“The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has become an essential part of Big Ears,” writes Matthew Everett in Wednesday’s (3/22) Knoxville Mercury. Big Ears is the city’s annual festival of indie and alt-rock, jazz, and contemporary classical music. “But the KSO takes on an expanded role this year, with new music director Aram Demirjian creating a 45-minute program of music specifically for the festival. Reflecting the adventuresome spirit of Big Ears, the concert will include an 18th-century violin suite as well as an orchestral piece, by one of the most promising American composers under the age of 30, that premiered less than a year ago. … Demirjian discusses how classical programming is changing, what traditional classical-music listeners can find at Big Ears, and Bach. … Demirjian: There’s a lot of overlap between what’s going on in the experimental rock corner of the music world and what’s going on in the classical contemporary corner of the music world. I think they learn a lot from each other, if not in purely musical terms then at least in the philosophical approach to trying new things. … My musical mission in life …is that I’m trying to both preserve musical traditions but also bring musical traditions into the present.”
In photo: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Music Director Aram Demirjian
Posted March 24, 2017
