Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony Orchestra is announcing its "Italian Ideals" concert March 21.
Sponsored by the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association, the free 7:30 p.m. performance takes place on campus in historic Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. Works of Italian composers, as well as a work inspired by Italy itself, will be featured.
The performance opens with two of Gioachino Rossini's (1792-1868) most beloved overtures--one to "La gazza ladra" ("The Thieving Magpie"); the other, to "William Tell." The latter gained an even wider audience during the 20th century by helping introduce television audiences to the masked ranger that favored silver bullets and rode a horse named "Silver."
Tara Warfield, MSU assistant voice professor and soprano, will be soloist for two arias by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) and Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), including "O mio babbino caro" ("Oh My Beloved Father") from the opera "Gianni Schicchi" and "O mio Fernando" from the grand opera "La Favorita."
SSO trombonist Duane Warfield will conduct the "O mio Fernando" performance. He directs Starkville Academy bands and is Tara Warfield's husband.
The Saturday evening concert concludes with "Capriccio Italien" (1880), a fantasy featuring street music and folk tunes inspired by the travels to Rome of Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93).
For additional concert information, contact Michael Brown, MSU music professor and SSO music director, at 662-325-3070 or mbrown@colled.msstate.edu.
Founded in 1969, the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association is a non-profit volunteer organization whose members work to educate, enlighten and share classical music with the city, university campus and other communities in the Golden Triangle region. Producing high-quality musical events and increasing awareness for the arts are its primary missions. For more, visit www.starkvillesymphony.org and facebook.com/StarkvilleSymphony.
In addition to MSU and the City of Starkville, major association contributors include the J.W. Criss Foundation, Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Renasant Bank, Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau and Columbus-based Gildea Foundation.
The association accepts tax-deductible donations via the MSU Foundation. To contribute, contact Lynn Durr at 662-325-8918 or ldurr@advservices.msstate.edu.
Complete details about MSU, the state's flagship research university, are available online at www.msstate.edu, meridian.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate, pinterest.com/msstate and www.twitter.com/msstate.