The Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts is collaborating with Knoxville's Central Cinema on a series of film screenings connected to our 2026-2027 annual theme, "Authenticity: Identity and Place." August's showing will be Mississippi Masala, and will include an introduction and short moderated Q&A by professor Urmila Seshagiri (English). Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at Central Cinema.

Guest Artist performance by Dieter Hennings (guitar) and Paul Vaillancourt (percussion). Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Composer and bassist Alejandro Rutty is best-known for his distinctive mix of South American styles, lyrical melodies, meticulous rhythmic detail, and exotic textures. His recent output includes solos, duos, trios and quartets for extended-range electric bass, which he performs by himself or with other bassists. Rutty’s compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Montevideo Philharmonic, Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra and numerous chamber ensembles. Recordings of his music have been released by Navona, Capstone, Albany, Arizona University Recordings, and other labels. Why Bass? II is a release with original music for a solo bass, no overdubs. The recording is available on all streaming platforms Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a guest artist recital featuring contemporary classical saxophone repertoire, including several works that were recently recorded for his debut album. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

This virtual talk explores songs that talk directly about medicine. There are a surprising number of songs written about prescription drugs and their use. Examples include “Diazepam” by Ren, “xanny” by Billie Eilish, “911” by Lady Gaga (which recounts her experience with olanzapine), quite a few songs about codeine, and two songs about “Lithium” by Nirvana and Evanescence which are more allegorically connected to the general effects of the drug than to the drug itself. Through an interactive listening session and discussion, we will explore how songs serve as medical narratives of prescription drug use, listening beyond the lyrics for other medical and psychological data in the musical notes themselves. Nathan Fleshner (Ph.D., Eastman) is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Associate Dean for Research and Creative Activity for the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music at the University of Tennessee. His research focuses on the medical humanities and the portrayal of mental illness, trauma, and the therapeutic process in popular music. He is completing a book for Bloomsbury, Religious Trauma and Deconstruction in Popular Music, and has written for The Polyphony, the medical humanities website associated with the Institute for the Medical Humanities at Durham University, UK. His column explores musicians and their music through the lens of mental health and the broader field of medicine, including analyses of specific works and connections between fields of music and medicine. This talk is part of the 2026-2027 Conversations & Cocktails series presented by the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts. Conversations & Cocktails is a free public lecture and discussion series that showcases the original research of our distinguished UT arts and humanities faculty. Join us as we feature groundbreaking work exploring a wide range of topics in the arts and in humanities fields such as philosophy, history, and literature studies. Register for the virtual talk with the link below.

Members of the cello studio willl perform etudes and caprices by David Popper and Alfredo Piatti from memory in this annual event. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for our Viola Mini-Celebration! Participants will enjoy opportunities such as masterclasses and collaborative ensembles, culminating in a miniature concert. We hope to see you there! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts is collaborating with Knoxville's Central Cinema on a series of film screenings connected to our 2026-2027 annual theme, "Authenticity: Identity and Place." September's showing will be Close-Up, and will include an introduction and short moderated Q&A by professor Mehrenegar Rostami (Natalie L. Haslam College of Music). Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at Central Cinema.

Julia Mortyakova and Valentin Bogdan are professors at the Mississippi University for Women. They will present a a piano duet recital with a program featuring women composers. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

In repertoire spanning from Monteverdi to Gregory Spears, Alexandra Schoeny is known for her versatility and engaging stage presence. With a voice hailed as "hauntingly beautiful" by Opera News, she is equally praised for her convincing character portrayals as she "embodies melodrama with flair," (Broadway World). Ms. Schoeny's program will include works by Poulenc, Debussy, and Griffin Candey. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a joint Junior Recital featuring Jordan Cannon, saxophone, and Dylan Smith, clarinet! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

This virtual talk is part of the 2026-2027 Conversations & Cocktails series presented by the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts. Conversations & Cocktails is a free public lecture and discussion series that showcases the original research of our distinguished UT arts and humanities faculty. Join us as we feature groundbreaking work exploring a wide range of topics in the arts and in humanities fields such as philosophy, history, and literature studies.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for an evening of saxophone music from around the world, particularly highlighting the concept of festivals around the world! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Euphonium and tuba students perform solos and chamber music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Tuba and euphonium students perform solos and large-ensemble music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a Junior Recital featuring Jacob Rinke, voice! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

As our universities push AI into the administrative and classroom dynamics of our campuses, some of us question how we remain true to the values of higher education that drew us to the profession. Professor Moya Bailey's talk invites us to imagine critical thinking in a world on fire, with less and less water to put it out because of datacenters and AI everywhere. Moya Bailey is a Professor at Northwestern University and is the founder of the Digital Apothecary and co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers. She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (MIT Press, 2020) and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (New York University Press, 2021). She is an award-winning documentarian after completing the short documentary You Just Watch & See (2025) featuring her late Cousin Dollie, and she is completing a docuseries Misogynoir in Medicine. This talk is part of the 2026-2027 Distinguished Lecture Series presented by the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts and in connection with the DCHA annual theme, "Authenticity: Identity & Place." The event will be held in person at the Denbo Center, with streaming also available.

