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For 64 years, they've been performing for the citizens of West Tennessee with nine concerts a year that attract over 30,000 listeners.

Hello, I'm Tom Britt.

On this edition of Tennessee is Talking, the topic is the Jackson Symphony, founded in 1961 by a group of leading citizens to bring classical music to the city of Jackson and surrounding communities.

The symphony has demonstrated a strong commitment to education and entertainment.

Let the conversation begin.

That's so cool.

Then that's when I said that-- The problem with that idea is-- Wow, that was amazing.

Then I came up with a solution.

[music] What was that about?

Here's what I think about it.

Now we're talking.

West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee is Talking.

Let the conversation begin.

Thanks for joining the discussion here on Tennessee is Talking.

Hello, I'm Tom Britt.

For the past 64 years, the Jackson Symphony has been bringing classical music to the city of Jackson and its surrounding communities.

Here to tell us more is newly appointed president of the Board of Directors, Greg Alexander, and Executive Director, Sherry Freeman.

Thank you both for joining us.

The Tennessee Arts Commission has recently designated the Jackson Symphony as a major cultural institution.

I wanted to make sure I had that right.

What does that mean?

It came about-- there are certain criteria you have to have done to be recognized for that.

One of the first is sustaining the budget for three consecutive years of over a million dollars, as well as having a long history of quality programming concerts.

We certainly had that.

All the stars, so to say, aligned and we have just been recognized.

We're the first in West Tennessee outside of Memphis, Nashville area.

We're very excited to have been acknowledged that way by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

This now opens the door for us in additional grants and opportunities.

Greg, as the new president of the Jackson Symphony Board of Directors, how do you plan to approach this role, and what growth opportunities do you plan on achieving or hoping to achieve?

We have a board that's comprised of just over 30 individuals.

Community leaders, symphony patrons, business people.

We have a lot of skill sets that come to the table.

There are always needs that arise in an organization, in a non-profit.

I'm excited to have such a great team of leaders on board to help us navigate this season.

The symphony has been growing over the last few years and we will continue to grow.

Our budget is growing.

Which is very important.

That's important.

Budget has grown as costs have risen over the years.

Collectively, we've come up with ways to figure that out and to fundraise better and to spend better, more wisely.

I know we've seen, and this is not one of the questions that y'all have talked about and put on the sheet here, but I know some symphonies have really struggled in major cities where there's a lot of money.

Why do you think the Jackson Symphony has been able to sustain the ups and downs that go with a non-profit musical organization?

I wake up thinking about that every day.

we've just been so blessed in the area.

I think one of the things is we are a phenomenal symphony.

Maestro Peter Shannon and the professional musicians, just an outstanding product.

We have this amazing product.

We just need to get the word out and to remind people of what they have.

We've really put a lot of focus in that for the last few years.

One of the things, Tom that we've really tried to be very attuned to in West Tennessee is we started trying to come to the people.

For all the things that came out of COVID, one of the positives that came out for us was our Symphony on the Move where we began to move ensembles throughout West Tennessee.

What started out in people's backyards and in cul-de-sacs and small neighborhoods began to be on town squares and in community areas.

We have found that our willingness to go to the people has ultimately returned the people to us and we are thrilled by that partnership that we've had.

If I'm hearing you correctly, you're bringing the product to the people and they in return after sampling the product and I've always thought this if you ever go to the symphony, you're going to be hooked and want to go back at some point.

Do you think that's part of it too, they get the experience at first sense that, "Wow, I really like this."

I think so and we work every symphony and every year and after every concert we break that down.

We really want to be consumer-friendly.

We want to make a patron's experience excellent and so we look at things like from the time they drive into the parking lot to they walk in the door, to how easy is it to find their seats, to find restrooms.

Now we're trying to provide refreshment opportunities.

The entire experience.

Yes, the whole thing as opposed to just saying, "Come here, a great concert."

We know that there's so much more because one of the most complained about things in symphonies across the nation is parking.

It's the little things that matter and we recognize that so we've really tried to focus in on making the evening something people really do want to come to experience and they come again.

If I may springboard off of what Sherry was saying, many people may think they don't like classical music or they don't appreciate, they don't know classical music but by going into these neighborhoods and having these Symphony on the Moves, that were all free.

People attended, they saw it and they thought, "Wow, this is something that I really enjoy just seeing the talent of these musicians," being able to take those instruments and make those sounds allowed them to become much more interested and realize it really is something for everybody.

