Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra offers Salon Musings
Mon, 10/26/2020 - 11:10am | By: Mike Lopinto
The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will present the second concert of its 2020-21 season in a live streaming event from Bennett Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. The program, titled “Salon Musings” will be a celebration of the 18th Century practice of friends and family gathering for an evening of chamber music.
While not open to a public audience, the concert will be streamed free-of-charge on the School of Music’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/usmmusic1.
The program features several of the Southern Miss School of Music’s prominent artist faculty in works for chamber orchestra and soloists. On the program we will feature Dr. Stephen Redfield, associate professor of violin, performing the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, Dr. Jacquelyn Adams, and assistant professor of horn, performing Iosif Andriasov’s Meditation for Horn and String Orchestra.
Dr. Adams will also be joined by assistant professor of voice, Dr. Jonathan Yarrington to perform Benjamin Britten’s Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, a beautiful setting of the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem for horn, tenor and string orchestra. The program also features a United States premier of a work by Armando Ghidoni for flute, piano and String Orchestra. This work features professor of flute, Dr. Danilo Mezzadri, and assistant professor of piano, Dr. Michael Bunchman. The Orchestra will also perform the La Gazza Ladra Overture by Gioacchino Rossini.
Dr. Michael Miles, conductor of the USM Symphony Orchestra says the Covid pandemic has provided both the necessity and opportunity for this program.
“Because we are observing social distancing and many other Covid-related protocols in our rehearsals and performances, we were already working with a chamber orchestra rather than our full Symphony Orchestra”, said Miles. “The smaller ensemble provided us an opportunity to program works that we might not normally perform with the larger ensemble. It also provided us the opportunity to feature many of our wonderful faculty artists on a program harkening back to the days when classical chamber music was the primary entertainment in homes and the many large estates of rulers throughout Europe. The program is very eclectic and has something for everyone.”
The USM Symphony Orchestra is a study in international relations as students from across the globe come together for one purpose — music. It is one of the major ensembles and gems in the School of Music, offering an intense performance schedule covering classical to pop musical styles and drawing both students and guest artists from around the globe — the Symphony Orchestra truly is "bringing the world to Mississippi."
For more information, please visit usm.edu/symphony or call 601.266.4001.