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Provine Chapel Hosts Hymn Festival Nov. 1


Baptist hymns from 1860 through the early 21st Century will fill the air at Provine Chapel on Nov. 1. That's the date for a fall hymn festival as Mississippi College supporters celebrate the building's 150th anniversary.

This marks the second major event in a five-part concert series at the chapel that is MC's oldest building. The landmark on the Quad has a notable history dating back to the Civil War when its upstairs served as a hospital for the wounded troops of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1860. The Sunday afternoon festival begins at 3 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.

Expect to be in for a musical treat. The November concert will be the first of two hymn festivals at MC connected to the chapel's birthday in 2009-2010.

"Baptists have long been known as a singing people, and we plan to highlight and celebrate that heritage with these two events," said James M. Meaders, chairman of the MC Music Department and director of choral activities.

Lewis Oswalt, a music professor who is coordinator of church music studies at MC, is chairing the committee planning the two hymn festivals. The second hymn festival is set for April 6, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Provine Chapel.

Oswalt says the program for the first festival will feature hymns sung by Baptists in three periods: 1860-1910, 1910 through 1960 and 1960 through the present day. Guests will include the Chancel Choir of First Baptist Clinton, led by director Bill Bacon; and L. Graham Smith, director of the Church Music Department for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board.

Keyboard accompanists will include MC music faculty members Robert Knupp on organ and Carol Joy Sparkman on piano. Some portions of the Baptist hymns will be sung a cappella.

Named for former MC president and professor, John William Provine, the chapel served as the home for local Baptists until First Baptist Clinton was constructed in 1922. Audiences at the concert will hear Baptist hymns sung at MC chapel services, worship services at First Baptist Clinton and weddings over the years, Oswalt said.

As a hymnologist, Oswalt speaks to church and civic groups on a variety of American music topics. He's served as a member of the executive council of the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference.

Another big attraction in the concert series is the Festival of Lights featuring the MC Singers. The concerts Dec. 3-5 help to usher in the Christmas season for metro Jackson. The festival has brightened the holidays on the Clinton campus for more than two decades. Performances include a diversity of musical selections, from seasonal favorites to Kenyan folk songs to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The program begins with a candlelit procession into Provine Chapel. About 30 MC professors will join the 55 students with the MC Singers in the uplifting Christmas production. Tickets cost $10. For more information, contact Linda Edwards at 601.925.3440.