There are several reasons why Eric Hill believes the Starkville-MSU Symphony is important to the community, but one of them is its ability to connect people to the past.
Hill — who is the president of the symphony’s board — spoke at Starkville Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon on Monday to update them on the symphony. He began his talk with the story of Giuseppe Verdi, a 19th-century composer from the Italian countryside. Verdi grew to be a renowned student of music and a successful composer. He married and had two children, and lost his wife and both children by the age of 26, months before finishing his second opera.
The opera was a failure, and Verdi swore off composing until he was convinced to write the score for another opera. Hill said the score propelled him to prominence and was performed a then-unparalleled 57 times across Europe.
It’s rarely performed in the United States, but about a month ago, the Starkville-MSU Symphony performed it at the Mississippi University for Women to open its 50th season.
“There were 8-year-olds, 10-year-olds and other children that heard the entire emotional story of Giuseppe Verde, who composed that piece over in Europe,” Hill said. “It was performed right here in the Golden Triangle. They got to hear the emotional story that he tells, just like any other human, written 176 years ago.
“What’s special to me is that, while that’s a unique perspective on why the symphony came to be here in Starkville,” he continued, “it’s been telling stories like these for over 50 years, free and open to the public.”
The Starkville-MSU Symphony was founded in 1969 as the Civic Orchestra. This year, the symphony is celebrating its 50th season. The symphony includes local musicians and students from Mississippi State University, and Hill said it also draws musicians from across the Southeast.
The season will continue through April, with two concerts scheduled for within the next two weeks. The first is a 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9 family concert at Lee Hall on Mississippi State University’s campus. The second, a salute to the Beatles, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Nov. 11 at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Hill also said the symphony offers access to some of the most complex, and layered music available.
Hill’s added the symphony does play a role in job creation and retention. Hill, who is the head of MSU’s Entrepreneurship Center, said he was recently talking to a new department head at the university who owns a business that employs about 30 people.
Hill said the department head is from out of state and has considered moving his company to Starkville. However, he said the department head’s wife is a “masterful” cellist who’s played with world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and his son is learning to play the viola and has played with the city symphony from their previous home.
In their conversation, Hill said the department head wasn’t sure how long he’d stay in Starkville, due to his family’s connection to music elsewhere. While Hill didn’t indicate whether the family was involved in the symphony, he said the department head’s point illustrated how people’s interest in music will factor into a decision where to live.
“That was something I had not previously seen as completely as this gentleman standing in front of me saying, ‘I like this place. I wouldn’t mind staying here, but boy this music is important to me,'” Hill said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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