Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Criss Christmas Concert Tuesday [Dec. 2] in newly renovated Lee Hall.
Free to all, the 7:30 p.m. Bettersworth Auditorium program by the Symphony Orchestra Brass features a variety of holiday music, including Old American seasonal folksongs and traditional carols.
Under the direction of MSU music professor Michael Brown, the group's selections will include, among others, Thomas Beversdorf's "Cathedral Music," "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas."
Assistant professor Gary Packwood, choral activities director, will lead the MSU State Singers and a double brass quintet for Daniel Pinkham's "Christmas Cantata."
The program is being made possible by the J.W. Criss Foundation's generous support of the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association and MSU Lyceum Committee.
Founded in 1969, the symphony association is a non-profit volunteer organization whose members work to educate, enlighten and share classical music with the city, university campus and other communities in the Golden Triangle region. Producing high-quality musical events and increasing awareness for the arts are its primary missions.
In addition to MSU, the City of Starkville and Criss Foundation, major association contributors include the Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Renasant Bank, Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau and Columbus-based Gildea Foundation.
The association accepts tax-deductible donations via the MSU Foundation. To contribute, contact Lynn Durr at 662-325-8918 or ldurr@advservices.msstate.edu.
Additional information about organization is found at www.starkvillesymphony.org and www.facebook.com/StarkvilleSymphony.
For additional Christmas concert information, contact Brown at 662-325-3070 or mbrown@colled.msstate.edu.
MSU is online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate, and twitter.com/msstate.