Faculty Focus at the Symphony

SEASON

dr. michael miles, music director

Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight for an evening celebrating the talents of our wonderful artist faculty in the School of Music on our Faculty Focus concert. We have a very eclectic program for you tonight featuring three of our faculty: Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo, Dr. TJ Tesh, and Dr. Hsiaopei Lee. Following the theme of our Classics! season series, we end tonight’s program with Prokofiev’s cheeky Classical Symphony.

Our applied artist faculty in the School of Music are regular performers as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestra musicians. They perform all over the world in these activities establishing themselves and the School of Music as leaders in their field. While they do perform locally, these performances do not always elicit the same response and patron participation that we enjoy for Symphony Orchestra concerts. We feel it is an important part of our mission, and a real treat for our audience, to have the opportunity to hear our talented faculty in collaboration with the Symphony Orchestra. The Faculty Focus concert began out of necessity during COVID-19 restrictions, but we hope to continue it forward as a biannual part of our season series.

Tonight we also introduce you to Carlos Fernandez, an extremely gifted doctoral student in Conducting. Carlos came to us from Ibagué, Colombia, in South America where he was artistic director of the Ibagué Conservatory and principal conductor of its orchestra. Carlos brings to the podium over 10 years of professional conducting experience, including dozens of operatic productions in Vienna, Austria. You may have seen him conducting our opera productions for the past three years. He will again be working with the opera this spring in their production of Cosi fan Tutte. As part of our mission to train the next generation of musicians, we are obligated, and joyfully pleased, to provide these types of experiences to our students. I know you will enjoy his conducting and support him in this important endeavor.

The next performance in our season series is the perfect musical, Guys and Dolls, presented November 10-12 in the Mannoni Performing Arts Center. This “classic” musical has been re-imagined in many ways by director Mike Lopinto and me. I hope you will join us for what will be a wonderfully entertaining escape back to the turn of the 20th century and the ficticious Runyonland filled with gangsters, gamblers, dolls and more good music than you will find in any other classic musical.

See you at the Symphony!

OF

FACULTY FOCUS

The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Michael Miles, music director, and Carlos Fernandez, conductor

With special guest artists

Dr. Hsiaopei Lee, viola; Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo, guitar; and Dr. T.J. Tesh, trumpet

Thursday, NOVEMBER 3, 2022 Bennett Auditorium 7:30 p.m.

Concierto de Aranjuez

Joaquín Rodrigo

I. Allegro con spirito (1901-1999)

II. Adagio

III. Allegro gentile

Nicholas Ciraldo, guitar

Concerto in Eb for Trumpet and Orchestra

Johann Baptist Neruda

I. Allegro (1708-1780)

II. Largo

III. Vivace

T.J. Tesh, trumpet Intermission

Suite for Viola and Orchestra Ralph Vaughan Williams

I. Prelude (1872-1958)

II. Molto perpetuo

III. Carol

IV. Galop

Hsiaopei Lee, viola

Symphony No. 1 “Classical”, op. 25 Serge Prokofiev

I. Allegro (1891-1953)

II. Larghetto

III. Gavotta

IV. Finale

This program presented in part by a generous grant from Partners for the Arts

Concierto de Aranjuez

There are several intriguing myths about the composition of the Concierto de Aranjuez, as well as its inspiration, but most evidence points to a few moments. In 1938, at a conference in Santander, Spain, guitarist Regino Sainz de La Maza implored Joaquín Rodrigo to create a new and truly special work for guitar and orchestra. Rodrigo agreed but completed the work in Paris to avoid the Spanish Civil War. Sainz de la Maza gave the premiere in Spain in 1939.

The Concierto de Aranjuez has since become one the most beloved concertos ever written, and it has made Joaquín Rodrigo one of the most highly revered composers from Spain. It is now the most commonly requested work for guitar soloists, and it is peerless in its blend of dazzling virtuosity, lyrical passion, and idiomatic folk elements of Spain. Of note is the beautifully melancholic melody found in the second movement, heard on guitar and several orchestral instruments alike.

The guitar solo that opens the Concerto sets up a series of strummed chords that promise, but delay, the arrival of the principal theme. Only a full minute later, after the orchestra has repeated the pattern, does the theme actually appear, played by the violins with the orchestra and soloist engaging in a musical dialogue.