That live experience of a live orchestra is really something different.

I know I grew up out in the country on a farm, poor boy, went to a little country school but I can remember, it must have been about junior high.

They loaded us on the big yellow buses, they took us down to the old Tigard Auditorium now the Montessori School Auditorium which was probably the biggest auditorium in Jackson at that time, and took us to a symphony concert.

I'd been around musical bands and string bands and things like that growing up but I had never heard a full orchestra.

When they hit those first chords and started and I went, "Wow, there's a lot more than just three guitars and a banjo."

-It draws you in.

-It does.

It was very good.

All right, we'll move forward now.

This season is called a season of first and what all new experiences in the symphony will they be bringing to the audiences, do you think?

We have some wonderful opportunities.

The first thing is, on our opening night Saturday September the 7th, we are doing a partnership with Ballet Arts of Jackson.

We're doing Appalachian Springs, the ballet and so we're excited to offer-- this is the first time that we've offered a ballet as a part of our season.

We're excited about that.

We think this will be a great new experience for our patrons, for people that have maybe not experienced the symphony.

Come and see.

You get a two-for-one package there.

It's really a great opportunity to see a ballet performed live with the live orchestra.

One of the things we're doing in our pop series this year, it's on October the 12th, we're doing a movie, a Disney live-to-film movie for the very first time in West Tennessee.

I saw that.

You'll come in and you can see the movie Hocus Pocus.

All the scores are out of that.

The symphony will play that live as you're watching the film.

A great experience.

These are things you only often get to see in big cities.

I've seen them offered in Nashville and Memphis and stuff.

We're actually bringing this here where it's affordable and obtainable for our community.

Those are two things we're very proud of that are first for us that are coming this year.

And will be quite different than the experiences [crosstalk] And will be quite different.

We're also bringing our very first masterworks to the Civic Center with table seating like often at the Pops.

We'll be doing that in November the 2nd on the Fringe.

We'll be doing a '20s show, so a great night.

A lot of new experiences involved.

Can you talk about the expansion of the Jackson Symphony Music Academy program?

This is something we're just so proud of, truly.

I believe that one of the things you do is you start early and provide opportunities.

As you said, that was impactful for you when you saw the symphony perform.

We believe that there are young musicians that are outstanding all throughout West Tennessee, but they've often lacked opportunities to afford private lessons.

It's quite costly to be able to perform with an ensemble.

It's just not always a possibility to be trained classi.. We're delighted to have started this past year the Jackson Symphony Music Academy and what we are calling Regional Music Centers.

That is where we are bringing, right now, strings opportunities.

We have young string ensembles, which is violin and cello and viola, and then choral opportunities in counties throughout West Tennessee.

Right now, we're in eight counties.

The last couple will be starting in Haywood and Gibson in the next few weeks.

We provide the instructor, and those are often musicians with the Jackson Symphony, so excellent instruction.

We hire the choral teachers as well as the instrumental teachers.

We provide a location, and we do this free of charge to children.

We've tried to put this word out throug.. and to take advantage.

The whole thing is to remove barriers for young artists.

If money were stopping you or you couldn't afford an instrument, we'll be there to help make that happen and make it possible.

Then we're providing performance opportunities on top of that.

They will perform twice a year, November and in April at the Carl Perkins Civic Center on stage.

Then we'll also-- they do play alongside and sing with the Jackson Symphony in December.

We're trying to give them all these opportunities because we know there's a young Beethoven, there's a young Mozart, there's these young outstanding individuals in West Tennessee if given an opportunity.

Proof of that is that just in the very first year of the Jackson Symphony Music Academy, there were almost 200 students enrolled initially.

Did you expect that?

Not that fast.

[laughter] -Not that many that fast, right?

-Right, and now we're-- That's a good problem to have.

It's a very good problem to have.

This is not for everyone, but we provide often sports opportunities and different things, which I think are wonderful, but we also want to provide these artistic opportunities for children that this is their skill, this is their talent.

The only place that they can get it.

That's right.

We're talking about some of your outreach programs.

You mentioned Symphony on the Move and bringing it to other communities and that thing.

Music and healing.

That's.. that's always intrigued me when I've heard, in another life, I was working at the TV station.

You came and talked about music and healing and taking it to the hospitals and nursing homes and things like that.

That's a program we're very proud of.

Actually started by Maestro Peter Shannon.

When he first came here, he brought this idea, he had done this at some of his other organizations.

We're thrilled by this program.

It has seen a great life here in West Tennessee.

