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Classical Venues

Tennessee boasts some of the finest musicians in the world, including those with more of a classical bent. As you travel the state, enrich your musical journey with the chamber music, opera and symphony performances of world-class musicians in both grand and intimate settings.

If grand is your goal, start with the Memphis Opera, which performs a wide array of musical adventures, from Scott Joplin's Treemonisha to Faust, in the restored Orpheum Theatre. Or Knoxville's Symphony Orchestra, with its home base in the beautiful historic Tennessee Theatre. The Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, the first combined professional resident symphony and opera company in the nation, offers series of masterworks, opera, pops, and chamber music.

For a more intimate experience, visit Lipscomb University in Nashville, where the music department is noted for a cappella, chamber, classical, and jazz performances and offers an Artist Series and ensemble performances in early music genres. Orchestra Nashville, one of America's premiere chamber orchestras, specializes in crossing musical boundaries and presenting both masterworks and newly commissioned works by American composers. The Knoxville Opera offers traditional opera fare as well as quirky events like a Halloween spectacular with performances from some of opera's scariest roles. The company also sponsors the Rossini Festival, an Italian street fair combining world-class opera performances with food, wine and fun. For more classical music venues, see the list below.

Blair School of Music

City:  Vanderbilt University, Nashville

University of Tennessee

City:  Knoxville, School of Music

Memphis Symphony Orchestra

City:  Memphis

Germantown Symphony Orchestra

City:  Germantown

The Jackson Symphony

City:  Jackson

Nashville Symphony

City:  Nashville