The Adagio is truly the heart of the Concerto, capturing for the concert hall the brooding Flamenco strains. Here, a mournful modal theme is introduced by that quintessentially melancholy instrument, the English horn. But it is the guitar that sinuously, even lovingly, embellishes the melody like an example of fine decorative Moorish calligraphy. The melody has morphed into everything from elevator music to the award-winning jazz recording for trumpet and flugelhorn by Miles Davis.

The guitar soloist begins the final movement in accordance with the usual classical concerto structure. The movement is a series of free variations based on a lively 16th century folksong. The transformations of the theme become the topic of discussion between the soloist and various members of the orchestra, as well as a vehicle for some charming orchestral color. Just as it had the first word, the lone voice of the guitar has the last one.

Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major

Born in what is now the Czech Republic, Neruda learned to play the violin as a boy and for some years made his living as a violinist in Prague. In 1750, he moved to Dresden, where he became the director of the court orchestra. He composed 18 symphonies, 14 concertos, chamber music, sacred music, and one opera.

Neruda came from the generation that grew up between Bach and Haydn, and his music reflects their influence. He wrote in what we know as the style galant. This “galant” style set aside the contrapuntal complexities of baroque music but preceded the firm classical style of Haydn and Mozart. It emphasized clear and appealing melodies, uncomplicated accompaniment and an elegant, courtly manner of expression.

Neruda wrote the Concerto in E-flat Major for the corno di caccia, a forerunner of the modern French horn, but it is usually played today on the trumpet. Both the horn and trumpet of Neruda’s era lacked the valves of modern instruments, and it would have taken

virtuoso performers just to manage the notes of this concerto, let alone play them with the elegance and authority this music demands.

All three movements of this concerto are in the home key of E-flat Major, which is unusual for a concerto from this period, but they are in the fast-slow-fast sequence that we expect in a concerto. Much of the writing in this concerto is set very high in the trumpet’s range, and the music demands both great agility and the ability to sustain a long, lyric line.

Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra

Vaughan Williams’ Suite for viola and small orchestra was written for Lionel Tertis, who gave the first performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent at the Queen’s Hall on November 12, 1934. This work consists of three “groups” of pieces— respectively of three, of two, and again of three movements. This evening you will hear four pieces representing at least one piece from each of the three groups.

The chief characteristic of Vaughan Williams’ Suite is the varied color and lightness of the orchestration. The first movement is a Prelude in C major, the arpeggiated opening solo viola line surely a tribute to Bach. It expands with a typical soaring lyrical treatment. A counter-melody first heard on the tutti violas leads to a pastoral middle section characterized by the opposition of the soloist in 9/8 and the orchestral accompaniment in 3/4. The arpeggiated music returns with a brief reminiscence of the pastoral theme serving as coda.

The Moto perpetuo has a galumphing country dance feel to it, the viola’s register, especially when double stopping, having a roughness that is emphasized by the changes from double to triple time. The soloist has no rest from the insistent semiquavers, and the tempo is too fast for an actual dance, the whole virtuosic invention being remarkably invigorating.

The simple Carol tune of the second movement is reminiscent of both the “Land of our birth” tune from Vaughan Williams’ A Song of Thanksgiving of 1945 and the Woodcutter’s song from The Pilgrim’s Progress

The Galop, although in the minor mode, nonetheless provides a virtuoso ending for the Suite. A galop is typically in 2/4; however, in this movement, the central section is in 6/8. The tune, scored for solo viola and piccolo, is not pastoral like the 6/8 sections of the “Prelude” but rather suggests a theme that one might find in a score for a western film. The theme is transformed into a saloon dance through an increase in orchestration and rhythmic emphasis on the second beat of each measure.

Symphony No. 1, “Classical”

In his 25th year, Prokofiev decided that he would write “a symphony as Mozart or Haydn might have written it…had either one of them been a contemporary… I christened it the Classical Symphony first, because it sounded much more simple, and second, out of pure mischief ‘to tease the geese’ in secret hope that eventually the symphony would become a classic.” He succeeded in both intentions.