Join us in beautiful Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall for our Fall Woodwind Chamber Music concert featuring the fantastic students of UT Woodwinds! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The faculty brass quintet from the Universrity of Southern Mississippi plays and engaging program beautiful brass music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a Senior Recital featuring Lydia Dodd, percussion! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

This honors brass quintet performs a variety of music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts is collaborating with Knoxville's Central Cinema on a series of film screenings connected to our 2026-2027 annual theme, "Authenticity: Identity and Place." November's showing will be Sanjuro, and will include an introduction and short moderated Q&A by professor Natalia Doan (History). Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at Central Cinema.

Renowned guitarist and composer and University of Arkansas Director of Jazz Studies Jake Hertzog joins members of UT's jazz faculty for a night of inspired original music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a joint Junior Recital featuring Grace Estes, horn, and Lara O'Neal, horn! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for an afternoon of saxophone chamber music, including sax ensemble and sax quartets! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The Tennessee Percussion Group opens its season with a program of contemporary music for chamber percussion ensemble. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and lives in Cherokee, North Carolina. A graduate of Yale University and the College of William & Mary, Clapsaddle is the author of Even As We Breathe (UPK, 2020), the first novel published by an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. The novel was a finalist for the Weatherford Award, winner of the 2021 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020. This talk is part of the 2026-2027 Distinguished Lecture Series presented by the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts and in connection with the DCHA annual theme, "Authenticity: Identity & Place." The event will be held in person at the Student Union, with streaming also available.

Prentiss Hobbs, Principal Trombone of the Chattanooga Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, and several others, is one of the regions most active professional trombonists. He is a visiting artist presenting a solo recital of a variety of music for UTK brass students and the general public. Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

Student brass chamber groups perform a wide variety of music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

This concert features new music from the composition studio! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

This virtual talk will explore how, in 1860, seventeen-year-old samurai Tateishi Onojirō and his rumored flirtations and popularity with American women during the first-ever Japanese diplomatic mission to the US sparked national controversy and questioning of antebellum ideas about race and culture. Dr. Natalia Doan is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she teaches the cultural and intellectual history of modern and early modern Japan. She received her doctorate in Asian Studies from the University of Oxford and is the author of Civil War Samurai: The 1860 Japanese Embassy and Tateishi Onojirō in Antebellum America (Leiden University Press, 2026). This talk is part of the 2026-2027 Conversations & Cocktails series presented by the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts. Conversations & Cocktails is a free public lecture and discussion series that showcases the original research of our distinguished UT arts and humanities faculty. Join us as we feature groundbreaking work exploring a wide range of topics in the arts and in humanities fields such as philosophy, history, and literature studies. Register for the virtual talk with the link below.

In this recital, members of the UT cello studio will perform works from the cello concerto repertoire. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Celebrate the artists that make up UT Oboes in their final recital of the fall semester. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for an evening celebrating the piano concerto, featuring movements from works spanning different musical eras. Graduate piano students will introduce each piece before performing it in a two-piano arrangement, offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience some of the greatest works in the concerto repertoire in an intimate concert setting. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

In recognition of a generous gift from the Laffont family, the Met’s nationwide vocal competition—known since its founding in 1954 as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions—begins a new chapter as the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. The Competition discovers promising young opera singers and assists in the development of their careers. Hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico fundraise, operate, and support the efforts of the Competition and its singers. Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

The Natalie L. Haslam College of Music will be hosting in-person auditions and interviews on Saturday, January 23, 2027 and Saturday, January 30, 2027 for the consideration for admission for fall 2027. Invited students will be contacted via email after completing their UT Admission Application and supplemental Natalie L. Haslam College of Music Application by the required deadlines. Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

