{"id":157863,"date":"2026-04-15T12:25:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=157863"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:29:28","slug":"oxford-civic-chorus-is-proud-to-announce-a-combined-concert-with-the-jackson-choral-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oxford-civic-chorus-is-proud-to-announce-a-combined-concert-with-the-jackson-choral-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford Civic Chorus Is Proud to Announce a Combined Concert with The Jackson Choral Society"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>May 2, 2026, at 3:00p.m. at David H. Nutt Auditorium<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Oxford Civic Chorus<\/strong> will join forces with the<strong> Jackson Choral Society<\/strong> for a special spring concert on May 2, 2026 at 3:00p.m. in the <strong>David H. Nutt Auditorium<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bringing together more than one hundred singers between the two choirs, and featuring an accompanying orchestral chamber ensemble, the performance promises an inspiring and unforgettable musical experience. The Oxford chorus will travel to Jackson, Mississippi to perform a reciprocal concert on May 3, 2026, for that community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program centers on the theme of \u201cthe living earth and its creation.\u201d The featured work will be<strong> Dan Forrest\u2019s Creation Concert Suite<\/strong>\u2014a six-movement selection drawn from his larger Creation composition, newly published in February 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional highlights include beloved choral selections by<strong> John Rutter<\/strong>, such as <em><strong>The Gift of Life<\/strong><\/em>, another six movement exploration of creation, along with his popular arrangements<em> All Things Bright and Beautiful<\/em> and <em>For the Beauty of the Earth<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oxford Civic Chorus Artist Director <strong>Dr. Debra Atkinson <\/strong>says of the pieces: \u201c<em>Since Dan Forrest and John Rutter are two of my favorite composers, it was an easy decision to pair\u00a0Creation Concert Suite\u00a0and\u00a0The Gift of Life. Together, they paint a rich tapestry of sound and emotion, inviting us to reflect on our individual place in the universe and the preciousness of every moment. We hope that this concert will be more than just a performance; we want it to be an experience that touches your hearts and minds.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Oxford-Civic-Chorus2-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Oxford-Civic-Chorus2-1.jpg?resize=512%2C341&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-157866\" style=\"width:624px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Oxford-Civic-Chorus2-1.jpg?w=512&amp;ssl=1 512w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Oxford-Civic-Chorus2-1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Chorus President <strong>Chris Koban<\/strong> commented, \u201c<em>when asked, what is your favorite song in our repertoire? Many chorus members say they cannot pick out just one or even two that are favorites. They love all of them and we know we are in for a treat when we join with the orchestral accompaniment.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This season also continues the <strong>OCC Conductor Fellows Program<\/strong>, spotlighting four emerging conductors from the north Mississippi community. Each Fellow will step to the podium to lead the chorus in one movement of a selected piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This concert is free, funded by donations from the community and in part by a grant from the<strong> Mississippi Arts Commission<\/strong>. The choir also received a grant from <strong>Lafayette Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow (LOFT)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oxford Civic Chorus, a 501(c)(3), has been inspiring singers, enriching community and expanding musical horizons since 1998. The choir gathers for weekly rehearsals, performs two concerts a year, and is available to sing at local events. New members are always welcome. Join, donate or learn more at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordcivicchorus.org\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordcivicchorus.org\/\">oxfordcivicchorus.org<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OxfordCivicChorus\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OxfordCivicChorus\/\">facebook.com\/OxfordCivicChorus.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 2, 2026, at 3:00p.m. at David H. Nutt Auditorium Oxford Civic Chorus will join forces with the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":157865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21168,4934,7887],"tags":[27325,34176,13644,34179,34175,34177,13065,2662,34180,4,11161,34178],"class_list":["post-157863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concerts","category-events","category-local-music","tag-chris-koban","tag-dan-forrests-creation-concert-suite","tag-david-h-nutt-auditorium","tag-dr-debra-atkinson","tag-jackson-choral-society","tag-john-rutter","tag-lafayette-oxford-foundation-for-tomorrow-loft","tag-mississippi-arts-commission","tag-occ-conductor-fellows-program","tag-oxford","tag-oxford-civic-chorus","tag-the-gift-of-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Oxford-Civic-Chorus.jpg?fit=1638%2C2048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157863"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157871,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157863\/revisions\/157871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}