His light heartened escapade was written during a convulsive time in Russia. The czarist government was imploding; the military catastrophes of World War I were bearing down, and political /social revolution was at hand. One month after completing the score, the Bolshevists threw over the Kerensky government. Six months after the coup, Prokofiev conducted the premiere of the “Classical” Symphony in Petrograd on April 21, 1918.

Prokofiev’s mother had provided traditional musical training for her son throughout his life; therefore, he was well acquainted with the standard classical musical forms and content, but often found them corseting and unsuitable for his imagination. In the “Classical” Symphony, he uses traditional sonata-allegro format, but pours dramatic new content into the mold. For example, spikey, non-lyrical themes replace the congenial, elegant, lyrical music of Mozart and Haydn. Prokofiev’s tunes are filled with unexpected digressions and “wrong notes.” Pungent harmonies and dissonances replace the comfortable, expected sounds of the past. The entire symphony is written on a small scale— each movement is brief and to the point. The first movement begins with a tiny introduction, consisting only of two measures, and the immediate presentation of two contrasting themes, sounding a bit like a very modern Haydn. In a bow to tradition, Prokofiev tosses in a Mannheim rocket, a fast, ascending melodic line, one of the novel effects of the Mannheim school of the 18th century. The second theme contains grace notes reaching a span of two octaves, a novel approach to grace notes of the 18th century, which would be closer in pitch to the primary note. A bar of silence, another reference to the Mannheim school which inserted from time to time a “grand pause” of silence before resuming vigorously, also appears. In this case, the pause announces a witty development section, after which Prokofiev concludes with a “traditional” recapitulation section, but this recapitulation begins in the “wrong key” and only eventually recovers itself.

The second movement is a more relaxed Larghetto. After four introductory bars, a melody appears high in the violins, full of Mozartian trills and lilting figures. Alternating with contrasting episodes, this melody returns twice with varied harmonies and accompaniments. The movement ends just as it began with the return of the introductory measures.

In place of the usual minuet that Mozart would have written, Prokofiev substitutes a different 18th century dance for the third movement: a gavotte, which is typically in a 4/4 meter and begins with two prominent upbeats. This brief, charming movement recalls the faux-classical dances Tchaikovsky wrote for Sleeping Beauty, albeit with a modern twist.

In his diary, Prokofiev noted that he “scrapped” the original finale he had written for the symphony because it “seemed to me too ponderous and not characterful enough for a classical symphony.” His friend, the composer and musicologist Boris Asafyev, “put into my mind an idea he was developing, that there is no true joyfulness to be found in Russian music. Thinking about this, I composed a new finale, lively and blithe enough for there to be a complete absence of minor triads in the whole movement, only major ones. From my original finale, I salvaged only the second subject. I found the movement extraordinarily easy to write, and the only thing I was concerned with was that its gaiety might border on the indecently irresponsible. But in the first place, it never actually crosses this line, and in the second, this kind of finale is quite appropriate to Mozartian style. I was hugging myself with delight all the time I was composing it!” Featuring virtuoso writing for the woodwinds, this sparkling finale brings the symphony to a breathless ending.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Violin 1

Marlene Gentile, concertmaster Alexander Ilchev Adelle Paltin Alejandro Junco Laura Lopero Juan Lincango Jonathan Chen Casey Macklin

Violin II

Federico Franco, principal Lily Martinez Icaro Santana Victor Amaut Rodolfo Torres Angelina Sidiropoulou Alejandro Lopez Dexter Rodkey

ViolA Ana Sofia Suarez, principal Isabella Marques Cecilia Araujo Diana Lopez Christian Avila Nicole Herrera cello

Amani Zouehid, principal Brian Lorett Cristian Sanchez Alejandro Restrepo Mauricio Unzueta Kassandra Henriquez Evelin Lopez Franco Galetto Courtney Francois bass

Wendell de Rosa Rodrigues, principal Jose Luis Cuellar Pedro Areco Elton Machado, principal Daniel Magalhaes

