Fabulous Valentine Gala
Mount Repose
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
$50 Admission, $95 for two
Lynda Meade Shea, Miss America 1960,
invites you to the Natchez Festival of Music
Video shot and edited by Sam Torres - samtorfilm.com
Cost of Freedom Flag Fundraiser
Everyone
above the age of 18 can probably remember where they were and what they
were doing when they learned the world had changed forever. As the
10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. approaches, the
Natchez Festival of Music was chosen by the Cost of Freedom Flag company
as the charitable organization in the Miss-Lou area to sponsor the
program
John Maslak was at the site of the United Flight 93 crash
within 16 minutes of the crash and has commissioned this flag. The
Natchez Festival of Music is one of the very few organizations in the
nation selected to receive funds from the national sales of this flag.
He will be present to help kick off this sale and to help make people
aware that America will NEVER FORGET this tragic attack on our nation.
Flags can be ordered now, as we look forward to a major production on
9/11/2011. This is a fabulous fundraiser for the Festival!
Download the Order Form
Meet Our Artistic Director
Jay Dean | Opera
has always been part of Jay Dean’s career, which has given him the
opportunity to perform with such eminent artists as Plácido Domingo,
Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves and Roberta Peters.
His
serving as assistant conductor for the Austin Lyric Opera shows his
committment to this field of music. After performing with the
Mississippi Opera as guest conductor in several concerts, Dean became
its new Artistic Director. The Natchez Festival of Music is proud to
welcome him to Natchez.
Considered a musical ambassador for
Mississippi, Dean was state President of the National Opera Association
and served on the board of the Mississippi Opera Education Committee, in
which opera joins together with one of the Dean's greatest passions,
education.
Dean received his DMA in orchestral conducting from
The University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to The University of
Southern Mississippi, whose orchestra he has been conducting for more
than twenty years, he was Music Director of the Dekalb Youth Symphony
Orchestra in Atlanta, the Mercer University/Atlanta Chamber Orchestra,
the Columbus State University Orchestra, the Atlanta Festival Orchestra
and Chorus, the Austin Civic Orchestra and the Southwest Chamber
Orchestra.
His work as a conductor has allowed him to work with
many orchestras in Europe, the United States and Latin America. In
addition, he has directed performances with major popular artists such
as Doc Severinsen, The Pointer Sisters, Patti La Belle, Dionne Warwick,
Patti Austin, Ricky Skaggs and Sandy Patty.
Dean’s skills as a
producer and artistic manager enable him to work with music in a much
broader context. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Festival South,
a multi-week, multi-genre music festival, and General Director of the
Hattiesburg Concert Association. He has been the Executive Director of
the Vicksburg International Chamber Music Festival, the Artistic
Director of the Southern Arts Festival, as well as the music coordinator
for four international art exhibitions presented by the Mississippi
Commission for International Cultural Exchange.
In 2009, Jay Dean
and the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra received
the Governor’s Award for Leadership in the Arts, a reward for his
intense and clear vision for bringing the world to Mississippi. This
vision includes performances produced by Dean, with internationally
known classical icons such as Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma, Sir James
Galway, Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Manuel Barrueco, John
Browning, Christopher Parkening, Edgar Meyer, and many more.
Dean’s
commitment to education has caused him to be involved in many
institutions and activities. He has been the Executive Director of the
Professional Resource Institute of Musical Excellence, President of the
Mississippi Orchestra Teachers Association and President of the
Mississippi Music Educators Association Orchestra Division. He served as
the representative from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning
on the advisory board for the formation of the Mississippi School of
the Arts, and he has been the regional membership chair for the
International Conductors Guild.
Since 1988, Jay Dean has been the
music director of The Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. During
his tenure, the orchestra has gained an international reputation that
enhances not only the university, but also the state and region. His
recruiting efforts have turned that organization into a multi-national
conglomerate that includes students from over fifteen countries. Dean´s
skilled leadership has created unique partnerships that allow members of
the orchestra to provide musical performances in every school and
senior center in Hattiesburg.
Jay Dean affirms that his central
mission “is to provide life-changing experiences for his students and
raise the quality of life in the community and state of which he is a
part.”