Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performing with Bearden High School students

KNOXVILLE -- The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will perform with students from the Bearden High School Orchestra on Tuesday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bearden High School Auditorium. The combined student and professional orchestra, led by KSO Music Director Lucas Richman, will perform Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1 for Strings and Piano, Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins in B minor and an arrangement of Beethoven's Egmont Overture.

Featured KSO soloists in the Vivaldi Concerto are Principal Second Edward Pulgar and KSO Second Violin Ilia Steinschneider. The program is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Medical Center and admission is $5.00 with all proceeds benefiting the Bearden High School Orchestra Program.

This concert is part of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's Side by Side project where students will have the opportunity to learn from KSO musicians while 'sharing a stand' as they work through two rehearsals and perform a combined concert. The KSO aims through the rehearsal process to directly expose students to professional musicians and to open these students' minds to the opportunities available to them through music. Musicians share their knowledge of the pieces they are performing with students and encourage them to strive for aesthetic subtleties in the music as they play. By working with professional musicians, students gain advanced ensemble skills such as listening across the orchestra and learning to work better as a musical "team." These students also have an opportunity to increase their technical skills and to reevaluate their musical goals with the aid of a professional musician. The KSO participated in a similar side by side concert with musicians from the Maryville High School Orchestra in January 2012.

"One of the unique aspects of our Side by Side program is that it allows young musicians to work directly with KSO professionals," says Jennifer Barnett, Director of Education and Community Partnerships for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. "It is exciting to see the preparation that students and their teachers put into the music and then to hear them achieve a higher level of artistry as they play with the KSO."

The Bearden High School Orchestra Program is led by Katie Middleton. Ms. Middleton is Director of the Bearden High School Orchestra, Assistant Director of West Valley Middle School Orchestras and Assistant Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra.

The KSO has contributed to the cultural life in East Tennessee since 1935. Under the leadership of Lucas Richman, the orchestra consists of more than 80 professional musicians and performs more than 200 programs throughout East Tennessee each season. Performing in traditional venues such as the Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theatre and the Civic Auditorium, and in non-traditional places like hospitals, school classrooms, city parks and shopping centers, the KSO reaches more than 200,000 people throughout the region each year.

More information on the KSO's Community Partnership or Educational programs is available at www.knoxvillesymphony.com, click on Education and Community, or contact Jennifer Barnett at 865-521-2305.

Published February 9, 2012