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Mississippi Wind Symphony Orchestra Showcased at Free Concert


Mississippi College Director of Bands Craig Young

Fans of the celebrated American composer Leonard Bernstein shouldn’t miss this delightful Mississippi Wind Symphony concert.

The talented orchestra in metro Jackson is booked for a June 5 concert at St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison. The program begins that Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Mississippi College Director of Bands Craig Young founded the symphony ensemble that originated in 2001. At the concert, the group will perform Leonard Bernstein’s 25-minute operetta “Candide.” Music lovers remember Bernstein for serving for decades as the music director of the New York Philharmonic.

The New Yorker composed the riveting music for the immensely popular Broadway production of “West Side Story.” Depicting the life of street gangs in New York City, the show later became a movie classic. Bernstein’s storied career spanned more than five decades. The Harvard University alumnus died in 1990.

Young, who conducts Mississippi Wind Symphony Orchestra performances, isn’t the only one bringing Mississippi College connections to the concert in June.

The Mississippi Wind Symphony will perform James Sclater’s monumental “Symphony No. 2” also known as “Mobile.”

An award-winning composer and pianist, Sclater is a retired Mississippi College music professor. Dr. Sclater served as an educator for four decades on the Clinton campus. As a mentor and teacher, the gifted Clinton resident inspired generations of musicians across the nation.