Tim Fain is looking forward to returning to Meridian and playing with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra again.

In a recent telephone interview he said he had a wonderful time last year when he played with the MSO and he always enjoys working with conductor Claire Fox Hillard.

The violinist, who wowed the MSO audience with his rendition of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto last year returns to Meridian this weekend by popular demand.

Fain, who is from Southern California, said he shares a Southern heritage, as in the real South, as well.

“I grew up eating grits, even,” Fain said. His paternal grandfather was a Southern gentleman from Georgia.

Fain comes by his musical talent in part, through his heritage as well.

When his mother was pregnant with Tim, she took up playing the cello.

“So, I heard stringed instruments from the earliest age,” he said.

While his mother was rehearsing with an amateur group in the Fain home when Tim was just 6 years old, he walked up to the violinist during a break and said: “That’s what I want to do.”

Fain will be here on Saturday at the MSU Riley Center to kick off the Meridian Symphony Orchestra’s 2007-2008 season.

Fain describes Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, a piece he’ll be performing Saturday, as “beautiful” and “very soulful.”

Fain received his bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and his master’s degree from The Juilliard School. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

He will be playing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra later this fall and early winter and will be playing in the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New York after that.

Besides making beautiful music with orchestras around the world, Fain plays with a couple of bands in New York.

Like Hillard, Fain said he enjoys making classical music more approachable to audiences today.

“It’s all music. Why can’t classical music be a bit more fun?” Fain said.

Also Saturday the MSO will present The Overture to the opera “William Tell”, best known as the “Lone Ranger” theme, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor.

There will be a Pre-Concert Lecture beginning in the grand lobby of the MSU Riley Center at 7 p.m. Dr. Hillard presides and Tim Fain will be featured in this informative period of discussion and audience interaction.

Season tickets and individual performance tickets can be purchased at the MSU Riley Center Box Office (601) 696-2200. They will also be available on Saturday evening, one hour prior to the concert.

Tickets are $30 for adult “A” seating, $25 adult “B” seating, $10 student ticket.



Meanwhile,

back at the ranch



Marion’s second Fall Festival comes your way this Saturday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Admission is free.

Folks who plan on coming to the festival are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs.

It all happens behind the Marion Town Hall.

There will be food vendors, pony rides, magic shows, inflatables for the kids, a cake walk, a dunking booth, and lots of arts and crafts on display.

There are still plans for a talent show according to Bernice Martin, one of the event organizers who belongs to the Marion Volunteer Committee. She said a percentage of proceeds raised during the event will go toward Care Lodge and the Hamasa Shriners Transportation Fund for kids who need to go to Shriners hospitals.

She also said the festival has gotten help and support from The Meridian Star, Mr. Rodgers Hamburgers, the Sewing and Vacuum Center, Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, Brown Bottling Company, Dillards, radio stations Kiss 104, Q-95 and WOKK, the Shriners, Naval Air Station Meridian and others.

Some of the entertainment lined up for Saturday includes Marvin Ware and the Goodtimers, Obediah Clinton and the Outreach Church, and Bill Mayfield.

“We’ll have blues bands, gospel and country,” Martin said.

Anyone interested in participating in the talent show or wanting more information can call Martin at (601) 934-6961.



Another festival

on the horizon



If you’re looking to go out of town Saturday you can spend the day in Forest at the Wing Dang Doodle.

Keith “Chickin Daddy” Hunter and the Hot Wings will be supplying traditional blues seasoned with Cajun spice with a touch of jazz.

A talent show, pet parade, motorcycle show and arts and crafts on display will be happening, too, all at Gaddis Park starting at 10 a.m.

For more information see www.myspace.com/wingdangdoodlefestival.



Fair time



The Queen City Fair kicks off Monday at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.

Monday is School Day at the fair, Tuesday is Military Day, Wednesday will get ya unlimited rides with a $17 gate admission, Thursday is Senior Citizen Day, Friday is the $15 armband day for unlimited rides, Saturday is Meridian Star Day with dollar rides from noon-4 p.m. After noon $10 armbands will get ya unlimited rides, and Sunday is Family Day, which includes free parking. See today’s Hot Ticket listings for gate admission info and look for more detailed information on the fair later this week in The Meridian Star.

There’s lots of free attractions you need to know about, including a petting zoo, NASA exhibit, the Banana Derby, the Skin and Bones Comedy Circus and more.



Forbert tickets

still available



Don’t forget to grab your tickets to see Steve Forbert at the MSU Riley Center on Thursday, Oct. 4, starting at 8 p.m. The benefit concert helps LOVE’s Kitchen. Tickets are still available but a sellout is expected.

The concert is sponsored by Leading Edges Advertising, Glass Inc., and is being held in conjunction with the Community Bank Golf Classic.

Get your tickets at the MSU Riley Center box office. Call (601) 696-2200 for more information. Tickets are $20 and $25.



More downtown

fun coming



And, it’s almost Threefoot Art Festival time again. That happens on Saturday, Oct. 13 and is sponsored by the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Meridian Council for the Arts, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the city of Meridian.

It happens in downtown Meridian. Look for more on the Threefoot Art Festival in next week’s Meridian 360º.