Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Starkville/Mississippi State University Symphony Orchestra pays tribute to longtime supporters Julia and John Saunders with an April 18 concert.
Featuring music of the Romantic Period, the free public event will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Hall's John K. Bettersworth Auditorium (previously, Lee Hall auditorium).
Julia Saunders served two decades as the orchestra's manager and remains active on its board of directors. John Saunders is an MSU professor emeritus of sociology.
Musical and vocal performances of four arias will be presented by music faculty members Iwao Asakura, Rebecca Wascoe and Gregory Wascoe. Departmental colleague Cliff Taylor will conduct. (For biographies, visit http://music.msstate.edu/faculty/.)
In addition to orchestral overtures of Mozart--"Cosi fan tutte"--and Rossini--"The Barber of Seville" and "William Tell Overture"--the concert schedule includes the first movement of "Concerto No. 1" by Carl Maria von Weber, performed by music education major Clifton A. Rybick.
A senior and MSU President's Scholar from Athens, Ala., Rybick is a past winner of the MSU Concerto/Aria Student Competition. His portion of the program will be directed by faculty member Sheri Falcone.
For more information, telephone 662-325-3070.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.