KSA Shines at the Rossini Festival, May 18, 2026

What do you get when 10 cellists, 1 violist, 9 violinists and two instructors get together on a Clinch Avenue stage in the middle of downtown Knoxville? — You get beautiful music at Knoxville’s annual Rossini Festival on April 18!

Students age 5 to 18 performed everything from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” by the full ensemble to concerto movements by Elgar and others by the advanced students. Their efforts were rewarded with enthusiastic applause from parents, friends and dozens of festival goers. It’s great fun and an excellent growth opportunity to perform together on an outdoor stage in the middle of artisan booths, traffic and admiring passersby.

Thanks to our Knoxville Suzuki Academy teachers Jennifer George (violin) and Wesley Baldwin (cello). I hear that some of our performers were rewarded with ice cream and cotton candy afterward – not bad for a happy afternoon in May!