MSO Receives Arts Grant For Concerto

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra (MSO) has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the U.S. premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s mandolin concerto with soloist Avi Avital on November 13-14. MSO said the event will be the centerpiece of its 2021-2022 season and is a joint commission by the Munich Philharmonic, the MSO and the Chicago Philharmonic, which will perform the Midwest premiere. MSO’s participation in the commission was made possible by the MSO Symphonic Innovations Fund, launched by an anonymous donor in 2018 to support performing and commissioning new works. Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for her violin concerto and three Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2010, 2018 and 2020. Avital, an internationally renowned artist, is the first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy.

Next from MSO is its Summer Serenade, taking place on June 12 at 6 and 8:30 p.m. and June 13 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. at Mobile’s Saenger Theatre. The casual concert will feature Antonin Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings, which MSO Music Director Scott Speck explained “is one of the most celebrated works for strings”; William Grant Still’s Out of the Silence, which he said “is the perfect reflection of a challenging year”; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia No. 10. Masks are optional, but concerts will still be socially distanced. Performances are approximately 1 h without intermissions. Tickets to individual in-person performances are $15-82 and can be purchased online, by phone at 251-432-2010 or at the symphony box office at 257 Dauphin Street. Student tickets are $10, and the MSO Big Red Ticket program allows students in grades K-12 to attend Sunday performances free when accompanied by a paying adult.