Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Celebrating the sounds of the holiday season, the Starkville/Mississippi State University Symphony and Chorus will present a Dec. 9 concert in newly renovated Lee Hall auditorium.
Titled "Holiday Gems, Guitar and Gloria," the free
The 60-member symphony will be joined by the 40-voice Symphony Chorus under the direction of Ted Beverly, music minister at Starkville's First United Methodist Church.
Two internationally traveled soloists--guitarist Michael Patilla and soprano Jan Grissom, both MSU faculty members--will be featured artists. They will be joined by senior music education major Katie Ingram of West Point, the MSU Concerto Contest finalist.
Ingram will perform the first movement of Mozart's "Clarinet Concerto" under the baton of faculty instructor Sheri Falcone, also the symphony's principal clarinetist.
Patilla, who has performed recitals in venues around the world, will perform Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez," a piece for guitar and orchestra.
Grissom, visiting lecturer of voice, will present holiday classics that include "Gesu Bambino" and "O Holy Night," as well as an aria from "Messiah."
The orchestra will open the evening with the popular "Christmas Festival" by Leroy Anderson, featuring portions of Christmas songs such as "Adeste Fidelis," "Joy to the World" and "Jingle Bells."
The Symphony Chorus will join the orchestra in performing three choruses from Handel's "Messiah," including the "Hallelujah Chorus."
"Holiday Gems" will conclude with the Christmas-inspired Richard Wagner classic "Siegfried Idyll."
For more information, telephone 662-325-3070.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.