Knoxville Symphony season to showcase repertoire from Mozart to Elton John

Joy and harmony. That's what Aram Demirjian and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra hope audiences experience at every performance during its 2023-24 season.

The 88^th season of the KSO has been announced and showcases a variety of artistry and sounds. The lineup includes classics by Mozart, Beethoven and Handel, and concerts inspired by Frank Sinatra, Elton John, rock band Chicago and even “Star Wars.”

“I genuinely believe with every fiber in me that symphonic music is for everybody,” Demirjian told Knox News. “This music is life-changing.”

“The experience of listening to it gives you a chance to expand your palate (and) also live in places of emotion that your day-to-day life might not always naturally create a space for,” he said.

Designing a repertoire that represents all

Demirjian will be beginning his eighth season as the KSO music director and, for him, diversity and representation are core components of designing a repertoire each year. Nine guest artists will make their Knoxville debut during the 2023-24 season, which also will feature the Tennessee debut of Sarah Gibson’s “to make this mountain taller.”

Gibson’s collaboration with KSO is part of program that matched 30 orchestras with six living women composers to have their new pieces performed throughout the country. Demirjian has been intentional in including compositions by women since joining KSO.

Demirjian noted that women composers have been largely kept out of or marginalized in symphonic music for more than 400 years, only gaining more recognition with the past 25-50 years. But he said there’s more work to do across the board to ensure better representation in musical performance.

“There's an imperative for us as artists and as stewards of the art to lift up and give a platform and amplify the work of people who have been marginalized either as performers or as composers over the course of history or now, because if we don't do so, we're doing a disservice to our audience,” Demirjian said.

A connection between harmony and the human spirit

It’s the audience that Demirjian has connected with the most during his time with KSO. He knows many regular members by their first names, and he enjoys conversations about the material after concerts. And he wants to welcome more into the theaters to enjoy the KSO experience.

“I think there's a misconception that you need to know something when you walk into the doors of a symphony concert and that's not the case, in my belief,” he wants people to know. “You just need to come with an open mind and an open heart, and we will guide you on the rest of the journey.”

It’s OK you’ve never heard of Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4” or been to a performance of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” both which will performed this season. Before each concert, KSO provides a musical roadmap of sorts by briefly talking about the music to be performed.

There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy it, Demirjian said. For him, it’s all about the connection between orchestra and audience, the shared experience of witnessing musical symphonic art in the same space and time.

“I think music really is what the human spirit sounds like,” Demirjian said. “I don't think it's an accident that music and the idea of harmony are so closely related.”

“Consuming music with other people is one of the few natural settings where community harmony really happens on a regular basis anymore,” he added.

Get tickets for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra 2023-24 season

Individual tickets for shows go on sale in August. Subscriptions can be purchased now by visiting knoxvillesymphony.com or calling the KSO box office at 865-291-3310.

Subscribers can retain their seats by renewing their Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series and Chamber Classics Series subscriptions by April 22 and their Thermal Label Warehouse/Shaw Family Pops Series subscriptions by May 13.

More information about KSO’s 23-24 season and individual performances can also be found at knoxvillesymphony.com.

Here is the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra 2023-24 calendar

Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series

• Pictures at an Exhibition – Sept. 21-22

• Beethoven’s “Pastoral” – Oct. 19-20

• Bax Plays Rachmaninoff – Nov. 16-17

• The Heavenly Life: Mahler Symphony No. 4 – Jan. 25-26, 2024

• Beethoven Violin Concerto – Feb. 22-23, 2024

• Dvořák  & Tchaikovsky – March 14-15, 2024

• Cosmos Festival: The Planets – April 18-19, 2024

• Verdi Requiem – May 16-17, 2024

Chamber Classics Series

• William Shaub Plays Mozart – Sept. 17

• Classical Christmas: Messiah – Nov. 26

• Schubert Death and the Maiden – Jan. 21, 2024

• Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony – March 3, 2024

• Cosmos Festival: Mozart’s Jupiter & The Golden Record – April 14, 2024

Thermal Label Warehouse/Shaw Family Pops Series

• Frank and the Great Ladies of Song – Oct. 6

• Star Wars: A New Hope – Jan. 13, 2024

• Go Now! Music of the Moody Blues – February 10, 2024

• Chicago Nights with Jason Scheff – March 9, 2024

• A Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration – April 6, 2024

• The Music of Elton John with Michael Cavanaugh – May 11, 2024

• 37th Annual Clayton Holiday Concert – Dec. 15-17, 2023

Merchant & Gould Concertmaster & Friends Series

• Somewhere in Time – Oct. 4-5

• Heifetz and the Golden Era of Hollywood – Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2024

• Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe – April 3-4, 2024

Q Series Dates

• Sept. 27

• Oct. 25

• Dec. 6

• Jan. 17, 2024

• March 27, 2024

• April 24, 2024

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter for Knox News. He can be reached by email at devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. Follow Devarrick on Twitter @dturner1208. Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra announces 2023-24 season line-up