105th Season 2024-25
Season
Celebrating their 105th concert season, the USM Symphony Orchestra is the oldest orchestra in Mississippi. It is a study in international relations as students from across the globe come together for one purpose—music. As one of the major ensembles and gems in the School of Music, the symphony offers an intense performance schedule covering classical to pop musical styles and drawing both students and guest artists from around the globe—the Symphony Orchestra truly is "Bringing the world to Mississippi!"
105th Season 2024-2025
Opening Night
Dvořák’s New World
October 3, 2024 – 7:30 p.m.
Bennett Auditorium
With the opening program of his tenure directing the USM Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Gregory Wolynec chose three works to tell the story of his journey to Hattiesburg. Mozart’s charming symphony is in the form of an operatic overture with all of the melodic genius and grace that the Viennese master was famous for. Nashville-based Conni Ellisor’s Blackberry Winter was written for acclaimed dulcimer performer Stephen Siefert. It effortlessly blends the folk and classical worlds in a unique and uplifting fashion. Dvořák’s most famous symphony featured prominently in our new director’s time in Prague as a Fulbright student. American influences abound in a masterpiece of Romantic proportions.
PROGRAM
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No. 32 in G, k. 318
- Conni Ellisor – Blackberry Winter with Stephen Seifert, mountain dulcimer
- Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 in e minor, “From the New World”
Southern Opera and Musical Theatre Company presents
The Music Man
October 31 – November 2, 2024 - 7:30 p.m.
November 2 - 1 p.m.
Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the
Mannoni Performing Arts Center
There's trouble in River City when a fast-talking salesman gets his heart stolen by the town librarian. Funny, warm, romantic and touching, The Music Man is family entertainment at its best. Meredith Willson's six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy has been entertaining audiences since 1957 and is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation. With a one-of-a-kind, nostalgic score of rousing marches, barbershop quartets and sentimental ballads, which have become popular standards, this critically acclaimed Broadway classic is an all-American institution.
The Music Man follows traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa,
into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band that he vows to organize – this,
despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to
skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian, who transforms
him into a respectable citizen by curtain's fall.
Elgar’s Enigma
November 7, 2024 – 7:30 p.m.
Bennett Auditorium
‘Papa’ Haydn was as popular with his musicians for his humor and political savviness as he was for his genre-defining symphonies. The "Morning’"symphony pairs classical form with Baroque virtuosity. Osvaldo Golijov has been one of contemporary music’s most important voices since his La Pasión según San Marcos sent shockwaves around the globe. These songs feature his hallmark blending of musical styles from around the world and will be brought to life by the School of Music’s own Meredith Johnson. Elgar’s masterpiece has earned its place at the core of the symphonic literature with lush beauty, seamless craftsmanship and a beguiling story.
PROGRAM
- Joseph Haydn – Symphony No. 6 in D, “Le Matin”
- Osvaldo Golijov – Songs for Soprano and Orchestra with Meredith Johnson
- Edward Elgar – Enigma Variations
Holiday Choral Spectacular
December 3 and 5, 2024
Main St. Baptist Church
Don’t miss this annual community celebration of the season with choir and orchestra. Featuring several ensembles within Southern Miss Choral Activities, including the Southern Chorale, Southern Miss Concert Choir, and Southern Miss’ pop a cappella ensemble, Spirit of Southern, the program also includes area high school and middle school choirs in an audience favorite kickoff to the holidays!
PROGRAM
Holiday Favorites
- Plus
- Otto Nicolai – Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
- Johann Strauss II – Emperor Waltz
Future Stars
March 13, 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the
Mannoni Performing Arts Center
Cuban American composer Ivette Herryman-Rodriguez’s A Danzon Done My Way puts a fresh spin on the traditional Latin dance form. Some of The University of Southern Mississippi’s most outstanding students will be featured as winners of the annual William T. Gower Concerto Competition. Perhaps Stravinsky’s most colorful score of his three great ballets for the Ballet Ruse, Petrushka entrances with soaring melodies and rhythmic vitality. This story of a mischievous puppet brought to life helped the composer find his mature voice, which would change the world.
PROGRAM
- Ivette Herryman-Rodriguez – Un danzón a mi manera
- William T. Gower Concerto Competition Winners
- Igor Stravinsky – Petrushka
Season Finale
Majestic Sibelius
April 24, 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the
Mannoni Performing Arts Center
Two masterworks by the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius are featured as the Southern Miss Symphony closes its 2024-25 season. Our program opens with a radiant new work by Jessie Montgomery, who represents one of the most important new voices on the American musical scene. Our own Borislava Iltcheva will dazzle with virtuosity and lyricism in Sibelius’ mesmerizing concerto. Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom’s breathtaking work is inspired by Arabic poetry and is a true tour-de-force for orchestra. Sibelius’ seventh and final symphony is among the most original ever composed. Confined to a single movement, the work represents the composer’s pursuit of a fusion of form, beauty and efficiency that has perhaps never been equaled.
PROGRAM
- Jessie Montgomery – Starburst
- Jean Sibelius – Violin Concerto featuring Borislava Iltcheva
- Kareem Roustom – Ramal
- Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 7 in C