Matheus Henriquez Carlos Herrera Manuel Jara Ramirez Charlie Levindoski

flute

Katerina Bachevska, principal Sarah Hinchey

oboe/english horn Ruth Moreno Calderón, principal Nathaly Pagoaga, second/English horn

clarinet

Freddy Mora, principal Gerby Guerra

bassoon Jordan Vestal, principal Zachary Howell horn Brian Alston, principal Anna Zurawski

trumpet Mariah Atwood, principal Zach Dake

harp Kristina Finch keyboard Erick Quispe

TIMPANI/percussion Josh Hale

Nicholas Ciraldo

Nicholas Ciraldo is a leader among his generation of American classical guitarists. At the start of his career, he won awards and reached high levels at the Tredrez-Locquemau International Guitar Competition (France), the Gaetano Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), the GFA Solo Guitar Competition (USA), the Portland International Guitar Competition (USA), and the MTNA Guitar Competition (USA). Ciraldo now pursues numerous solo, chamber and concerto performances across four continents, now having played in such venues as the United States’ Jordan Hall, Germany’s Berliner Dom, and Brazil’s Teatro José Maria Santos.

Soundboard magazine states that Nicholas Ciraldo’s performances are “without reservations, marvelous…with abundant technique and commitment to the music…one of the best….” Allmusic.com describes his playing “goes right to the heart of the music, with his precise, active, athletic style.” The Baton Rouge Advocate writes that Ciraldo is “definitely in command….generating a collective gasp of amazement in the audience.” Kansas City’s Journal of the Performing Arts says Ciraldo’s “touch was nimble and delicate, skilled without being flashy. The instrument was a clear extension of the performer, with integrity of sound and performance taking precedence.”

As an avid chamber musician, Nicholas Ciraldo has collaborated with harpist Franziska Huhn, guitarist Eliot Fisk, trumpet player Brian Shaw, violinist Stephen Redfield, and the Quadrivium Guitar Quartet in various chamber music performances. Currently, Dr. Ciraldo performs regularly with flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo, in Duo Cintemani. Their concert venues have included the National Flute Association Convention, the Pelican State Chamber Music Series, the Christ Church of Pensacola, and the Escola da musica e bellas artes do Parana, Brazil. Ciraldo was also a founding member of the multi-genre music trio, the HonkyTonk Philharmonic.

Nicholas Ciraldo earned a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University at Bloomington, where he studied with Ernesto Bitetti. He earned a Master of Music with honors and distinction in performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Leisner. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin as a three-year recipient of the “Freeman Fellowship” and student of Adam Holzman. His doctoral research involved the “1928 Manuscript” of the Etudes for Guitar by Heitor Villa-Lobos. He has released three full-length compact-disc recordings.

Nicholas Ciraldo is full professor of The University of Southern Mississippi School of Music, in Hattiesburg, where he manages the guitar program. He has received several awards and grants, including the College of Arts and Letters’ Creative Activity Award, the Lucas Faculty Excellence Award, and the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist Fellowship. His hobbies include audio-video rabbit holes, horology, running, cooking, and bothering his wife.

Dr. TJ Tesh

Dr. Timothy J. Tesh, a Grammy-nominated trumpeter, is associate director for student services and Associate Professor of Trumpet on the faculty of the School of Music at The University of Southern Mississippi. T.J. relocated to Mississippi in 2016 after an exciting and successful career as a freelance trumpeter and music educator in the Los Angeles area. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Pickett Brass Artist, and he has enjoyed an eclectic performance career, having performed with music legends like Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Patti Austin, Take 6, Quincy Jones, Dave Koz, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and many others.

Prior to leaving Los Angeles, T.J. recorded, toured and performed around the globe for three years as a member of the internationally celebrated brass quintet, Presidio Brass. Additionally, he has toured and performed throughout the United States and Canada with Victory Brass, Southern Arts Brass Quintet and with Mel Brooks’ Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, The Producers, where he served as principal trumpet. T.J.’s debut solo recording is titled Adaptations for Trumpet T.J. is currently a member of the Alias Brass Company, a dynamic touring brass quintet comprised of music professors from around the nation. Dr. Tesh serves as principal trumpet with the Gulf Coast and Meridian Symphonies, having also recently served as Guest Principal Trumpet with the Mobile Symphony and as a regular substitute with the Pensacola Symphony. T.J. is also the treasurer for the International Trumpet Guild, where he serves on the Board of Directors.

