With the mission of making beautiful music for the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association and Golden Triangle communities, “A Magnolia Affair” on Saturday, Feb. 14 features live music, heavy hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and two raffle drawings.
The annual Symphony Association fundraiser is from 6 p.m.-10:30 p.m. at the Hunter Henry Center on the Mississippi State University campus.
One event highlight will be a drawing for a baby grand piano. The Kawai GM-10K instrument is valued at $14,000, said organizers. Tickets for the piano drawing are $100. A handmade quilt will also be raffled.
“The beautiful quilt is maroon, white and green and hand-stitched by Dot Livingston exclusively for the association,” said member Jeannie Godbold. Quilt tickets are $25.
“We get funding from a number of sources, but one of the principal ones is our annual fundraiser,” said Robert Phillips, who co-chairs the event with his wife, Lucy Phillips. “The association, which includes the Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Chorus and programs for children, are all supported by this.”
Monies raised will help fund the series of free concerts presented by the association annually, including a major event Feb. 28 at Lee Hall on the MSU campus at 7:30 p.m. “Much Mozart” will feature two of Mozart’s final works and a mass choir of more than 200 singers from the Symphony Chorus, MSU Choral Department and Mississippi University for Women.
The orchestra and chorus are made up of musicians and singers from not only Starkville, but Columbus and surrounding areas as well.
“The orchestra can be a relatively expensive thing; we bring in strings from Tuscaloosa and Memphis,” explained Phillips. “The fundraiser is a lot of fun and helps us a great deal.”
How to go
Tickets for “A Magnolia Affair” are $65, available from board members or by calling Phillips at 662-323-8075. Or visit starkvillesymphony.org. Entertainment Feb. 14 is by David Reese, the MSU String Quarter and The State Messengers.
Follow the association on Facebook at facebook.com/StarkvilleSymphony.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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