MC Bands’ busy slate includes Symphonic Winds tour, jazz concerts, Fourth of July parade
Special to The Clinton Courier
MC Bands will provide generations’ worth of music throughout Mississippi College’s bicentennial year.
From a series of jazz performances in March to the MC Marching Band’s televised appearance in the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C., Mississippi College musicians are preparing for one of their busiest semesters in memory.
That’s exactly how Duval Salvant, MC’s director of bands, prefers it. He said celebrating the university’s 200th year through music is both fitting and meaningful.
“When you’ve got two hundred years of history under your belt, you’ve got to celebrate it,” Salvant said. “We’ll be playing centuries’ and generations’ worth of music this spring and promoting not just Mississippi College, but the United States.”
In honor of the bicentennial, the MC Department of Music commissioned James Sclater, longtime former music faculty member, to compose a “Bicentennial March.” The band will debut the work at its combined concert on April 19 and perform it again during the July 4 parade in Washington, D.C.
Spring performances include a Tuesday, March 24, Jazz Band Concert, “Songs of the Decades, Part Two,” at the Entergy Theater in the university’s Gore Arts Complex.
The second installment of its “Songs of the Decades” series will feature popular selections handpicked and directed by Wayne Linehan, MC adjunct faculty. The concert will highlight a powerful trombone section and span fast-paced hits from Charlie Parker and Glenn Miller to the fusion funk of Tower of Power.
“We’ll hit a few charts that people haven’t heard, but there will be plenty of standards,” Salvant said.
On Friday, April 17, MC’s Jazz Band will bring its fan-favorite repertoire to Olde Towne’s brick streets. The annual outdoor concert is one of the most anticipated performances of the spring, offering an evening of live jazz for those shopping or dining in the area, weather permitting.
The following Sunday, April 19, will see a combined concert with the MC Choir and MC Band in Alumni Hall. Band director Salvant, who was a Mississippi College student the last time the MC Band and MC Choir shared a stage, will join Beth Everett, director of choral activities, to present several collaborative works.
The program includes “Liturgies for Hope,” a new composition by Ben Williams, chair of the MC Department of Music, inspired by the book Liturgies for Hope by MC alum Elizabeth Moore and Audrey Elledge. It also features “The Trace” by Robert Sheldon, a march by John Philip Sousa, and selections by Mississippi composers.
The spring schedule will culminate with the Choctaw Marching Band representing Mississippi in the National Independence Day Parade along Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. on July 4. Current and former band members will perform Sclater’s “Bicentennial March” and other selections.
“We’re honored to celebrate MC’s bicentennial and the country’s 250th birthday at the same time,” Salvant said. “We’ll be bringing Mississippi College to Washington, D.C.”
Tickets for on-campus performances are ten dollars for general admission, five dollars for students, and free for MC faculty, staff and students. Proceeds support MC’s music ensembles and the Washington, D.C., trip. For more information, visit music.mc.edu/events.
