Shoutouts

North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s “Fermata”

KEVIN BAIN, UM COMMUNICATIONS

In contemplating how performances might look in light of the new realities introduced by the COVID pandemic, the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra has opted to call its 2020-21 season “Fermata.” Fermata is a musical term for a pause of unspecified length, which was brought about last season, thanks to COVID.

NMSO’s first-ever virtual season will offer the same wonderful music as always but through widely available channels.

While many arts organizations have moved to virtual presentations this past year, NMSO is going a step further by making concerts widely available across multiple platforms, including broadcast television, with concerts to be streamed at nmsymphony.com and NMSO’s You Tube channel, and to be broadcast on WTVA, NBC’s local affiliate station, making it easily available to the entire viewing area.

“What began as a challenge — how to conduct our season successfully — has turned into a golden opportunity,” said Lisa Martin, NMSO’s executive director. “It’s a great chance for all the people of north Mississippi to enjoy the world’s best music at no cost and from the comfort of their homes. And it’s also a great opportunity for us to fulfill our mission to provide music for all the people of the area.”

Through a partnership with the University of Mississippi, NMSO will record the season’s concerts at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts at Ole Miss.

Martin said she believes this season’s innovative format will ultimately bring more attendance to concerts after the “fermata,” as more people discover what NMSO offers.

“Few towns of our size have an orchestra of this caliber,” Martin said. “And now people from across the area — Starkville, Oxford, Corinth — will have a chance to hear it for themselves.”

For upcoming broadcast dates and times, visit nmsymphony.com.

Looking to get out of the house for the afternoon? Gather the family and hop in the car for a self-guided sightseeing history lesson about the Corinth area’s role in the Civil War. The Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has made this activity easy through a narrated audio driving tour, online at corinth.net/civil-war-driving-tour.

The driving tour takes the listener through more than 20 local sites from an approximate six month period in 1862, when Corinth was a center of importance to both the Union and the Confederacy during the conflict. Both sides believed it to be key to winning the war in the Western Theater. An estimated 300,000 soldiers from both sides passed through Corinth during the war, and the town played host to more than 200 Confederate and Union generals. Many of the town’s Civil War-era buildings remain, including homes used by commanding generals. Additionally, the site of a large Contraband Camp for exslaves, the location of many extant Union earthworks and the famous rail crossing itself are all part of the tour.

Corinth Civil War Driving Tour

SHOUTOUTS continued

Community Table Kits

There’s an easy solution for Oxford residents who enjoy cooking and eating, but don’t like meal planning. Elizabeth Speed, a Yoknapatawpha Arts Council 2021 Community Supported Arts artist, is offering subscriptions for meal kits for families.

Inspired by her own experience in teaching cooking classes, Speed’s meal kits include needed ingredients, recipes and a bit of education about the food or the process in which it’s prepared.

The YAC program challenges local artists to think outside the box, pushing them to expand an arts-based business. The goal is to offer artists a broader opportunities and to encourage them to create sustainable business models.

In her artist statement, Speed offers her personal goal: “Through the CSA, I hope to promote awareness of the importance of cooking and eating together as a family as well as to promote local products from farmers, producers and vendors,” she said. “My kits will promote healthy eating habits, culinary curiosity and learning to cook not just as a life skill but a way to create memories and strengthen familial bonds.”

Speed’s Community Table Kits are varied in number of meals and price. The kits may be ordered and picked up each month at the Old Armory Pavilion in Oxford. Learn more at facebook.com/communitytablekits.