Vicksburg’s Four Seasons of the Arts will present its 10th annual Mississippi Symphony Orchestra pops concert Friday night.

This year’s theme is Fantasy and Fanfare: The 1812 Overture and More, said organizer Frances Koury.

If you go

The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Admission is free. Call 601-630-2929 for information.

“It’s always exciting to hear the symphony orchestra play familiar tunes,” she said. The group has performed during Vicksburg Fourth of July celebrations, when “The 1812 Overture” is commonly played.

Friday’s free concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Mayor Paul Winfield will take part in the festivities, introducing the MSO and making note of the 185th anniversary of the incorporation of Vicksburg as a city, Koury said.

Conductor Crafton Beck will lead the orchestra, which, earlier in the day, will perform for more than 3,000 local students in grades 1 through 4. That performance will include theme music from current movies.

The evening performance, in addition to the orchestra, will feature a solo by Song Xie, who has been MSO’s principal second violinist since 1998.

Xie has performed with the Guangxi Institute Orchestra and The Guangxi Symphony Orchestra in China, the Louisiana State University Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra.

 He is an assistant professor of violin and viola at Belhaven University, where he is conductor of the Belhaven Chamber String Orchestra, a chamber music coach and violinist of the Belhaven Piano Trio. He received his bachelor’s from GuangXi Institute of Arts and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and his master’s from Louisiana State.

Four Seasons of the Arts is a local nonprofit organization that offers musical events each season.

The MSO is the state’s signature performing arts group.

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchan@vicksburgpost.com