MSO glows with Candlelight, Mozart and more at Belhaven
Introducing Principal Clarinet Jorge Diez in dynamic concerto
Jackson, Mississippi — Cozy candlelight and exquisite music mark the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Mozart Glow” concert, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, at Belhaven University Center for the Arts.
In an atmospheric nod to the intimate 18th century setting that first heard the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music, this concert pulls together some of the best from the composer and his peers to produce a winning combination of spirit, song and warmth.
MSO Principal Clarinet Jorge Diez teams with longtime MSO Clarinetist Lowell Hollinger in Franz Krommer’s Concerto No. 2 for Two Clarinets, sharing a brilliant dialogue among the two soloists and the orchestra. The evening’s program also sparkles with the happy delight of Domenico Cimarosa’s Caio Maria Overture and the brilliance of Mozart’s voluptuous Symphony No. 40.
MSO builds on its 20-year tradition of a candlelit Mozart concert by expanding the playlist to include additional masters of the era. “It deepens the experience for us,” MSO Maestro Crafton Beck said, “because as soon as you put something with Mozart, then you get the conversation of the relationship, and how one informs the other.”
Krommer and Cimarosa were contemporaries of Mozart in late 18th century Vienna, sharing an almost inseparable style, but infusing their individual flair. “I just love that dynamic,” Beck said.
Mozart’s powerhouse Symphony No. 40 makes a fitting climax for the evening. “It is his deepest and most mature symphony,” Beck said of the rich, thoughtful and passionate work that rates as his own hands-down favorite. “It is a piece that has all of humanity in it.… It’s very close to my heart.”
“Mozart Glow” is part of MSO’s Chamber Series sponsored by Communication Arts Company, joined by Emerson (Bud) and Judy Robinson plus StateStreet Group as Jackson concert sponsors. MSO is supported in part by the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
General-admission tickets for the “Mozart Glow” concert are $28 for adults and $5 for students, kindergarten through college (with valid student ID). For tickets or details visit msorchestra.com, email patronservices@msorchestra.com or call 601-414-6005.
The box office will open at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert.
Who: Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
What: “Mozart Glow,” MSO Chamber Series concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 11, 2025
Where: Belhaven University Center for the Arts, 835 Riverside Drive, Jackson, MS
Website: msorchestra.com