We perform twice weekly at the Kirkland Cancer Center.

We perform weekly at the Jackson -Madison County General Hospital.

Then throughout the year, we are performing now at long-term and memory care facilities, as well as veterans homes.

We have an ensemble group and that changes with the seasons or the time of year.

Who's available, right?

At that point.

That's right.

The long-term memory care and veterans homes, we try to do those when the musicians are in town for concerts.

They'll often have some time on Saturdays or Fridays that we'll move them out into various facilities and let them perform.

They've just loved this opportunity and the people have loved it.

We're most grateful for so many supporters who continue to make this possible.

We think it's a great service.

With the Kirkland Cancer Center, we've had numerous letters of how much this meant to people.

Recently, we were listed in an obituary and the family just said, "This meant so much to our loved one as they were going through treatments."

We have a big, huge list of songs we can play.

Our musicians, if they go in and they find-- somebody requests a song that they may not know, by the time they get back the next week, they try to have that song ready for them.

It's a program we're delighted to be a part of.

I'm sure that you've seen how patients and people react in those situations to the music, right?

Oh, absolutely.

Then I would even venture to say that the musicians themselves, after they left, they reacted -because they felt something.

-That's right.

Many times the patients have become interactive.

It might be a chemotherapy patient that's receiving their treatment.

Sometimes they get up and they want to dance or they want to perform with the musicians and sing along.

It's joyful and uplifting for them in those situations.

You're committed to education, the Jackson Symphony is.

Can you tell me about the Jackson Symphony League and its programs such as Color of Music?

Yes.

Like I said, we really are invested in the education component of the Jackson Symphony.

The Jackson Symphony League, we think of it as our fundraising and volunteer arm of the Jackson Symphony.

This is made up completely of volunteers that put on the crystal ball every year and help provide many of the financial resources to make these programs we've talked about today possible.

Their Color of Music program is a longstanding program.

We've done that in partnership with Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

What happens is we send out music to the schools of a piece that's being performed throughout the year.

Those are going to art classrooms and the art teacher will play that piece of music and then the students will draw what they feel led.

We will have thousands of pieces submitted from throughout West Tennessee and then those are judged.

At the March concert, we have a big recognition that morning where there'll be 500 people that show up for this and awards will be given.

Then those pieces that win that year in the age groups, they hang at Le Bonheur here in Jackson in their lobby for a year.

It's a really great thing and a real big honor.

People love to do that.

Children never forget that opportunity.

Yes, children like color, they like music and somewhere along the way, sometimes they're artistic both performing and also by painting and drawing and that sort of thing.

Sometimes they lose it along the way.

This could help .. spur them to further their education in music or the other arts that they see through artistic endeavors that they've done through this, right?

Absolutely.

The key is we want people engaged with the arts, whether it's with the symphony or whether it's with the ballet or the theater, we want you to engage with the arts.

I certainly want children to engage with the arts.

That's the creative thought and that problem solving process.

We really encourage that and hope we're building on that.

Conversely to what you just said, Tom, sometimes these children, they don't know that they're interested in the arts and they are forced in school to do this project through Color of Music and they realize, "Hey, I have some talent here.

I didn't really know I could do that until I tried, until I had a reason to do it."

They find a new skill or something that they like to do.

Right, they do it and receive encouragement and continue perhaps to further that.

What is the best way to support the Jackson Symphony?

If I'm a viewer of this or know someone on the symphony that plays or somebody that's involved, what is the best way to support?

There's no doubt we'd love to see people purchase tickets and come be a part and experience the Jackson Symphony.

We certainly exist by support and donations.

We are a nonprofit and it's very expensive to put a grand symphony on the stage.

Every dollar matters.

Every dollar counts.

There are no small donations.

Also, we desire people to be volunteers or, you have a talent, you have a skill, come help us, move this opportunity forward.

Come help us be a part.

You might be a champion in your own community bringing the Symphony on the Move.

You might be a champion in your community helping to start a regional music center in your county, in your area.

You might be somebody that can help us get in touch with the music and healing program or make those opportunities available.

Don't think that what you have is not something we couldn't use.

It is.

We just want you to connect with the Jackson Symphony.

As I always say, it's yours.

This is your Jackson Symphony.

Come be a part of that.

I think, too, that we often think that if we're going to support something, it always has to be monetary, but your time and your effort and your connecting people -mean a lot, doesn't it?

-Oh, absolutely.

We'll take donations as well.

