Students Showcase Talents at Mississippi College Spring Concerts

MC Jazz Band

Music patrons who love hearing the sounds of Copland, Sousa and Mozart should attend Sunday’s performance of the Mississippi College Symphonic Winds.

The April 17 program at Swor Auditorium in Nelson Hall is free and open to the public. Music professor Craig Young conducts the student musicians at their “Kaleidoscope Concert” after a seven-year hiatus. The show begins at 3 p.m.

Selections range from Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” to Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis” and Grainger’s “Lincolnshire Posey.” And Mozart’s “Overture to II Re Pastore” is showcased in the lineup, too.

The MC student musicians comprising the talented group come from metro Jackson communities to cities across state lines.

Area musicians include Vivian Ainsworth, Leah Letson, and Aaryn Letson, all of Madison, Matt Ansley and Christopher Guillotte, both of Pearl, along with Jack Bailey, Damanjit Dhanju, Elyssa Lambert, Robert Mason, and Jelecia Dixon, all of Clinton. Rebekah Walker and Keeley Wilkinson are both Brandon residents. Out-of-staters include Jonathon Cason of Cowarts, Alabama, Anna Hommerson of Hoover, Alabama and Elle Hartz of Lakeland, Tennessee.

There’s another spring concert booked for the Clinton campus that shouldn’t be missed. The MC Jazz Band performs Thursday April 21 at the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall in Aven Hall. The students will delight audiences with wonderful American jazz from all eras. Wayne Linehan directs the group that features trombonist Adam Almeter. The 7:30 p.m. program is free. The public is invited.

MC Jazz Band members with Mississippi roots include: Wesley Blount and Austin Toler, both of Madison, Justin Cook of Byram, Sidney Harper of Jackson, Chandler Noel of Clinton, William Gurtowski of Vicksburg, Scott Dunaway of Ocean Springs, Warren Ertle of Terry, and Andrew Rogers of Starkville.

Courtney Morgan of Tallahassee, Florida, Andres Rodriguez of Houston, Texas, Lucas Scarborough of West Monroe, Louisiana and Ian Wilson of Eads, Tennessee are among the out-of-state student musicians.

For more information, contact Dottie Serio of the MC Music Department at 601-925-3440 or Serio@mc.edu