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Stravinsky's Violin Concerto began with a chord scribbled on a napkin

Melony Dodson talks with music director, Aram Demirjian and concertmaster, William Shaub, about the KSO's November Masterworks concert.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents its November Masterworks concert on Thursday and Friday, November 14th and 15th at 7:30pm. As usual, the performances will be given in the magnificent Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville. On the program is "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Claude Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", the "Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky, "Icarus" by Lera Auerbach, and also by Stravinsky, the Violin Concerto in D, featuring concertmaster, William Shaub, as the soloist.

This program has a theme of "fanciful flight" as Demirjian explains in this interview with Morning Concert host, Melony Dodson. The theme originated with Auerbach's piece, which is inspired by the legend of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun. And although the program has two pieces by Stravinsky, the two works could not be more different, as they were written during two different stylistic periods of the composer's life. Demirjian and Shaub explain those differences, as well as the challenges associated with performing the seldom heard concerto.

Tickets and additional information are available at https://knoxvillesymphony.com/concert/the-firebird/

Melony calls the beautiful mountains of Boone, N.C., home, although she was born near Greensboro, N.C. There’s just something about those Blue Ridge Mountains that got in her blood and never left after she moved there to attend Appalachian State University (ASU). While at ASU, she majored in piano performance and music therapy and began to cultivate a love for accompanying and for collaborating with other musicians. This soon led her to earn a master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Tennessee, which she attended from 2006-2008.