<\/p>\n
Thu, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Music has announced the 2025-26 Bob Sheppard\u2019s performing credits read like a Who\u2019s Who of Jazz, including collaborations Dr. Colin McKenzie, director of the USM School of Music, expressed enthusiasm for The series continues on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium with North Meets South<\/em>. Toronto-born guitarist Danielle Cumming and American tenor John Wesley Wright, from On Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium, famed pianist Einav Yarden will perform The spring season begins Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium with a performance The program will also feature flutist Stephen Clark, recipient of the 2016 Sir James On March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium, the Ariel Quartet will perform. Known The Connoisseurs Series is made possible by the annual support of the Mr. and Mrs. \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usm.edu \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thu, 09\/04\/2025 – 09:52am | By: Dr. Mike Lopinto The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Music has announced the 2025-26 Connoisseurs Series, offering performances by world-class guest artists for the community. The first of four landmark events is set for Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus, featuring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1997695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Southern-Miss-School-of-Music-Connoisseurs-Series-Offers-Free-Concerts.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1997695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t09\/04\/2025 – 09:52am | By: Dr. Mike Lopinto<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n Connoisseurs Series, offering performances by world-class guest artists for the community.
\n The first of four landmark events is set for Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Marsh Auditorium
\n on the Hattiesburg campus, featuring legendary jazz performer Bob Sheppard and his
\n quartet. Thanks to the Mr. and Mrs. James Simrall, Jr. Arts Endowment, these concerts
\n are presented at no charge to the public.<\/p>\n
\n with Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock,
\n Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Lyle Mays, John Beasley and Steps Ahead. He is also a
\n first-call studio musician in Los Angeles, appearing on numerous albums, movie soundtracks
\n and television shows. For more than 40 years, Sheppard has been making a great noise\u2014both
\n seen and unseen, but always heard.<\/p>\n
\n the Connoisseurs Series, calling it \u201can enriching lineup designed to engage students,
\n faculty, staff and the community with world-renowned artists who bring their talents
\n to our campus.\u201d This year\u2019s performances, he said, highlight a diversity of musical
\n styles, \u201cguiding audiences from the well-loved classics to the latest compositions
\n across various musical forms.\u201d McKenzie encouraged the community to attend, describing
\n the series as an opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant local music culture.<\/p>\n
\n Rome, Ga., formed the duo in 2007 as colleagues at Salisbury University. They have
\n now performed together for more than a decade. While their repertoire ranges from
\n Renaissance works to modern popular music, African American spirituals hold a central
\n place in their performances and educational outreach. Recent highlights include performances
\n for descendants of Frederick Douglass at Frederick Douglass Day in Easton, Md.; the
\n National Folk Festival; and the Roland Hayes Museum\u2019s Harris Arts Center in Calhoun,
\n Ga., as well as online concerts for the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan and the
\n Marlow Guitar Series in Montgomery County, Md.<\/p>\n
\n for Mississippi audiences. Yarden has been praised for her \u201cimagination and exceptionally
\n vivid playing\u2026sense of immense majesty, tempered by gentleness and quiet grace\u201d (The Washington Post<\/em>) and \u201cglistening rapture\u2026ingenious humor\u201d (Tagesspiegel<\/em>, Germany). She has appeared at major venues worldwide and as a soloist with orchestras
\n in Berlin, Israel, Germany, Romania, Canada and the United States under conductors
\n such as Sir Neville Marriner, Leon Botstein, Steven Sloane, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chaslin and Mendi
\n Rodan. Her awards include top prizes at the International Beethoven Piano Competition
\n in Bonn and the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, among others.<\/p>\n
\n by the Three Reeds Duo<\/em>. Co-founded by Leah and Paul Forsyth in 2005, the oboe-saxophone duo has built a
\n repertoire spanning baroque and classical transcriptions to contemporary concert literature.
\n They have performed in a variety of venues all over the world, such as the World Saxophone
\n Congress and the International Double Reed Society Conventions to chamber music series
\n and collegiate concert halls.<\/p>\n
\n Galway Rising Star Award and a first-prize winner at both the 2018 IMKA Music Competition
\n and the 2018 Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition. Clark has given more
\n than 1,000 performances across six continents and made his New York recital debut
\n at Carnegie Hall in 2018. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, he studied at the Royal Conservatoire
\n of Scotland, the Royal Northern College of Music, and in Switzerland with Sir James
\n Galway.<\/p>\n
\n for its virtuosity, musical insight and fiery performances, the Quartet has earned
\n international acclaim for more than 25 years. Formed when its members were teenagers,
\n the Ariel was recently named recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award,
\n granted by Chamber Music America. In addition to international touring, the Quartet
\n serves as faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory
\n of Music.<\/p>\n
\n James Simrall, Jr. Arts Endowment. The series represents each applied area\u2014brass,
\n jazz, piano, voice and woodwinds\u2014through annual guest artist performances. These renowned
\n musicians enhance the training Southern Miss students receive from the School of Music\u2019s
\n world-class faculty and add to the rich cultural offerings presented annually to the
\n Hattiesburg and regional community.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n