Sounds of the symphony: MSO holds annual concert at VCC
Published 8:39 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2024
- Members of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra explain different instruments to a crowd of nearly 2,000 students during this year’s annual concert. (submitted photo)
The annual Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concert for children was held at the Vicksburg Convention Center Monday. The event was sponsored by the Four Seasons of the Arts and nearly 2,000 elementary children from Warren County participated.
During the concert, Nancy Robertson, who serves as fine arts coordinator for the Vicksburg Warren School District, said the students were introduced to MSO maestro Crafton Beck, who explained many aspects of the orchestra, which included the “four families” of instruments in a symphony orchestra — string, woodwind, brass and percussion, as well as the names of the instruments and the sounds they produce.
“They also learned about musical dynamics ranging from very soft to very loud, what the word superlative means and how it applies to the instrumental pieces of music,” Robertson said. “And they learned about the longest and shortest musical pieces ever written.”
In seeing the response from the students, Connie Hosemann, whose mother Frances Koury was instrumental in helping found the Four Season of the Arts, said, “The kids loved it.”
Robertson said this year’s annual concert was spearheaded by Hosemann, Carol McMillin and Debbie Felt and was funded in part by the City of Vicksburg.