Starkville-MSU Symphony Association
Begins New Season
September 2008

The Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony Association kicks off its 2008-09 “Simply Sensational” performance season next month with a concert featuring some young musicians.

During the day Oct. 10 in the Lee Hall auditorium, area students in grades kindergarten-fifth grade will be treated to three performances of English composer Benjamin Britten’s “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” Armstrong Middle School student Emily Turner will serve as narrator.

At 7:30 p.m. in the same location, the concert will be repeated in a program free to all.

Eight-year-old Abbey FuShan Swartzendruber and Joy Linye Fan, 9, will be featured violinists in Bach’s “Concerto in D Minor.”

Also, Elaine Peterson, MSU assistant professor of music, will be soloist for Elgar’s “Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra.”

Clifton Taylor, associate director of bands, is guest conductor. His original setting of the English folk song, “The Lark in the Clear Air,” will be among the selections.

Performances of the Starkville-MSU Symphony are partially funded with a $4,400 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission. For more information about this and other programs of the 2008-09 concert schedule, contact Joe Ray Underwood at 662-323-8969 or Ellen Boles at 324-1105.

A Young Person’s Guide to The Orchestra

The Starkville/MSU Symphony Association will sponsor a series of concerts for children of all ages on Friday, October 10 in Lee Hall on the Mississippi State University campus. School children, grades K-5 are invited to attend any of the three performances to hear the 60 piece Starkville Symphony perform The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten, Crown Imperial by William Walton, and and a special performance of the first movement of the Double Concerto for Two Violins by J. S. Bach. Soloists for the Concerto include Abbey FuShan Swartzendruber, the daughter of Debra and John Swartzendruber of Smithville, MS. Abbey is 8 years old and is in the 4th grade and is home schooled. The other soloists in the duet is, Joy Linyue Fan, the daughter of Dr. Xingang Fan and Lei Chen of Starkville, MS. Joy is 10 years old and is in the 5th grade. Both girls are members of the Columbus, MS Suzuki String Orchestra and take private violin lessons through the Columbus Suzuki String Program with Diane Ford. Emily Turner, 7th grader at Armstrong Middle School in Starkville will serve as narrator for The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

On Friday evening, the SSO will perform these works for adults and children at 7:30 program. In addition to the aforementioned works, the orchestra will feature on the evening program, Dr. Elaine Peterson, Assistant Professor of Bassoon and Music History at Mississippi State as soloist in Elgar’s Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra. Dr. Clifton Taylor, Associate Director of Bands at MSU, will serve as guest conductor of the orchestra and conduct his original setting of the English folk song, The Lark in the Clear Air. The evening program will conclude with a suite taken from a film score by Ralph Vaughan Williams titled Three Portraits from the England of Elizabeth.. All these programs are free.

Symphony Chorus begins rehearsals soon

The MSU-Starkville Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Conductor Ted Beverly, will begin its 2008 -2009 rehearsals on Monday evening, October 6th at 6:30 p.m. in the Music Rehearsal Hall of First United Methodist Church, 200 West Lampkin Street. The Chorus will present two major concerts, Music of the Seasons in November 2008 and Songs of Broadway in May 2009. Auditioned groups from the chorus will also participate in the annual Symphony Association’s Special Evening of Fun and Entertainment in March 2009.

The Symphony Chorus is open to anyone from Starkville and the surrounding are who enjoys singing in a choral group. Participants are asked to possess an average music reading ability, to have previously participated in choral groups or ensembles, and to understand that commitment to rehearsal is a priority.

If you would like information concerning participation, please contact Ted Beverly at 662-323-5722 (Ext 233) between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Grant award to Symphony Association

The Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony Association has been awarded a $4,400 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC). This grant is a portion of the $1.2 million in grants the Commission will award in 2008-2009 and will be used to partially fund the Symphony’s Programs for Children.

The Programs this year will feature the Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra performing “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” by Benjamin Britten, narrated by Emily Turner, a 7th grader at Armstrong Middle School. Two young Mississippi violinists, 8-year-old Abbey FuShan Swartzendruber and 9-year-old Joy Linye Fan, will perform Bach’s “Concerto in D Minor” with the orchestra. They are students of Mrs. Diane Ford of Columbus. The conductor will be Dr. Michael Brown. The concerts will be presented three times during the day on Friday, October 10, and will be held in Lee Hall Auditorium on the MSU campus. The programs are available free-of-charge to all students in Oktibbeha County in kindergarten through fifth grade. For information contact Joe Ray Underwood, 323-8969, or Ellen Boles, 324-1105.

The grants are made possible by continued funding from the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Organizations across the state who receive grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission continue to prove that arts programs are vital to the growth of their area. The grants awarded by the Commission provide funding for the staging of festivals, theatre performances and many other arts-related activities,” said Malcolm White, Executive Director of MAC. “Communities across this state are also learning the affect the arts have on the education of their children. Arts-based activities have a proven positive impact on at-risk youth and children enrolled in after-school programs.”

The Starkville-MSU Symphony Association offers opportunities for amateur and professional musicians, including students, to study and perform both symphony and choral music. The Association’s concerts, which are free to the public, provide high-quality entertainment and educational experiences for Starkville, the University, and regional communities. In its 40th season, the Association has the distinction of being the smallest community in the United States to support a symphony orchestra for 40 consecutive years. The Programs for Children have been presented annually for over 30 years.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency that serves more than 1.7 million people of the state through grants that support programs to enhance communities; assist artists and arts organizations; promote the arts in education, and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage. Established in 1968, the Mississippi Arts Commission is the funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wallace Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, Donna & Jim Barksdale, the Phil Hardin Foundation and other private sources. The Commission serves as the official grants-making and service agency for the arts in Mississippi.

For information from the Mississippi Arts Commission, contact Susan Dobbs – 601/359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us.

Minutes from the Board Meeting

At its first Board Meeting on August 14, the Symphony Association endorsed the following agenda:

The 2008-09 Concert Season that includes Pops on the Plaza on October 16, 2008; Children’s Concert on October 10; four chamber orchestra concerts scheduled for October 10, December 4, 2008; January 10, and April 18, 2009; two choral performances on November 23, 2008 and May 24, 2009.

The Symphony gala “Affair” to be held on March 7, 2009 in the MSU Colvard Union Ballroom.

Formation of a Symphony Auxiliary dedicated to social functions such as ushering at concerts and programs, concert and artists receptions, sponsors and membership appreciation events, and other events relative to cultural and fund campaign activities.

An annual budget of $96,000 with $65,000 of which to support the concert productions of the season.

Corporate and individual concert sponsorship fund campaign to support the spring and winter concerts.

Creation of fifteen committees to carry out the infrastructure, marketing, project, financial, and long range planning development goals for 2008-09.

Press Release Archives