In a setting befitting the Classical era, the Four Seasons of the Arts will hold their annual candlelight concert Friday night at The Church of the Holy Trinity.
Beginning at 7 p.m., hundreds of flickering candles will illuminate the church’s nave and its Tiffany stained glass windows as the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra performs a program of Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
“The program will include Mozart’s masterful Serenade in B-Flat for 13 Winds made famous by the movie Amadeus,” said Dorothy Brasfield, the artistic director for the Four Seasons of the Arts.
Other musical selections will include the Masonic Funeral Music and Symphony No. 29.
Brasfield said that the symphony will be directed by maestro Crafton Beck, and Marta Szlubowska will serve as the concert mistress.
“We have such a strong orchestra, and we are the only place that the MSO travels to multiple times,” said Brasfield.
On Monday, the symphony performed for more than 2,000 kindergarten through third-grade students at the Vicksburg Convention Center as part of a $21,420 grant from the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative, sponsors for Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign and Four Seasons of the Arts.
The symphony will return for a “pops” concert to be held on the grounds of the park May 24.
Brasfield said the candlelight concert has been offered in Vicksburg for more than 10 years.
“The concerts are gorgeous and moving,” said Marian Richardson, a past audience member of the candlelight series.
“It’s hard to believe something this wonderful is happening in our town,” she said.
Brasfield said that some of the candelabras used during the performances are obsolete, and that the church has become stewards of the vintage candle holders after a local florist closed its doors.
“We take care of them in return for using them.”
Brasfield said it takes two people at least 30 minutes to light all the candles, some of which are hand-made by Carol Bonelli.
“She takes up the used candles from church services and past concerts and makes candles for us to use at this concert,” she said.
The candlelight concert is free, but donations are encouraged.
For more information, call 804-513-6903 or email david.rorick1@gmail.com.
The Four Seasons of the Arts organization gives seasonal musical offerings throughout the year.