Jackson soprano DeAnna Tisdale Johnson in the spotlight

Jackson, Mississippi — Concert and conversation combine in Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Series matinee “Resonant Song,” 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. Soprano DeAnna Tisdale Johnson, a powerful voice onstage as well as in her role as Jackson Advocate editor/publisher, is a key highlight of the concert, featured in Three Songs on Poems by Margaret Walker.

Walker’s Southern Song, Ex-Slave, and My Truth and My Flame, set to music by MSO Conductor Crafton Beck, take on enhanced resonance in the intimate space and Johnson’s first performance with MSO in nearly a decade adds another layer of emotional heft in bringing Walker’s words forward to the next generation.

A Jackson native and Tougaloo College graduate, Johnson is a classically trained vocalist with a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Southern Mississippi and a graduate performance diploma from the Boston Conservatory.

Beck recalled a recital by Johnson last summer, with selections ranging from classic Handel to gospel songs. “I was just astonished at what I heard.… So creative, and such a beautiful voice and so controlled,” he said.

“She’s a marvel.… I just think she has the voice of an angel.”

The “Resonant Song” concert program sweeps from classical to current. Tchaikovsky’s beloved Andante Cantabile opens, followed by the jaunty folk fun of Scott Joplin’s The Ragtime Dance. Kinan Azmeh’s alluring Ibn Arabi Postlude, Thomas Adés’ arrangements of Madness’ Cardiac Arrest and Couperin’s Les Barricades Mystérieuses, Trevor Weston’s funk-influenced Dig It and Eddie James’ God with the Cade Chapel Choir complete an afternoon of classic favorites and bold new works. An informal conversation with musicians, Beck and the Rev. Reginald Buckley follows.

Admission is free for the “Resonant Song” concert, with donations welcome and appreciated. MSO’s Chamber Series is presented by Keesler Federal Credit Union, and this concert is sponsored by the Meyer and Genevieve Falk Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts, a fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi. MSO is supported in part by the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Who: Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
What: Resonant Song, Chamber Series Matinee Concert
When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025
Where: Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 1000 W. Ridgeway St., Jackson, MS
Website: msorchestra.com

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