Upcoming Events
OTHER EVENTS
SMSA Annual Meeting
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026 | Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Partnership Middle School, 11200 MS-182, Starkville, MS 39759
Enter from Hwy 182. Plenty of parking is available.
The Starkville-MSU Symphony Association invites all association members to our Annual Meeting.
Tour the Partnership Middle School, See the SMSA-Sponsored Piano Lab, Preview our 58th Season, and Renew Your Membership
Socialize with fellow SMSA Members while enjoying music provided by Starkville School District Student Performers
A short business meeting will be held to introduce the 58th Season and elect new board members
Refreshments will be served.
Interested but not a member?
Please join and support the Symphony Association!
Your annual donation to the Symphony Association Fund is a vital component to supporting the operating costs of the symphony, including hiring musicians, purchasing music, securing concert venues, marketing and promotion, and daily operations.
For more information or to become an annual donor, please contact the MSU Department of Music at 662-325-3070.
About the
Starkville-MSU Symphony Association
Since 1969, the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association has provided the Golden Triangle region with a true community grown experience of classical music. With the goal of introducing this vibrant genre to an audience reflecting the entire Starkville community, each Symphony season offers a combination of ticketed and free concerts.
A testament to the community's commitment to exceptional music, Starkville stands as one of the only cities of its size to support a continuing symphony orchestra for more than fifty years.
Each year the Symphony Concert Season showcase the talents of musicians from Mississippi State University, Starkville, and the surrounding communities, along with guest musicians from across the state.
The Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Dr. Daniel Stevens and presents an eclectic array of traditional, contemporary, and emerging compositions each season.
Symphony
Orchestra
Since 1975, the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association (SMSA) has presented a unique education initiative aimed at providing K-12 students the experience of live symphonic music. The program includes pre-concert curriculum for area teachers to use in the classroom, culminating in a field-trip to the professional hall to hear a featured performance of the orchestra.
This season, the SSO will perform
Christmas Fanfares as a youth program on December 4, 2026.
Please contact the MSU Department
of Music for more information.
(662)-325-3070
Programs for
Youth
The Community Chorus is directed by Peter Infanger and presents concerts each year featuring thematic choral arrangements, guest instrumentalists, and vocal soloists. No auditions are required for membership in the chorus; however, new singers will have a placement interview to determine which section will benefit most from their voice.
For more information about the current season's rehearsals beginning on August 17, please contact the chorus director/manager at smsusacommunitychorus@gmail.com
Community
Chorus
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Rex Buffington
President
Rob Wolz
Past President
Betsy Swanson
Secretary, Acting Treasurer
EX-OFFICIO
Daniel Stevens
Head, MSU Department of Music and SMSA Artistic Director and Symphony Conductor
Peter Infanger
Chorus Conductor
Emily Jennings
Interim Manager of Operations
Cathy Lammons
MSU Foundation Liason
BOARD MEMBERS
Zac Ashmore
Janis Bryant
Jennifer Davis, Director of Children’s Programs
Andrew Gaston
Elizabeth Hawkins
Bob Hawkins
Tonya Hays
Eric Hill
Tom Jenkins
Kyle Jordan
Pat Lane
Dolton McAlpin
Jack McCarty
Dominique Pugh
Denise Rowan
Don Shaffer
Arete Sprio
Phillip Stockton
Melanie Walters
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS
David Cornell
Trudy Gildea
Guy Hargrove
John Van Dyke Saunders
EMERITUS
Donald Emerich
M. M. Hawkins
Carolyn Katz
Lyle Nelson
Julia Vissotto Saunders
Robert Wolverton, Sr.
Board of Directors
The Starkville-MSU Symphony Association is a not-for-profit voluntary organization affiliated with Mississippi State University and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors
Interim Manager of Operations
Starkville Symphony Orchestra
Conductor
Starkville Community Chorus
Music Director and Conductor
Starkville Symphony Orchestra
Leadership
Support the Starkville Symphony Orchestra
DONATE
Every concert offered by the Starkville-MSU Symphony Association is possible thanks to generous support of patrons like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in commemoration of decades of music past and for generations to come.
Donations to the Starkville Symphony can be made to the MSU Foundation at PO Box 6249, Mississippi State, MS 39762, or online at msufoundation.com. Please designate "Starkville-MSU Symphony Fund (311117)" in your check's memo line or on the Foundation website.
SPONSOR
Recurring annual sponsorships may be made in the following categories.
Please contact the MSU Department of Music at 662-323-3070 to become a recurring sponsor.
Diamond Baton Grande (4 season tickets included)................................
Golden Baton (2 season tickets included).....................................................
Silver Baton (2 season tickets included).........................................................
Patron (2 season tickets included)....................................................................
Benefactor....................................................................................................................
Friend..............................................................................................................................
Member..........................................................................................................................
Associate Member...................................................................................................
$5,000/yr or greater
$4,000 - $4,900 per year
$2,500- $3,999 per year
$1,000 - $2,249per year
$500 - $999per year
$250 - $499 per year
$100 - $249 per year
$25 - $99 per year