T.J. received his Master of Business Administration from The University of Southern Mississippi in 2020 and his Doctor of Musical Arts in trumpet performance and music education from The University of Southern California in 2012, having previously completed his Master of Music in trumpet performance at the University of Kentucky in 2004 and his Bachelor of Arts in music at Mars Hill College in 2002.

Dr. Hsiaopei Lee

A graduate of Columbia University and University of Cincinnati, violist Hsiaopei Lee has performed in numerous venues as a soloist, recitalist and orchestra player throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Dr. Lee is professor of viola at The University of Southern Mississippi, where her excellence in teaching has been recognized by several awards. She is also a recipient of the Artist Fellowship awarded by Mississippi Arts Commission in 2011 and 2017. A passionate chamber musician, Hsiaopei collaborates extensively in various chamber music settings. Her album, ODYSSEY: Viola Music Written by American Female Composers, is available on the Centaur label.

Carlos Manuel Fernández Hernández

Carlos Manuel Fernandez is a multifaceted conductor from Colombia, with experiences in Europe, North and South America that provide him with a wide vision of world music. During his studies and professional upbringing in Vienna, he conducted premieres of modern pieces for new ensembles and the standard orchestral and opera repertoires of 18th to 20th centuries. In 2010, he premiered Lepanto by Alexander Kaisser, followed by a collaboration with composer Nancy Van de Vate as principal accompanist and assistant for the recording of her opera, Hamlet, in Olomuc, Czech Republic. In 2012, Carlos had various projects in Vienna: assistant conductor for the premiere of the operas Edenarabeske by Wolfgang Liebhart and Azrael by Dirk D’Ase, assistant to Guido Mancusi at the Volksoper Wien, and assistant fellow Korrepetitor under David Aronson at the Staatsoper Wien. Further engagements during the season 2013-2014 included his debut with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava and Vienna, guest performances with the AOV orchestra in Vienna, the premiere of Unlimited Imaginations, by Julian Gamisch, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Ibagué, Colombia, in a live open-air concert offered for more than 5,000 attendees.

Carlos’s interests, besides conducting, embrace piano chamber music, choir conducting, voice and instrumental accompanying, and arranging and composing for different ensembles. He was the conductor of the MGV Choir in Breitenfurt, Austria, and founder of Enchoir, the choir of the English Studies Department at the University of Vienna from 2011 to 2014. In Colombia in 2014 he founded the choir and orchestra of the University of Ibagué, Colombia, co-founded the independent choir, Coro Polifónico Nuevo Tolima, and was named artistic director of the Ibagué Conservatory and principal conductor of its Symphony Orchestra for the years 2014-19. All these groups collaborated during those seasons in opera, sacred music festivals and choral-symphonic programs. During his tenure in Colombia, his work made possible a decentralized approach to the music offerings in different cities, touring with opera, sacred music and choir and orchestra productions through different regions. Choir conferences and concerts as the Panama-ELAMCO and Cancún, Mexico-CoralCun, staging concerts in vulnerable zones, and providing choir, orchestra and conducting workshops for free.

In addition to his love for music and music projects for the communities where he serves, he enjoys cooking with his wife and daughters, traveling around the world, and discovering all kinds of music. Carlos holds bassoon studies from the Tolima Conservatory, studies in orchestra, choir and opera conducting and opera piano collaboration with Dr. Georg Mark, Guido Mancusi and David Aronson at the Konservatorium Wien. Carlos recently received his Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from The University of Southern Mssissippi, where he is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting. He is also the graduate assistant for opera productions and orchestra under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Miles. Carlos recently served as music

director and conductor for the USM opera productions of Hänsel und Gretel and Too Many Sopranos. Carlos has received master classes in opera and orchestra conducting under Felipe Aguirre, Sir Simon Rattle, Bertrand de Billy and Apo Hsu, and for choir conducting with Virginia Bono. Carlos has performed and conducted in venues as the Wien Konservatorium Auditorium, Konzerthaus Wien, and Stephansdom in Vienna, throughout Austria, Panama, Mexico, and in various concert halls in his home country.

