Pepsi Pops strikes up the music, lights up the skyTunes from the screen, stage and top of the charts, plus fireworks! Jackson, Mississippi — The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s annual Pepsi Pops concert promises a prime setting, beloved pop tunes, and splashy pyrotechnics for an irresistible evening, 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, at Old Trace Park on the Barnett Reservoir. The 43rd annual Pepsi Pops closes out MSO’s Season of Fresh Voices with some of the freshest in town — the Mississippi Youth Symphony Orchestra, this year celebrating its 75th anniversary. MYSO’s 40 young musicians wi ..read more

“Vibrant Echoes,” Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s final chamber concert of the season, April 27 at Tougaloo College’s Woodworth Chapel, celebrates the rhythmic thread of Black musical traditions and influences in America, from the late 19th century clear through to contemporary times. Its relevant setting, at the historically Black college that played a key role in America’s civil rights struggle, enhances the resonance. Among its many highlights is James P. Johnson’s Yamekraw, A Negro Rhapsody, with Stephen Sachs as the piano soloist, reveling in the rhythms and jazzy exuberance of the work ..read more

MSO’s ‘Vibrant Echoes’ resonates at TougalooHeritage of Black music is foundation of Woodworth Chapel concert Jackson, Mississippi — Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Vibrant Echoes” presents a concert ode to the legacy and enduring spirit of African American music, in an acoustically rich, historical setting where it feels right at home – Tougaloo College’s Woodworth Chapel, 7:30 p.m., April 27. The concert opens with contemporary American composer and flutist Valerie Coleman’s stirring signature work Umoja, an anthem of unity and an apt introduction for the evening’s lineup. The title i ..read more

Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed is a searing reach into the human heart and a powerful cry for social justice. The Atlanta-based composer’s choral work is the centerpiece for MSO’s “Symphony in the Community” spring concert, 3 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at Cade Chapel M.B. Church in Jackson. Giving it voice is the 55-member-strong Mississippi Valley State University Choir, led by MVSU Director of Choral Activities Brandon Cash. Thompson, troubled by killings of unarmed Black men by authority figures and inspired by Iranian-American artist Shirin Barghi’s #lastwords project, used t ..read more

Powerful work at heart of MSO’s Cade Chapel concertMississippi Valley State’s University Choir, pianist Tyler Kemp featured Jackson, Mississippi — Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Symphony in the Community” spring concert continues its collaboration with Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in an April 21 matinee that resonates with impact and meaning. The centerpiece of the 3 p.m. concert is Joel Thompson’s haunting and emotionally charged Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, sung by Mississippi Valley State’s University Choir. Inspired by Iranian-American artist Shirin Barghi’s #lastwords ..read more

Dannel Espinoza was just a tyke when he started the path that would become his forte. His parents offered the option of karate, baseball or piano when he was 3 1/2 or 4. “I decided to take up piano,” he said. The instrument became a staple of his south Florida childhood, until he reached school band age, took after his older brother, and took up the saxophone. “We had a saxophone laying around the house and I always just found it really intriguing,” Espinoza said. “So, I picked it up then.” He hasn’t put it down since. In MSO’s “Ultimate Fusion” concert April 13, he’ll revel in the rhythmic s ..read more

Sax to the max at MSO’s ‘Ultimate Fusion’Award-winning Project Fusion, monumental Shostakovich in the limelight Jackson, Mississippi — Mississippi Symphony Orchestra thrills with a sweep of 20th century masterworks in the season finale of its flagship Bravo series, “Ultimate Fusion.” A stellar saxophone spotlight and Shostakovich’s profound and triumphant Symphony No. 5 are concert hallmarks, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson. Acclaimed saxophone quartet Project Fusion takes the stage in Philip Glass’s world-renowned Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra ..read more

When Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Principal Clarinet Ken Graves steps into the solo spotlight in Bravo-IV’s “Alluvial Soundscapes” March 9 concert, he’ll deliver an Aaron Copland concerto that’s among the instrument’s greatest hits. Commissioned by famed clarinetist and swing legend Benny Goodman, it is the only American clarinet concerto to become standard repertoire. Its slow, ravishingly expressive first movement gives way to a captivating credenza, and a second movement full of jazzy flair. “It’s a cool piece of music because it’s, I would say, in the top five, or even top three greates ..read more

Rivers of sound resonate in MSO concertVisions of Native America, Copland and more in the spotlight! Jackson, Mississippi — Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Alluvial Soundscapes” concert, 7:30 p.m. March 9 at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, explores the connective currents of civilization in an evening devoted to watershed works. A new piece focusing on the pre-Columbian Native American culture in the Mississippi River Valley is among the highlights. Visions of Cahokia by James Lee III premiered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra just over a year ago and this marks only the third perform ..read more

Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist Bud Berthold is the centerpiece of MSO’s February 24 “Striking Surprises” concert, 7:30 p.m. at St. James’ Episcopal Church., in Jackson. Concerto for Six Timpani and Orchestra by Czech Jiri Družecky is one of those rare, classical-era compositions that puts the kettledrums front and center. Lively and upbeat, it focuses on the pitched drums’ melodic possibilities and offers a striking view of an instrument that is not often seen out front. Also on the program: Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s famous Symphony No. 94 in G Ma ..read more