“Classics at First,” the acclaimed music series that First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood launched in 2018, will resume at 7 p.m. Thursday with a performance by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Stearman.
Stearman, a Mississippi native, teaches at Millsaps College in Jackson. Ray Smithee, First Presbyterian’s music director and organist, said the church is still as excited by the series as it was in the beginning.
“We had the room that had the setup and acoustics for classical music,” Smithee remembered. “Therefore, we wanted to provide a different experience in the Delta by offering classically oriented music.”
Thursday’s performance will give the audience a chance to hear a singer who has had a rich career spanning four continents. Her many venues have included the Upsinov Palace of St. Petersburg, Russia; the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany; and the Odeon Herod Atticus of Athens, Greece. She also has recorded African American spirituals for German public radio.
“Cecilia’s voice is like liquid gold,” Smithee said, explaining that her range extends from “a very low alto to a very high soprano.”
And, he said, “the music is gloriously beautiful, of course.” Selections will range from those by Mozart to Bizet to Satie, and four African American spirituals will conclude the performance. Paul Brown of Greenwood will provide accompaniment on the piano.
The next concert will be on Nov. 18 and will feature a string quartet from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Each of the concerts is offered to the public at no charge.
- Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