Dr. Michael Miles

Dr. Michael Miles is a unique brand of musician, whose career includes a blend of musical and academic positions. Dr. Miles’ academic career includes appointments at Western Carolina University and Florida International University. He also served for seven years as chair at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and six years as director of the School of Music at The University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Miles’ interest in arts advocacy and education in the community has led him to administrative positions in several community and state organizations. He served on the Hattiesburg Concert Association staff, and as executive director and founder of the Red River Arts Academy, an intensive summer arts training experience for students 14-18 years of age. Dr. Miles also served eight years as president of the Board of Directors of the Red River Arts Council in Durant, Oklahoma.

Dr. Miles’ appreciation for all forms and styles of music are evident in the variety of performing, conducting and music directing positions he has enjoyed. As a trumpet artist, Dr. Miles has performed with dozens of symphony orchestras as featured soloist and principal trumpet, and released a compact disc recording of new music for trumpet and piano by Robert Suderburg and James Wintle, titled Reflections in Times’ Mirror. In addition to his current duties as director of orchestral activities at Southern Miss, Miles’ conducting appointments include music director of the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera Company, music director of the Oklahoma Youth Symphonies, and music director of the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival. Miles recently conducted the USM Chamber Orchestra in its Carnegie Hall debut and served as guest conductor of the Festival Orchestra at the V Clinicas Instrumentalis in Cartegena, Columbia. In 2013, Dr. Miles served as guest conductor with The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, backing the legendary Beach Boys at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Dr. Miles has also served as guest conductor with the Xinghia Conservatory Orchestra of Guangzhou, China, Vidin (Bulgaria) Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, New Mexico University Symphony and Oklahoma Youth Orchestra.

In his career, Dr. Miles has served as music director/conductor for over 190 musical theatre performances involving 55 different musical theatre productions, including the recent highly acclaimed Southern Miss productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, The Phantom of the Opera, Magic of the Musical Stage, West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Ragtime, Showbiz Showstoppers, Showbiz Harmony and Sweeney Todd. Dr. Miles served as music director of HCLO’s productions of Into the Woods, Cabaret, Wizard of Oz, Camelot and Tommy. Dr. Miles also served as chorus master for the Hub City Players production of Rock of Ages and music director for their production of James and the Giant Peach. The Phantom of the Opera and James and the Giant Peach productions were awarded the prestigious American Prize for Musical Theater in 2018.

In his tenure at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Dr. Miles led an award-winning Jazz Ensemble that was recognized by the Oklahoma State Legislature as the “Official Jazz Ambassadors of Oklahoma.” This ensemble made three concert tours of the People’s Republic of China School of the Arts.

LEGACY LIFETIME MEMBERS

Gold Legacy Society - $25,000

Gail and Larry Albert Dr. and Mrs. R. Greer Whitacre

Silver Legacy Society - $12,500 Dr. Shannon Campbell Dick and Mo Conville Tammy and Arthur Martin Doug and Pam Rouse

Bronze Legacy Society - $5,000 Jennifer Brannock and Dr. David R. Davies Dr. Amy Chasteen Dennis and Erin Granberry Don and Amy Hinton Andy and Stace Mercier Dr. Michael and Stacey Miles Dee and Toddy Tatum in memory of Dr. and Mrs. A.T. Tatum Doug and Becky Vinzant

ANNUAL MEMBERS

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE - $5,000+ Mr. and Mrs. W. Carey Crane III

GRAND BENEFACTOR - $2,500

Dr. Stella Elakovich in memory of Drs. Dana Ragsdale and Karen O. Austin Dr. and Mrs. J. Larry Smith in memory of Mrs. Jane Becker Heidelberg Dick Jordan and Allen Williams in memory of Mary Garrison Jordan, Sonia Jordan and Sonyna Jordan Fox

BENEFACTOR - $1,000

Beltone Hearing Care Center Myrle-Marie Bongiovanni Peter and Diane Ciurczak in memory of Lillian, Helen, and Regina Chad and Catherine Edmonson Lawrence and Mary Gunn Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana in memory of Louis Leopold Gertler

Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Leader Dr. and Mrs. Aubrey K. Lucas Carole M. Marshall in memory of John Ivany Marshall Cody and Joan McKeller Becky and Doug Montague Dr. Steven Moser Kris and Amanda Powell Kate Smith and Hank Mazaleski

