Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s Premier Orchestral Institute each June is so much more than a music camp summer intensive to hone students’ skills.
The esteemed strings workshop showcases world-class guest artists and faculty, pulling in a tourism element with its Music Festival of nightly concerts open to the public. This further centers Jackson as a destination for fine classical music, enhances outreach with top-notch and often free performances, and continues to build MSO’s international reputation.
POI also fosters the creation of new classical repertoire through its International Composition Competition, now in its third year. The world premiere of Italian composer Michele Allegro’s 2025 competition-winning October Light, June 13, is one of many highlights during POI festival week, June 9-14 at Millsaps College. The rhythmic piece draws inspiration from the idea of light as a metaphor for change, and an instrument of rebirth and redemption.
POI offers a nurturing, dynamic setting for budding musicians to grasp tools to elevate their talents, gain valuable insights from experienced leaders in their field, and build on the benefits of international cultural exchange. Fifteen countries are represented this year, among the nearly 120 participants, and the renowned guest artists and faculty.
POI changes lives. POI Director Camila Patiño would know. It changed hers.
“Many students that have come here have connected with the artists and the faculty and they have had scholarship opportunities.… I’m one of those stories,” Patiño said. MSO Education Director Alex Encinas came to her hometown in Colombia for an international jazz festival, bringing others from Mississippi to perform and recruiting students to come to POI. She did, and then auditioned for the University of Southern Mississippi, was offered a scholarship and came to the United States to study. Patiño earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at USM, connected with MSO and started working here. “Now, I’m director of the program.”
Patiño’s full-circle journey and leadership of POI over the past several years provide a unique insight into its impact, from the way rehearsals and master classes help musicians perfect their skills and form key contacts, to the confidence boost young musicians gain and their remarkable growth. “They just feel valued. They feel like they can accomplish something,” she said, “especially because there is only one week to put together a program that ordinarily takes a month.”
Faculty members enjoy working with talented students, want to return and offer ideas on how to improve and grow. Audiences appreciate the high-quality music from internationally acclaimed guest artists and faculty members. Patiño recalled a student so mesmerized by the top musicians at a POI recital, “They wanted to be just like them,” and applied that inspiration toward personal improvement.
“It’s very nice to see how all these lives are impacted in different ways,” Patiño said.
Celebrated violinist and returning POI faculty member Borislava Iltcheva summed it up admirably, “It’s nothing short of a miracle!”
Students come from Jackson metro area, surrounding cities, neighboring states, and even from other countries, with delegations this year from Colombia and Peru. Divided into four orchestras based on skill level, students spend their days taking skills to the next level in rehearsal, instruction and career preparation. At night, concerts showcase the top-notch talents of world class guest artists, faculty and students — all to inspire POI participants and invite the public to the celebration.
Support this important work and don’t miss the highlights during POI’s Festival of Music. Most concerts are free (donations welcome) and will be held at the Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex Recital Hall at Millsaps College. One concert is a ticketed fundraiser event on the rooftop at Capital Towers in Downtown Jackson.
MSO’s POI 2025 Concert Schedule:
Masters in the Spotlight, 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at Millsaps College – featuring renowned POI faculty and guest artists: Jae Won Seo, violin (South Korea); Alejandro Drago, violin (Argentina); Mario Rivera, viola (Honduras); Shirley Kim, cello (United States); Francisco Vila, cello (Ecuador).
Skyline Serenades: Tango to the Balkans, 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, on the Capital Towers rooftop – starring internationally acclaimed tango specialist and violinist Alejandro Drago alongside POI guest artists, with refreshments and sweeping views of downtown Jackson. Admission is $35 for this fundraiser supporting the 2025 festival (additional contributions welcome). Email info@poimso.com by June 1 to reserve a spot.
Classic Notes: A Chamber Music Extravaganza, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at Millsaps College – an ensemble of POI guest artists and faculty in an intimate program of classical masterworks and contemporary expressions.
New Sounds, Timeless Classics, 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 13, at Millsaps College – featuring star conductor Germán Gutiérrez, the Master Camerata Ensemble (POI’s top orchestra) and soloist Francisco Vila, plus the world premiere of Italian composer Michele Allegro’s POI International Composition Competition-winning October Light.
Horizons, 11 a.m. Saturday, June 14, at Millsaps College – classical and South American folk music, pop music and more performed by the young musicians of POI’s orchestras, plus international guest soloists and conductors.