Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra holds March 2 concerts for children, families

Barry E. Kopetz, professor and head of MSU’s Department of Music, will conduct the Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra March 2 for the annual concerts for children and families at Lee Hall. (Photo by Megan Bean)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A series of Friday [March 2] concerts will give school-age children and families an opportunity to enjoy the symphony.

The Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra will hold its annual daytime concerts targeted for school groups, as well as a longer 7:30 p.m. program for families. MSU Department of Music Head Barry E. Kopetz will conduct the program in historic Bettersworth Auditorium of ��Ƶ’s Lee Hall.

Daytime concerts will include sing-alongs, including “Simple Gifts” and “Bought Me a Cat.” In addition to the orchestra, taking stage will be 135 elementary children playing recorders and a 37-member fourth grade honor choir. The program also will feature images of award-winning children’s artwork from the local area.

The evening program will include Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 3 in D Major D. 200,” along with excerpts from Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” and Antonin Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.” MSU senior music education major Catherine Patriquin of West Point also will give a featured performance on tenor saxophone.

A Mississippi Arts Commission grant facilitates a partnership between the local Symphony Association and Carnegie Hall’s education initiative Link Up, which sponsors programs for Starkville-Oktibbeha County School District, a local home school cooperative, and Starkville Christian School.

Ryan Landis, MSU voice instructor and SSO operations manager, said all Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra performances are free and open to the public.

Founded in 1969, the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association is a nonprofit volunteer organization in which members work to educate, enlighten and share classical music with communities in the Golden Triangle region.

In addition to MSU, the City of Starkville, and the Mississippi Arts Commission, major association contributors include the J.W. Criss Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Renasant Bank, Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau and Columbus-based Gildea Foundation. For more, visit .

To make a tax-deductible donation to the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association via the MSU Foundation, contact Lynn Durr at 662-325-8918 or ldurr@advservices.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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