Calendar of Events

This year’s lineup features ANOHNI and the Johnsons, genre-bending bassist Esperanza Spalding, folk-pop innovator Rufus Wainwright, and sitar prodigy Anoushka Shankar. In addition, festival favorite Bèla Fleck, cinematic post-rock maestros Explosions In The Sky, legendary bluesman Taj Mahal, plus over 150 additional performances, discussions, panels, and films will unfold across four days in 12+ venues nestled throughout historic downtown Knoxville. Full lineup and passes at https://bigearsfestival.org

At its heart, Big Ears is a celebration of how music and culture can bring us all together. It is in that spirit that we offer the Big Ears experience to everyone in a series of free concerts all weekend long, the Knoxville Museum of Art to the Visit Knoxville Visitors Center. These are some really special performances. We hope you’ll encourage your friends and neighbors to join us!

Dedicated Men of Zion & Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir
Sunday, March 30 / Knoxville Civic Auditorium / 5p
Experience a powerful and uplifting musical collaboration as the Dedicated Men of Zion join forces with the Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir for a special Sunday performance at Big Ears. Nearly a year in the making, this joyous celebration of gospel music’s rich heritage and lasting spirit is not to be missed. While the event is included as part of the offerings for festival pass holders, Big Ears is excited to open this special event to the public. Reserve your free ticket at the link below and be part of this unforgettable performance!

Knoxville Museum of Art
The Knoxville Museum of Art will be free and open to the public all weekend. The museum will host performances by artists by Bríghde Chaimbeul, Kalia Vandever, eucademix (Yuka Honda), Carlos Niño Salon’s Night 1 and Night 2, Allison De Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, June McDoom, Fred Moten & Brandon Lopez, Larry & Joe, and Mivos Quartet. The museum will also host Laraaji & Arji OceAnanda’s Laughter: The Best Medicine Playshop and in addition to Pangrok Sulap’s exhibit at RED Gallery, the collective will be doing live printmaking sessions throughout the festival weekend at Knoxville Museum of Art’s South Garden.

Visit Knoxville Visitors Center
Visit Knoxville Visitors Center is your destination for all things Knoxville. During Big Ears free programming will include WDVX Blue Plate and Big Plate Specials with special guests, Knoxville Music History with Jack Neely, Critics’ Pick Panel with Ann Powers, Nate Chinen, Ashley Kahn, and Marcus J. Moore, Essential Tremors featuring Ian Lynch, Victoria Shen, and William Tyler a conversatios between Dawn Richard and Marcus J. Moore, Lonnie Holley and Grayson Currin, and Terika Dean & Lance Ledbetter from Dust to Digital, alongside the Gladson Family Band.

The Emporium Center - Wayne White: Big Words
UT Downtown Gallery - Kite Symphony / Star Scores
RED Gallery - Pangrok Sulap
Digital Motif - Violins of Hope

https://bigearsfestival.org/

Lecture - “The Mediterranean Antiquities Provenance Research Alliance: A collective response to the illicit trade”

AIA/East Tennessee Society and McClung Museum are pleased to present the next program in the 52nd Annual Series, 2024-2025. The lecture will feature Mireille Lee, Executive Director of the Foundation for Ethical Stewardship of Cultural Heritagey. This is AIA’s Nancy Wilkie Lectureship in Archaeological Heritage.

Thursday, March 27, 2025 6pm
https://calendar.utk.edu/event/lecture-the-mediterranean-antiquities-provenance-research-alliance

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Tu-Sa 9-5, Sun 12-4. Information: 865-974-2144, https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/

Poet and MacArthur Scholar Fred Moten and acclaimed Puerto Rican bassist Brandon López draw from contemporary art and cultural theory on Black fugitivity to explore Nathaniel Mackey‘s poetry and music and talk about how listening, with big ears, is always a variation on a kind of spooky, distant jazz practicing.

The pair have collaborated on music albums and performance projects together since 2018. An American cultural theorist, poet, and scholar considered to be one of the foremost theorists of his generation, Moten is a professor of performance studies at New York University and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at University of California, Riverside. His books include the groundbreaking In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition and numerous poetry collections, and he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2020. López is a bassist, composer, and improviser working at the fringes of contemporary music. His playing has led him to work with the luminaries of the contemporary avant-garde such as Moten, Gerald Cleaver, and John Zorn, and he was a featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic.

This event is in partnership with the Big Ears Festival and is part of the Denbo Center's 2024-25 Distinguished Lecture Series. See the BEF site here. The event is free and open to the public and to UT students and faculty.

Knoxville Museum of Art, Bailey Hall (Great Hall)
1050 Worlds Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916
https://calendar.utk.edu/event/on-the-run-from-ownership-nathaniel-mackey-music-centrifugitivity-with-fred-moten-and-brandon-lopez

WDVX thanks Knox Brew Hub, at 421 Union Avenue in downtown Knoxville for hosting a “Meet the New Guy” Pint Night on Thursday, March 27th from 5pm -8pm.