A native of Elgin, Illinois, Mike Anderson is a professional musician and educator in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mike currently serves as Principal Tuba for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Brass Quintet, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with the Illinois Brass Band, Lexington Brass Band, Blue Lake Festival Band, Varna International Muzika! Festival Orchestra, and Tallahassee Community Chorus Orchestra. Mike has also garnered success in multiple competitions, including winning the 2023 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference Mock Band Competition.In addition to his orchestral work, Mike is an adjunct instructor of tuba at Tennessee Tech University. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a master's degree in performance from Florida State University. His primary teachers included Dr. Matthew Hightower, Daniel Perantoni, and Scott Tegge. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The Natalie L. Haslam College of Music will be hosting in-person auditions and interviews on Saturday, January 23, 2027 and Saturday, January 30, 2027 for the consideration for admission for fall 2027. Invited students will be contacted via email after completing their UT Admission Application and supplemental Natalie L. Haslam College of Music Application by the required deadlines. Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

Members of the UT cello studio play music for cello ensemble. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

All event descriptions for the Tennessee Cello Workshop can be found at Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

The Tennessee Cello Workshop (TCW) is a three-day exploration and celebration of cello playing and music making. The Tennessee Cello Workshop encourages cellists of any age and proficiency level to participate. The unifying characteristic of all registrants is a great love for the instrument. The TCW tradition of having outstanding cellist pedagogues on its roster continues with our 2027 faculty roster, which will be announced later this fall. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Stay tuned for more information! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

All event descriptions for the Tennessee Cello Workshop can be found at Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

The Tennessee Cello Workshop (TCW) is a three-day exploration and celebration of cello playing and music making. The Tennessee Cello Workshop encourages cellists of any age and proficiency level to participate. The unifying characteristic of all registrants is a great love for the instrument. The TCW tradition of having outstanding cellist pedagogues on its roster continues with our 2027 faculty roster, which will be announced later this fall. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The Tennessee Cello Workshop (TCW) is a three-day exploration and celebration of cello playing and music making. The Tennessee Cello Workshop encourages cellists of any age and proficiency level to participate. The unifying characteristic of all registrants is a great love for the instrument. The TCW tradition of having outstanding cellist pedagogues on its roster continues with our 2027 faculty roster, which will be announced later this fall. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

All event descriptions for the Tennessee Cello Workshop can be found at Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

A brass extravaganza!Participants will hear the brass faculty and our guest artist perform, play in warm-up classes, and attend a masterclass taught by our guest artist. No fee to register, but registration is required. Lunch is supplied. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Wesley Baldwin, UT cello professor, is joined by guest artists Jennifer Muniz, Zofia Glashauser, Luis Vargas, and Mark Portolese for a chamber music program featuring the piano quintet of Arne Oldberg. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Euphonium and tuba soloists and the University of Tennessee Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a Senior Recital featuring Jack Lynch, voice! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for an exciting day celebrating single reed instruments at the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music! Whether you're a clarinet or saxophone enthusiast, this event is tailored for players of all levels. Enjoy engaging workshops, masterclasses with esteemed faculty, and opportunities to perform and collaborate with fellow musicians. Note: This event will not be livestreamed.

The UT Contemporary Music Festival is a yearly celebration of new music through performances, workshops, and lectures hosted and presented by the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music. More information will be released later this fall at Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Euphonium and tuba soloists and chamber ensembles. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

The UT Contemporary Music Festival is a yearly celebration of new music through performances, workshops, and lectures hosted and presented by the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music. More information will be released later this fall at Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for our Viola Mini-Celebration! Participants will enjoy opportunities such as masterclasses and collaborative ensembles, culminating in a miniature concert. We hope to see you there! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for our Viola Mini-Celebration! Participants will enjoy opportunities such as masterclasses and collaborative ensembles, culminating in a miniature concert for general audiences. We hope to see you there! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Our honors brass quintet performs a variety of music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us for a Junior Recital featuring David Hernandez, bass trombone! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join faculty members Jaren Atherholt and Ryan Yamashiro for UT’s Double Reed Day! It will be a day of performances, reed making, masterclasses, community and music making. Calling students of all ages passionate about the oboe and the bassoon, this event promises a jam-packed schedule designed to elevate your skills and ignite your creativity. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Members of the UT cello studio perform works for cello from composers from around the world. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Brass students perform a variety of chamber music. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Join us Nov. 11th at 7:30pm in beautiful Powell Hall for our Fall Woodwind Chamber Music concert. Featuring works by Hindemith, Taffanel, Dring and Ravel! Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

World renowned cellist Colin Carr and pianist Wan-Chi Su present all five sonatas for cello and piano by Beethoven, commenorating the 200th anniversary of the composer's death. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.

Celebrate the artists that make up UT Oboes in their final recital of the spring semester. Can’t attend in person? Click here to watch virtually via our livestream.