Southern Miss Alumni Association

Dr. Virginia Angelico Tatum, DDS Charitable Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust William L. Thames in honor of Monica Hayes Thad and Gerry Waites Dr. and Mrs. Chris Winstead Dr. and Mrs. Christian M. Zembower

SUSTAINER - $750

Dr. William Odom

PATRON - $500

Elizabeth Mee Anglin Dixie and Dennis Baum Dr. Alyson Brink and Dr. Jeremy Deans Perry and Gwen Combs Rick and Lisa Conn Dr. and Mrs. Christopher R. Crenshaw Mary J. Cromartie Charles Dawe and Dr. William Waller Eric and Sabrina Enger Iris Easterling Stanley Hauer Raoul and Althea Jerome John M. and Carolyn Lopinto, Sr. Dr. and Mrs. Troy McIntire in memory of Dr. Dean Cromartie Keith and Carolyn McLarnan Celia Faye Meisel Drs. William and Jeanne Morrison Robert and Kathyrn Morrow in honor of Rob Wheeler Mrs. Virginia M. Morris Brenda O’Neal Lambert David Ott

Abb and Jennifer Payne Matthew Wayne Pennington Randy and Kathy Pope Dr. and Mrs. Tom Puckett Robin and Connie Roberts Stephen and Jane Thomas Dr. Douglas F. Thomas Mary and Eric Sumrall Dr. and Mrs. Greg Underwood Russ Willis Henry G. Winstead

DONOR - $250

Paula and Allen Anderson Dr. Angela Ball Larry and Linda Basden Dr. and Mrs. David W. Bomboy Biljac and Joanna Burnside Bob and Peg Ciraldo Nicholas and Rachel Ciraldo Lewis and Carolynn Clark Dr. Eyler Coates Jr. Ryan and Anna Copeland

Robert and Linda Cox Amber Cole

Bettie Cox and David Powers Joelle Crook in memory of George T. Crook Kimberley Davis Andy and Beejee Dickson Drs. Sergey and Veronica Dzugan Muriel Everton Desmond and Stacy Reischman Fletcher John Griffith and Linda Boutwell-Griffith Wes Hanson

Dr. and Mrs. Robert Heath in honor of Sarah K. Heath Dr. and Mrs. Wendell Helveston Richard D. Hudson Chris and Joyce Inman Betty Jo D. Ison Rebekah and Jeff Johnson LBJ Properties LLC Dr. Jameela Lares Dr. Mike Lopinto in honor of John and Carolyn Lopinto Maureen K. Martin in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Aubrey K. Lucas Megan McCay Jennifer and Kennard McKay Drs. Jim and Diane Miller

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Mr. and Mrs. Carl E. Voss Jr. Kenneth and Barbara Waites Jerry and Diane Waltman Amelia Watkins Paige and Pat Zachary

CONTRIBUTOR -

Area Development Partnership

William and Lynne Baggett

General Buff and Anita Blount

Mr. Joe Bost and Dr. Katie James Todd and Mary Glenn Bradley Jewel Brantley Tucker in memory of Samuel Tucker

The Rev. Laurie Brock Charles A. Brown in memory of Mirneal C. Brown Sam and Jennifer Bruton Ron and Margaret Chapman Mitch and Marcia B. Cochran

Jacob Cotton

Jay Dean and Maryann Kyle in memory of Jack and Sara Dean Jerry and Bethanie DeFatta Andrew Dews DeAnna Douglas Ellen Price-Elder Carol and Gardner Fletcher Andrea Ford Nancy Guice in memory of Dr. John D. W. Guice John and Susan Howell

Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Johnson Rosi and Dex Johnson Ivonne Kawas Lorinda S. Krhut Mike and Linda Kuykendall Marcia M. Landen Mr. John Logan Melinda and Alan Lucas Marcos Machado Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Messer Jr. in honor of Dr. Mike Lopinto Milo and Jackie McCarthy Bebe McLeod and Bill McLeod in memory of Dr. John A. McLeod III Kathy J. Cornelius McMahon in honor of Kate Smith

Bill McHugh John and Louise Meyer Astrid Mussiett in memory of Gladys S. Mussiett Mike and Linda Kuykendall Dr. Francis Laatsch and Susan Reiter Bill and Martha Resay Ben and Jackie McIlwain Danilo Mezzadri Deborah and Steve Moore