[laughter] Yes, it goes without saying.

In fact, the Jackson Symphony now has an endowment fund that is strong.

Which is important to non-profits.

It is so that we have this endowment that some folks felt called to leave money there or to put money there.

We have folks that have put the Jackson Symphony in their wills.

Just so that because they're passionate about the music and they want it to be able to be sustainable over the years.

As I said, costs are inflated these days and the budgets are increasing.

We're currently operating with a $1.6 million budget annually and we would encourage you to take part in helping to support the Jackson Symphony in that way as well and attending the concerts does a portion of that.

You mentioned the number on the budget.

I wonder what it was about 50 or 60 years ago, that budget.

I bet it's stepped up.

It has.

I was just looking at one from 10 years ago, and it's amazing to see how far the symphony's come through the years.

To another level for sure.

In many ways.

Yes.

How can people find out more about the symphony and what they have to offer?

Most of all, of course, getting tickets and coming to the concerts or they sit at a table or if they sit up in the balcony.

There's not a bad seat in the Civic Center.

There's not.

That is the one nice thing.

The Civic Center has great seating and we made sure with great sound and lighting that you have a great experience no matter where you sit.

If you want to find out more, go online to thejacksonsymphony.org.

Go to our website.

Look around.

Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

We post daily trying to let you know what's about to take place or what's happening in your area and with the Jackson Symphony and some of the fun things we're doing so you can certainly do those.

If you need more personal assistance, feel free to call the office at 731-427-6440.

We're delighted to help you one on one.

If you've never purchased a ticket, if you're not sure how to select a seat, then call us.

We're glad to help make that possible.

Of course, if you're a last minute person, you think, "I might like to go to the symphony tonight."

If we're at the Civic Center, that's a possibility because there's so much seating there.

If we're at the NED, that may not be possible.

-A little tighter.

-We get a little tight on that.

We definitely want you to be a part.

Oh, the Starlight Symphony, where it just goes on forever.

Absolutely.

The Starlight Symphony, just we can keep squeezing people in.

What a gift to the community don't you think?

It really is.

Do you know that that's the single most expensive concert we put on a year is the free community concert with the Starlight Symphony?

Of course, we're so appreciative of the city of Jackson and the Bank of Jackson, and many others that make that night possible.

Prosperity and so many others, because otherwise, -that would just not be-- -It wouldn't happen, would it?

Would not happen.

We appreciate that over and over again.

If you've never seen the symphony, then that's an opportunity.

Drag out your lawn chair, get there early because you have to stake it out early.

I know they're probably already staking it out right now.

We are about five weeks out.

They probably already started marking off spots.

-That's always fun, though.

-It is always fun.

It's a real community event.

Then you get the cannons -and you get everything.

-Oh, yes.

It's such an atmosphere, isn't it?

It really is.

Every year that grows and people think, "Oh, maybe there's not many people here."

You can have a small group and have 100 people in just a small area.

It is around 3,000 to 5,000 every year that are out there in the last couple of years.

I think it's been larger than ever.

We love it.

It's a great family event.

Your children can run around.

The sound is great.

The lighting is great.

We're not worried about you being overly quiet.

Come and have a great time with an experience of symphony.

That's true.

I know you've been there.

Of course, you don't realize how many people are there until you try to walk around a little bit and then you try to find where you were.

[laughter] It's all a lot of fun.

People are so kind.

They'll invite you over, "Here, stay with us for a while," -or "Sit down for a while."

-That's right.

Thank you both for coming by today -and speaking with us here.

-Thank you.

Sadly, we are out of time for this edition of Tennessee is Talking.

We want to thank Greg Alexander and Sherry Freeman for stopping by and telling us about the Jackson Symphony.

If you want to rewatch this program or share it with a friend, remember, it can be streamed anytime on the PBS app, along with all local Channel 11 programs.

You can also watch it on the West Tennessee PBS YouTube channel and on westtnpbs.org.

Keep the conversation going by following West Tennessee PBS on social media.

Until the next time, keep on talking, Tennessee.

[music] Tennessee is Talking is a presentation of West Tennessee PBS with the goal of bringing people together, sharing ideas, thoughts and different perspectives, learning from each other and sharing a civil and respectful discussion.

Tennessee is Talking, the show that brings West Tennessee together.

[music] The program you've been watching was made possible through the generous financial support of West Tennessee PBS viewers like you, please visit westtnpbs.org and make a donation today so that we can continue to make local programs like this possible.

Thank you.

[music]