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The KSO's November Masterworks program inspired by jazz, dance, and the rhythms of Spain

knoxvillesymphony.com

Melony Dodson talks with guest conductor, Michelle DiRusso, and pianist, Chaeyoung Park, about the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's November Masterworks concert

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's (KSO) November Masterworks series concert is taking place on Thursday and Friday, November 20th and 21st at 7:30pm. The KSO will be led by guest conductor, Michelle DiRusso and will feature pianist, Chaeyoung Park, as soloist. On the dance-themed program is Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Four Black American Dances by Carlos Simon, and Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat ballet.

DiRusso was guest conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra last season, leading an "Italian-themed" program. Chaeyoung Park made history in 2019 as the first female Korean pianist to win the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Since then, she was awarded first prize of Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, and was a finalist at both the 2023 Arthur Rubinstein International Master Piano Competition and 2025 Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

Get to know both of these artists in this interview with Morning Concert host, Melony Dodson. Tickets and additional information at https://knoxvillesymphony.com/concert/rhapsody-in-blue/

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.