John Mullins in honor of Jim Meade Mr. and Mrs. Hal E. Odom Bob and Betty Press Jann and George Puckett in honor of DeAnna Douglas Louis N. Rackoff and Elizabeth Slaby Bill and Martha Resavy Sherrie Mitchell Richmond Mark Rigsby and Melanie Eubanks Marc Edward Rivet

Barbara Ann Ross Ellen Ruffin David Sliman Joseph Steadman in memory of Betty A. Steadman Sally and Garland Sullivan in memory of Garland H. Williams Sidney and Barbara Sytsma

Richard and Debra Topp

Jennifer Torres

Lisa and Greg Vickers

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FRIEND - $50

Michael Aderibigbe

Dr. Jenna and Mr. Daniel Barton Richard Edward Beckford Chris and Elizabeth Bedenbaugh Drs. Joshua and Diana Bernstein Cindy Bivins Michael Boudreaux

Dr. Cherie and Mr. Lance Bowe Chris and Lisa Bowen

Dr. and Mrs. Bob Brahan Lauren and JoJo Bridges Joe Brumbeloe

William Byars Kathy and Ben Carmichael Fran and Gene Carothers

Matthew Casey Dr. Adam Clay Jim and Deedré Coll Darcie Conrad

Drs. J.P. and Lisa Culpepper Mr. and Mrs. Charles Daughdrill Melissa Jean David Diane Dobson Steve and Mary Dryden Allyson Easterwood Carol and Gardner Fletcher Olivia Clare Friedman Monika Gehlawat Ms. Allison Gillespie Heather and Ken Graves in memory of Jeremy Lespi Bruno D. Griffin Barbara L. Hamilton Julie Hammond George and Diana Hardin Frances B. Hegwood Brenda Hesselgrave Marsha Hester

Dr. Eddie and Sarah Holloway Dale and Emily Holmes Wanda J. Howard in memory of Mrs. Beth Curlee Dr. Luis A. Iglesias Jane W. Jones

Nicolle Jordan and Thomas O’Brien Cheryl D. Jenkins Dr. and Mrs. Charles Junek Penny Kochtitzky Wendy Kulzer

Capt. Karl Langenbach III in memory of Betty Langenbach Karen LeBeau Kelly Ferris Lester Linde and Jeff Lynn Robert Angus McTyre Joan McKeller

Dr. Mark Miller Kristie Murphy Christa Nelson Chuck Nestor in memory of Dr. Charles Nestor Sr. Katherine Olexa

Kathy Owens Peter and Kathy Pikul Amy Rogers Pelton in memory of Betty C. Rogers Morris James Pettis in memory of Linda C. Pettis Charles and Nellie Phillips

Mr. and Mrs. Zeke W. Powell Jr. Barbara L. Ross Dr. Alexander Russakovsky Chris and Allie Seay Bill and Rosalie Schoell

Elizabeth D. Schwartz Erin Sessions

Linda Seifert

Ken and Carol Simpson Valerie C. Simmons Dana William Skelton Carroll and Dura Smith

Rebecca G. Stark Edward N. Stephens William K. Stevens Kenneth and Virginia Stevens Lorraine A. Stuart David and Katie Sullivan Dr. Timothy J. Tesh Janet and Pat Tidmore David Tisdale

Susannah J. Ural and John Rasberry in memory of Dr. William F. Ural

Betty Lynn and Joe Ed Varner in memory of Virginia H. Culpepper Lee Anne Venable Cathy Gulli Ventura Anne G. Wilkins in memory of Bert Wilkins Cory R. Williams Alehandro Wooten Dr. John Wooton

STRINGS Dr. Borislava Iltcheva, violin Dr. Hsiaopei Lee, viola Dr. Alexander Russakovsky, cello Dr. Marcos Machado, bass Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo, guitar

WOODWINDS Dr. Danilo Mezzadri, flute Dr. Galit Kaunitz, oboe Dr. Jackie McIlwain, clarinet Dr. Kim Woolly, bassoon Dr. Dannel Espinoza, saxophone BRASS Dr. Rob Detjen, horn Dr. Tim Tesh, trumpet Dr. Ben McIlwain, trombone Dr. Richard Perry, tuba Dr. John Wooton, percussion

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