us an opportunity to not only contemplate what 2023 would hold for us, but also for this downtown Knoxville gem.

Eight of us made reservations on the first day — actually the first hour! — they were available for the six-course prix fixe menu, which, we accurately assumed, would sell out pretty quickly even at $195 per person. Continue reading →

Filed under: Downtown, Food | 9 Comments

Christmas 2022: unexpectedly spectacular!

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Cynthia Moxley

Victor Ashe, former Knoxville mayor and ambassador to Poland, presents Ukrainian violin student Marki Lukyniuk an appropriate shirt!

We celebrated “The Carmichael Christmas” a week early this year when 15 members of Alan’s family came to Knoxville from Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee. My family decided to get together on Easter instead of Christmas. So, Alan and I were thinking we’d be spending Christmas 2022 alone. We made reservations at a restaurant.

But, guess what. Thanks to the great people who live here and whom we are lucky enough to count as friends, we had one of the best holidays ever — and certainly some of the best food we’ve ever had!

Our friend Janet Testerman is the CEO of Young-Williams Animal Center, a longtime and much valued Moxley Carmichael client. She’s also a member of Knoxville City Council. But, most important in this context, she is a former caterer who owned her own company and handled Knoxville’s most prestigious events for many years. Here’s a tip: When she invites you for a meal, go! That’s where we spent a fantastic Christmas Eve.

Another of our town’s most excellent cooks and hostesses is former Knoxville First Lady Joan Ashe. She and her husband, Victor, Knoxville’s longest-serving mayor and former ambassador to Poland, hosted a small Christmas Day dinner. This invitation was especially exciting to us because the Ashes’ daughter, Martha, now 29 years old, was home visiting. She was a Moxley Carmichael intern many years ago and we loved catching up with her. Continue reading →

Filed under: Food | 4 Comments

Cookie exchange celebrates its 19th year!

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Cynthia Moxley

From left, Margaret Rodgers, Janet Testerman Crossley and her daughter, Janet Testerman, prior to digging into the cookies.

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the annual cookie exchange my friends and I have. The only folks who like this event more than we do? Our husbands and children. Margaret Rodgers says her son actually counts down the days! Continue reading →

Filed under: Food | 2 Comments

Bijou Jubilee: the most fun outside New Orleans!

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Cynthia Moxley

Scott Schimmel, chair of the board of directors of the Bijou Theatre, greets Nina Reineri inside the Bistro at the Bijou.

We felt as if we had gone to New Orleans last Saturday — and we never even left downtown Knoxville. Here’s why. The historic Bijou Theatre had a Mardi Gras theme for its annual Jubilee, the non-profit’s largest fundraiser of the year. The money raised — over $50,000 — will be used for ongoing preservation and operations of the theater.

The evening started with authentic New Orleans cuisine courtesy of Martha Boggs and her great staff at the Bistro at the Bijou. Then, following a silent auction, an optional Tarot card reading and tour of the allegedly haunted second balcony, the action moved to the Bijou Theatre itself for a double-bill concert of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Tab Benoit, both from New Orleans.

People came in a mood to party. (The open bar didn’t hurt!) So the sold-out event not only was profitable, but also was fun, fun, fun. As I said — just like New Orleans! Continue reading →

Filed under: Downtown, Events, Knoxville, Music | 6 Comments