Join us and shake -n- howdy with our new Marketing and Community Relations Director, Benny Smith and other WDVX announcers. A portion of the proceeds from Knox Brew Hub beverage sales benefits WDVX.

https://wdvx.com/

Reception: Friday, March 28, 5-7pm
Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture | 1715 Volunteer Boulevard

Francis Akosah : Echoes of Heritage: A Journey Through West African Culture
As an artist, I feel a responsibility to share these stories, to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and to honor the beauty and diversity of West African culture. In each artwork, I strive to capture the essence of my heritage, honor the legacy of those who came before me, and inspire future generations to embrace their own cultural identities. My work extends beyond simple documentation. It is a call to action, a dialogue about the profound influence these historical objects have on society. By re-contextualizing these artifacts in a contemporary setting, I hope to have conversations which speak to their significance and relevance today. Through exhibitions, installations, and public interventions, I aim to create spaces for reflection, learning, and celebration of West African cultural richness. This journey is deeply personal to me. It speaks about my cultural roots and highlights the importance of heritage and tradition in shaping our identities. Ultimately, I believe that through understanding, appreciation, and respect for our differences, we can come together as a global community.

LaKesha Lee : Memory to Materials and Objects
My work is an ongoing dialogue between the past, present, and future, centered on honoring self-representation, family legacy, and the resilience of Black identity. I form assemblage collages, sculptural forms, and ceramic works, using found objects and materials that carry traces of lived experiences to display curated memories. These fragments—old photographs, textiles, ceramics, and everyday artifacts—are a material language that explore memory, materials, personal history, and cultural traditions.

Eliza Frensley : Family Obscura
This exhibition explores complexities of family histories and investigates relationships between heritage and personal identity. Through a comparison of both sides of my family, the work challenges the viewer to reflect on the ways in which traditions and the individual experience inform cultural narratives and memory.

Gaby Hurtado-Ramos : Tomorrow Night
Tomorrow Night is an exhibition of prints, drawings, and video dedicated to the glimmers of last night's party and the hopefulness for the next one.

https://ewing-gallery.utk.edu/upcoming-exhibitions/

Home Runs & Home Teams - A History of the National Pastime in Tennessee
Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery

As Tennesseeans, baseball is in our DNA, and although the game is common to us, it has never remained the same during anyone’s lifetime. Who were among the first to play baseball in Tennessee? How did 31 Tennessee towns come to host a MiLB team? What makes a day at a Tennessee ballpark an iconic experience? Home Runs & Home Teams provides an overview of the national pastime as it has played out in the Volunteer State. For every story included in the exhibition, there are hundreds more–from players to pennants, from bat makers to bat boys–that could have been shared. So as you “round the bases,” think about your connections to the game, your ties to the past. What does baseball mean to you and to your community? What baseball stories should libraries and museums preserve to share with future Tennesseans? Let’s play ball!

601 S Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902
https://www.easttnhistory.org/exhibitions/home-runs-home-teams/

Dogwood Arts, in collaboration with professional muralist Megan Lingerfelt, will unveil six new murals in Downtown Knoxville as part of the 3rd Annual Mural Workshop at Maker Exchange. Six local and regional artists were selected to participate and will design and paint an 8x8 ft mural in the Curio at Maker Exchange. The workshop begins Saturday, March 22nd and artists have until Friday, March 28th to complete their pieces. The murals will remain on display at Maker Exchange through May 2025 (710 Clinch Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902).

Participating Artists:
Adele Ferguson – @ahousecalled_adele
Zoe Haun
Andi Kur – www.andikurart.com
Lydia May – @lydiamay.art
Jordan Thompson – @jordankthompson
Esther Sitver – esthersketch.com

About the Workshop: Designed by Megan Lingerfelt and Dogwood Arts, the Mural Workshop at Maker Exchange provides emerging artists with hands-on training in large-scale mural painting. Participants gain experience from seasoned professionals and leave with the skills and confidence to pursue their own mural projects. For more detailed information about the workshop, visit: https://www.dogwoodarts.com/post/2025-mural-workshop-at-maker-exchange

More information about the program can be found online at https://www.dogwoodarts.com/murals.

You can find our full listing of events by visiting our Events Calendar: https://music.utk.edu/events/
Can't attend in-person? Check out our Livestream. https://music.utk.edu/livestream/

Wind Ensemble Concert
Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

Chamber Singers & Concert Choir Spring Concert
Tuesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

Musicology Distinguished Lecture Series: Professor Timothy D. Taylor
Monday, March 31 at 4:30 p.m.
Natalie L. Haslam Music Center, Powell Recital Hall

Men's & Women's Chorales Spring Concert
Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

BY PHILIP DAWKINS
LAB THEATRE

A magical fable with music. This exciting new play tells the story of the Fail family and their seemingly difficult challenge to just stay alive around blunt objects, disappearances and the odd case of consumption. Sometimes you just never see death coming. In this upbeat, tuneful, magical fable you can either worry about the ever-impending death or you can live, love, and sing some songs along the way.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information/tickets: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com

On view through March 28
In the Blackberry Farm & William "Ed" Harmon Galleries

Featuring works by Knoxville artist Jon Pemberton, this exhibit showcases a collection that interprets anonymous secrets and transforms them into art. A reception will be held in the gallery on Saturday, March 22 from 6-8 p.m.

Visit Monday-Friday 10am–5pm to see these works in person.

Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

On view through March 27
At DENSO & La Dolce Vita Galleries

This art exhibition showcases K-12 art students alongside their teachers and current art interns/student-teachers from East Tennessee. A Closing Reception and Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday, March 27 from 5:30-7:30PM.
www.dogwoodarts.com

Visit Monday-Friday 10am–5pm (or before/during CCA performances) to see the results of the artistic student-teacher synergy that happens in our schools!

Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com