JSU Chorale, guest soloists, Wagner’s ‘Parsifal’ prelude and more
Jackson, Mississippi — Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Transcendent Voices” concert, Saturday, January 24, at Christ United Church, melds contemporary relevance and classical tradition in profound ways for a transformative musical journey that stirs the soul.
MSO Conductor Crafton Beck’s innovative intertwining of Joel Thompson’s acclaimed Seven Last Words of the Unarmed and Gabriel Faure’s beloved Requiem is at the very heart of this powerful concert.
Thompson’s 2015 seven-movement choral and orchestral work transforms the final words of seven unarmed Black men killed by police or authority figures into an emotional bridge toward shared understanding. Fauré’s 1888 Requiem similarly seeks to find “eternal rest” for both the departed and their families but does so through the Catholic liturgical tradition.
“It’s a dialogue between Joel Thompson and Gabriel Fauré,” Beck said of the merged works in performance. “It’s an exchange that connects present-day issues of our society and the great human tradition of finding solace in tragedy and in death – finding peace.” Going from a movement of one work to a movement of the other creates a performance even stronger than its separate pieces. It brings out the depth of Seven Last Words of the Unarmed and, with Requiem, finds peace for each soul lost to violence and solace for those mourning the loss.
The merged works feature the Jackson State University Chorale, the school’s top vocal ensemble of about 50 men and women singers led by JSU Director of Choral Activities Harry Cecil. Sought-after New York City-based baritone Kenneth Overton and Cincinnati-based soprano Maren Hrivnak are guest soloists in the works. Overton is a Grammy Award winner for Best Choral Performance. Hrivnak, granddaughter of Millsaps music faculty emeriti Tim and Cheryl Coker, returns to the Jackson area following a packed recital in Ridgeland last February.
The concert opens with Richard Wagner’s Prelude to Act I from Parsifal, and Beck’s own Passage, both introducing the evening’s transformative themes. The story of Parsifal, the quest for the Holy Grail, symbolizes the search for everlasting life or hope. Beck’s Passage, composition winner in the 2015 Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters awards, stands as a metaphor for passage through most any human endeavor or experience.
“You will touch on the depth of humanity in this concert,” Beck said.
Tickets for “Transcendent Voices” are $43 for adults and $5 for students, kindergarten through college (with valid ID). Purchase advance tickets at www.msorchestra.com or contact Patron Services at 601-414-6005. The box office will open at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert and tickets will be available at the door.
MSO’s Bravo Series is presented by the Selby & Richard McRae Foundation. “Transcendent Voices” is sponsored by the Meyer and Genevieve Falk Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts, a fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi. Recording and broadcast of this concert is by Mississippi Public Broadcasting. 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: Transcendent Voices, Chamber Series Concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 24, 2026
Where: Christ United Jackson, 6000 Old Canton Road, Jackson, MS
Website: msorchestra.com
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