107th Season 2026-27
Season
107th Season 2026-27 | ICONIC
Welcome to a season of ICONIC masterpieces. In this our third season together, the Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra and I have pulled out all the stops as we celebrate many of the most acclaimed and influential works of the past two centuries. We bookend our year with some of the most famous melodies ever written for orchestra. Along the way, we will feature numerous guest artists from both near and far in works that express the full range of human emotion. You won’t want to miss a single event.
Opening Night!
September 24, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.
Bennett Auditorium
The 107th season of your Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra opens with two works made famous in popular culture. Rossini’s William Tell overture and Ravel’s Bolero were featured in classics for the large and small screens. Jeffrey Wood’s touching portrayal of Joseph Merrick was named the première of the year by Nashville Scene in 2016.
PROGRAM
- Gioachino Rossini – William Tell Overture
- Jeffrey Wood – Different Bodies
- Richard Wagner – Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin
- Maurice Ravel – Bolero
Fright Night!
October 29, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.
Bennett Auditorium
With Halloween and El Día de los Muertos just around the corner, the Symphony Orchestra
presents an evening of frightening classics. From Saint-Saëns devilish evocation to
Penderecki’s haunting sounds, from Schubert’s terrifying horse ride to Berlioz’s ghoulish
masterpiece, join us for an evening of terrifying treasures. Costumes are optional.
PROGRAM
- Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre
- Krysztof Penderecki – Intermezzo for 24 Strings
- Franz Schubert/orch. Franz Liszt – Orchestral Songs
- Hector Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 7, 2026 – 1 p.m.
Sunday, November 8, 2026 – 3 p.m.
The Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the
Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium
Blending soaring pop, electro, folk, and Broadway sounds into a “stunning and blazingly
original” score, this genre-defying musical pulls audiences directly into a story
of love, temptation, regret, and redemption. Be surrounded by music, movement, and
emotion in a way few shows ever have.
Praised as “the most innovative… since Hamilton” and earning 12 Tony Award nominations,
it redefined what modern musical theatre could be while collecting major honors including
Obie and Off-Broadway Alliance Awards for Best New Musical. For a season celebrating
the truly iconic, The Great Comet stands as a bold, once-in-a-generation experience,
that doesn’t just tell a story but invites audiences to step inside it and feel it
unfold around them.
Holiday Choral Spectacular
December 1 and 3, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.
Main St. Baptist Church
Don’t miss this annual community celebration of the season with choir and orchestra. Our program features all the ensembles within Southern Miss Choral Activities, including the Southern Chorale, Southern Miss Concert Choir, and Southern Miss pop a cappella ensemble, Spirit of Southern, with the full Hattiesburg Choral Union. Based on the audience response last year, selections by another Strauss return! Our holiday tradition will have you singing along and dancing toward a new year!
PROGRAM
- Josef Strauss – Music of the Spheres, Feurfest!, Die Libelle
- Seasonal holiday classics
Future Stars
February 18, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.
Bennett Auditorium
Winners of the William T. Gower competition showcase the immense talent to be found in the Southern Miss School of Music. Drawn from 15 different countries, our symphony musicians bring the world’s talent to Hattiesburg. In a new format, four talented student musicians will be chosen to perform solo concertos with the Orchestra. This is always one of the Symphony’s best attended concerts as our patrons come out to support our talented students.
PROGRAM
Winners of the William T. Gower Concerto Competition
La Pasión!
March 26, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.
The Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the
Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium
In 2000, Osvaldo Golijov’s Latin-American setting of the passion paid tribute to the great J.S. Bach and took the world by storm. This fusion of classical music with salsa, Flamenco and countless other traditions has toured the major metropolitan capitals of the world. Alongside original cast members, your Symphony and the Southern Chorale present a modern masterpiece in a once-in-a-lifetime event.
PROGRAM
- Osvaldo Golijov – La Pasión según San Marcos
Ode to Joy!
May 6, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.
Main Street Baptist Church
The end to our season will be truly ICONIC! One of the most acclaimed works in history, Beethoven’s monumental final symphonic masterpiece, brings together the full force of the Hattiesburg Choral Union with our acclaimed symphony in an uplifting celebration of humanity.
PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9 in D Choral