2026-27 Symphony Brochure

ICONIC

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

107th SEASON

gregory wolynec, music director

WELCOME

Welcome to a season of ICONIC masterpieces. In this, our third season together, the Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra and I have pulled out all the stops as we celebrate many of the most acclaimed and influential works of the past two centuries. We bookend our year with some of the most famous melodies ever written for orchestra. Along the way, we will feature numerous guest artists from both near and far in works that express the full range of human emotion. You won’t want to miss a single event.

September 24, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.

Bennett Auditorium

The 107th season of your Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra opens with two works made famous in popular culture. Rossini’s WilliamTellOvertureand Ravel’s Bolerowere featured in classics for the large and small screens. Jeffrey Wood’s touching portrayal of Joseph Merrick was named the première of the year by Nashville Scene in 2016.

PROGRAM

Gioachino Rossini – WilliamTellOverture Jeffrey Wood – DifferentBodies Richard Wagner – Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin Maurice Ravel – Bolero

Fright Night!

October 29, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.

Bennett Auditorium

With Halloween and El Día de los Muertos just around the corner, the Symphony Orchestra presents an evening of frightening classics. From Saint-Saëns devilish evocation to Penderecki’s haunting sounds, from Schubert’s terrifying horse ride to Berlioz’s ghoulish masterpiece, join us for an evening of terrifying treasures. Costumes are optional.

PROGRAM

Camille Saint-Saëns – DanseMacabre Krysztof Penderecki – Intermezzo for 24 Strings Franz Schubert/orch. Franz Liszt – Erlkönig Hector Berlioz – SymphonieFantastique

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 7, 2026 – 1 p.m.

Sunday, November 8, 2026 – 3 p.m.

The Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium

Blending soaring pop, electro, folk and Broadway sounds into a “stunning and blazingly original” score, this genre-defying musical pulls audiences directly into a story of love, temptation, regret and redemption. Be surrounded by music, movement and emotion in a way few shows ever have.

Praised as “the most innovative… since Hamilton” and earning 12 Tony Award nominations, it redefined what modern musical theatre could be while collecting major honors, including Obie and OffBroadway Alliance Awards for Best New Musical. For a season celebrating the truly iconic, TheGreatCometstands as a bold, oncein-a-generation experience, that doesn’t just tell a story but invites audiences to step inside it and feel it unfold around them.

Holiday Choral Spectacular

December 1 and 3, 2026 – 7:30 p.m.

Main St. Baptist Church

Don’t miss this annual community celebration of the season with choir and orchestra. Our program features all the ensembles within Southern Miss Choral Activities, including the Southern Chorale, Southern Miss Concert Choir, and Southern Miss pop a cappella ensemble, Spirit of Southern, with the full Hattiesburg Choral Union. The holiday program will also include a world premiere of Inthe BleakMidwinter , written for the choirs by composer-in-residence, Richard Burchard. Based on the audience response last year, selections by another Strauss returns! Our holiday tradition will have you singing along and dancing toward a new year!

PROGRAM

Josef Strauss – MusicoftheSpheres,Feurfest!,DieLibelle Richard Burchard – IntheBleakMidwinter

Seasonal holiday classics

Future Stars

February 18, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.

Bennett Auditorium

Winners of the William T. Gower competition showcase the immense talent to be found in the Southern Miss School of Music. Drawn from 15 different countries, our Symphony musicians bring the world’s talent to Hattiesburg. From them, three talented student musicians will be chosen to perform solo concertos with the Orchestra. This is always one of the Symphony’s best attended concerts as our patrons come out to support these talented students.

PROGRAM

Winners of the William T. Gower Concerto Competition

La Pasión!

March 19, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.

The Thomas V. Fraschillo Stage at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center Auditorium

In 2000, Osvaldo Golijov’s Latin-American setting of the passion paid tribute to the great JS Bach and took the world by storm. This fusion of classical music with salsa, Flamenco and countless other traditions has toured the major metropolitan capitals of the world. Alongside original cast members, your Symphony and the Southern Chorale present a modern masterpiece in a once-in-a-lifetime event.

PROGRAM

Osvaldo Golijov – LaPasiónsegúnSanMarcos

Ode to Joy!

May 6, 2027 – 7:30 p.m.

Main Street Baptist Church

The end to our season will be truly ICONIC! One of the most acclaimed works in history, Beethoven’s monumental final symphonic masterpiece brings together the full force of the Hattiesburg Choral Union with our acclaimed Symphony in an uplifting celebration of humanity.