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An Evening with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

CMM January 19th, 2009

Knoxville Symophony Orchestra with Lucas Richman

One of the things that continues to keep me in Knoxville is its unique ability to combine small town values and hospitality with big city culture and services. This is never more obvious than when you take a trip downtown for an event at the Tennessee Theater. On the evening of Thursday, January 15th the girl and I were special guests of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for their performance of Mozart & Mendelssohn. It was a fantastic evening— a nearly flawless performance by the symphony orchestra set in the beautiful Tennessee Theater.

The performance was lead by Maestro Lucas Richman, who is ever the scholar, diplomat, and gentleman for the performing arts. The featured piano soloist was Navah Perlman, the talented daughter of the famous violinist Itzhak Perlman. Her performance was full of emotion and flawless to my ear. In addition, a number of the KSO members visited with us during a private reception following the performance. They were so personable and friendly. If you’re looking for a night out, give the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra a try. You won’t regret it.

Our seats were provided as a part of a Knoxville blogger event, so thank you and kudos to  Stepahnie at the KSO! The local KSO blogger and principal violinst, Katy Gawne, has more details.

The performance schedule was as follows:

Bach; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major for Strings and Continuo, BWM 1048

  • I. [Allegro]
  • II. Adagio
  • III. Allegro

Note: This was an excellent start and gave the audience an opportunity to use these pieces by Back as a comparison for Mozart and, ultimately, Medellsohn. The concert master, Mark Zelmonovich, too the lead and demonstrated his talent and passion all through the evening. This opening set is signifigant since Mendelssohn and Bach are considered cut from the same cloth.

Mozart; Concert No. 24 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, K. 491

  • I. Allegro
  • II. Larghetto
  • III. Allegretto

Note: This set featured Navah Perlman on an amazing piano that seemeed to stretch for a third of the stage. Her performance was flawless to my ears, and the orchestra did a wonderful job of supporting her. Beyond hearing her music, the passion demonstrated in her face and movement was awesome and helped to pull the listener into the piece.

Mendellsohn; Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 (“Italian”)

  • I. Allegro vivace
  • II. Andante con moto
  • III. Con moto moderato
  • IV. Saltarello: Presto

Note: An excellent close to the evening. Very powerful pieces.

Rebuilding the Blog

CMM January 18th, 2009

Something crazy happened with my blog on the morning of Friday, January 16th at around 3am EST. I’m not sure what it was, but I know that it corrupted my database and crashed my blog. Not being a tech or coding person, I’m pretty impressed that I was able to reconstruct and retore a back-up. If you come across any problems, please let me know.

My Movie Watch List for 2009

CMM January 15th, 2009

One of my FAVORITE things to do is go the movies. It’s the perfect combination of technology, imagination, creativity, and performance. Throw in popcorn, soda, and Reece’s pieces (my favorite candy) and I’m ready to roll. I’m not a movie snob (case-in-point, I think Dumb & Dumber is one of the best comedies ever), and I don’t discriminate across genres. I even see chick movies on occasion with the prodding of the Creative Girl.

Last year I thought was a solid year for movies with Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace, Iron Man, Wall-E, Indiana Jones, etc. I’m not saying they were all good (in fact, the new Indiana Jones pretty much tarnished a small part of my childhood), but they were all exciting launches. There are even more that I haven’t seen but are on my Netflix que (i.e. Burn After Reading). After a few years of very anemic showings by Hollywood, (with exceptions) it was good to see a strong showing.

It looks like ’09 is going to keep strong, and I’m pretty excited about the upcoming year.

Here is my preliminary list of ’09 movies I plan to see (in no specific order):

  • Watchmen: Probably my #1. I love the distopia concept, and Frank Miller is genius.
  • Star Trek: Probably my #2. I love the casting and the teaser is one of the best ever.
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine–Probably going to disappoint, but it does have my favorite X-Men, Gambit.
  • Public Enemies: Christian Bale and Johnny Depp as ’30s era mobsters. Need I say more.
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Yes, I read all of them. And, yes, I love the movies.
  • Terminator: Salvation: Another disappointment possibility… but I love the Terminator movies.
  • Wolfman: I used to stay up and watch the original. Plus Del Toro as the lead is a good sign.
  • Sherlock Holmes: My favorite fictional character, and I’m cautiously optimistic. They went with the comic book version as opposed to Doyle… thus the caution.

Knoxville Symphony Blog Night

CMM December 1st, 2008

So, the Knoxville Orchestra is having a blog media night on January 15th for a Mozart and Mendelson performance. I’m also pleased to see that the Knoxville Orchestra has its own blog. What an awesome opportunity and a sign of innovative marketing for the Knoxville Orchestra. These are the things that make me love living in Knoxville– this scruffy little city has a creative, artistic, and classy side! To boot, I can piggyback this with a date night for the Creative Girl.

If you are a local Knoxville blogger and would like to participate, email Stephanie.

A Conservative Voter’s Letter to President-Elect Obama

CMM November 5th, 2008

President-Elect Obama:

First, I’d like to congratulate you, your staff, and your volunteers on yesterday’s success. It’s mighty work being a presidential candidate, and I congratulate the victory. Also, I congratulate you on being a part of history as the first non-Caucasian president. With yesterday’s accomplishment, the idea of America as a land of opportunity and courage has been reinforced.

Second, while we won’t agree on most issues, there are a handful of issues that we can agree on. I don’t expect you to compromise your values, because I won’t compromise mine. I will, though, agree to support and work with you when building a consensus. As we look back over history, I believe many presidents are remembered fondly for their ability to build consensus. You should follow that model.

Lastly, be careful how you interpret this victory. Many talking heads and politicos will try to pass this off as a mandate or political shift in society. It is neither. While you safely surpassed the 270 electoral votes, you won a number of those states by small margins. This was a willingness by the American people to take a chance on you. Realizing that will bring the humility a good president needs.

In conclusion, I congratulate you again and wish you luck. If you stay out of my way, you’ll find that I’m relatively quiet. Generally, I’m just too busy with my work and family to engage in the political end fighting. But don’t mistake that as a lack of interest. Merely interfere in my life or threaten those things that I value and you will experience the sound and fury of the conservative voice.

All the best,
Conservative Voter

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