MSO Principal Trombonist Jude Morris featured in George Walker concerto

Jackson, Mississippi — The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra goes big, bold and deep in the second Masterworks concert of its 82nd season, for a knockout punch of symphonic splendor. Experience the excellence in “Monumental Elegance,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 7 at Thalia Mara Hall.

Works by 19th century German composers Carl Maria von Weber and Johannes Brahms plus 20th century composer George Walker (the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music), create a compelling program of classical music.

Weber’s famous and vibrant Oberon Overture opens the concert. “Oberon is one of the great Romantic period dramas — it’s just over-the-top drama,” MSO Conductor Crafton Beck described what was likely Weber’s last composition.

Up next, Walker’s standout Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra brings “nothing but color,” Beck said. The piece is a showcase for MSO Principal Trombonist Jude Morris, praised by Beck as “enormously talented” and “so deeply engaged with music.”

“We’re lucky to have him,” Beck said of Morris who pushed for Walker’s concerto. “Performing the piece he really wants to do adds extra passion. He’s going to bring it.”

The concert’s second half brings Brahms’ much-requested Symphony No. 4, the late Romantic era masterpiece acclaimed and beloved for its profound depth, high expression and brilliance.

“The whole evening is big, dramatic and captures everything,” Beck said. “It is an elegant evening.”

The onsite box office will open at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert. Join Millsaps College Emeritus Professor of Music Tim Coker for Tim Talks, a free pre-concert lecture sponsored by Four Seasons of the Arts, at 6:45 p.m on the mezzanine at Thalia Mara Hall.

Individual reserved seat tickets for this concert are $45 and up for adults, and $15 each for students; visit msorchestra.com or ticketmaster.com to select seats and purchase.

The Masterworks Series is presented by the Selby and Richard McRae Foundation. Concert cosponsors are Jimmy and Meredith Creekmore, Tam and Nora Etheridge, John and Ann Millner, and Susan Shands Jones.

The MSO season 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: Monumental Elegance, Masterworks Series concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026
Where: Thalia Mara Hall, 255 E. Pascagoula St., Jackson, MS
Website: msorchestra.com

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