MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The Meridian Symphony Association hosted its annual board retreat Saturday at Northpark Church in Meridian, but this year was a little different.
The organization has decided to bring back it’s league of community minded volunteers.
Many of those volunteers were also at the retreat which focused on learning about the Symphony and the roles that volunteers will play.
“A lot of people, i think, think that concerts just sort of happen and the education programs just sort of pop up here and there, but it actually takes lots, hundreds of hours behind the scenes, and all of these great volunteers do all of that work, and we’re just so thankful to have them,” said Executive Director Carra Purvis.
Stations were set up throughout the retreat that explored the different things the symphony needs the volunteers to do and how to do them.
“There’s a lot of new components that are happening for us, new people, new concerts, new season, and this is a way to get them all started and really focused in on what we need to do and to do it in a fun way because that’s really what we’re all about,” said Education Director Kayla Fuentes.
Right now the Meridian Symphony Association is gearing up for it’s first event— a sinfonietta, or smaller scale symphony, at the MAX on Sept. 14th.
“Blue Like Jazz, and that will feature Jazz Pianist Clayton Stevenson, and we are super thrilled to have that. We love to partner with other cultural arts organizations throughout Meridian, and that’s going to be a wonderful one. Tickets will go on sale next week for that, and then we will have opening night at the Riley Center on September 28th,” said Purvis.
The Meridian Symphony Orchestra has been around for 64 years, and next year will be their 65th anniversary season— making them a crucial part of the community.
“We do things for the community. We work with music therapy, we work with the school systems within Lauderdale County and also Meridian Public as well as extended counties and cities around us. So, the idea of the symphony existing, although may be silent to some people, is very significant for our community and for the engagement that happens on the child’s level through our education programs and also the adult level where we provide opportunities for them to socialize and enjoy something that maybe is nostalgic in a lot of ways and also extremely entertaining,” said Fuentes.
No matter your taste in music, the Meridian Symphony Association says they have something for just about everyone.
“We have room for everyone. We would love to have some new volunteers, it’s not too late to join the league if they would like to do so, but we also have concerts and activities for everyone, all ages, all types of… I know a lot of folks who might say ‘well I don’t know if classical music is for me, but we have genres of music for absolutely every taste, so we would love them to come and just give it a try. We even have a country concert this year, so we would love for everyone to come out and give it a try. We really do have a lot of fun, and we have something for everyone,” said Purvis.
For more information on upcoming events or how to volunteer, visit meridianSO.org.
