Music teacher Joanne Ryan plays a piece from the Lion King so Bowmar Magnet Elementary fourth-graders can practice this morning for Friday night’s performance with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The performance, beginning at 7:30 and free to the public, will mark the City of Vicksburg’s 179th birthday. The Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet Company also will perform. The students are, from left, Rani Robinson, Eve Ferracci, Alicia Wells, Courtney Barnes and Savannah Thomas.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)