USM School of Music Faculty Headline Symphony Orchestra Concert

Mon, 10/31/2022 - 07:57am | By: Mike Lopinto

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Symphony Orchestra will present its second concert of the fall season on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus.

The concert, entitled “Faculty Focus,” will feature three of the School of Music’s outstanding artist-faculty including, Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo, guitar; Dr. TJ Tesh, trumpet; and Dr. Hsiaopei Lee, viola. Following the season theme of the Classics! season series the orchestra will perform these classic concertos and Prokofiev’s exciting Classical Symphony for its finale.

Tickets are available at southernmisstickets.com, 800.844.8425, or 601.266.5418. 

“Our applied artist faculty in the School of Music are regular performers as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestra musicians that perform all over the world, establishing themselves and the School of Music as leaders in their field,” said Dr. Michael Miles, the symphony’s music direcfor. “It is a real treat for our audience to have the opportunity to hear our talented faculty in collaboration with the Symphony Orchestra.”

The concert will be conducted by an outstanding graduate student, Carlos Fernandez.  Fernandez hails from Ibagué, Colombia in South America where he was artistic director of the Ibagué Conservatory and principal conductor of its orchestra. He brings to the podium more than 10 years of professional conducting experience, including dozens of operatic productions in Vienna, Austria.

“As part of our mission to train the next generation of musicians, we are obligated and pleased to provide these types of experiences to our students,” noted Miles.