A portion of every ticket sold to Knoxville’s annual Big Ears music festival goes to the Joy of Music School. And the connection doesn’t stop there. As part of its “Little Ears” program, festival founder Ashley Capps and his team have encouraged musicians performing at Big Ears to lead demonstrations for our students and even drop by our School for rehearsals. Talk about a learning opportunity!

Q: Was it a happy accident that our School and Big Ears have a connection that goes beyond a financial donation, or was it by design?

A: It’s by design! Obviously raising money is important, but also the exposure is so vital. When I was a kid, my parents took me to see the Duke Ellington Orchestra with Johnny Hodges at the Civic Coliseum. They took me to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet. They also took me to see the Monkees and Paul Revere and the Raiders, and my cousin took me to see James Brown when he was supposed to be babysitting for me. Those experiences just opened up a whole world of possibility to me.

Q: And now with Little Ears, you’re paying it forward?

A: It’s a no-brainer. Big Ears offers an opportunity for young people to become exposed to some of the greatest artists in the world. You’re bringing these world-class artists to Knoxville, Tenn., that people are normally seeing in Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall or Disney Hall in L.A. or the Barbican in London. That’s an opportunity we can’t let pass by. To me it’s a natural question to ask, how can this benefit the community? How can it be transformational for the community? Young people are a key part of that transformation.

Q: It seems like one of the messages of Big Ears is “music can be whatever you want it to be.” Do you agree?

A: Creativity is about imagining new possibilities and bringing them to fruition. Big Ears is about that. But it’s also about breaking down what I see as very artificial boundaries: the boundaries between the sacred status of classical music, say, and the general practice of music in a small club. There’s so much access to information in our culture now and that has helped to break down these barriers. You have these extraordinarily gifted young musicians who may be playing with the symphony orchestra and two hours later they’re in a rock club playing with their rock band. And they’re equally committed to both projects. And actually bring important qualities to the performance of each. For a long time, things were really compartmentalized. We’re trying to open up those boxes, if you will, and extend some of the connections and explore some of the connections.

Q: We’d love to see a JoMS student perform at Big Ears one day. Could you make that happen?

A: I would love that! I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of this relationship and what its potential is. But it’s something we hope to see evolve over the years.

We do, too. Many thanks Ashley!

 

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