The Meridian Symphony Orchestra will open its 51st season Saturday, Sept. 24, with special guest conductor Ken Lam, winner of the Memphis Symphony International Conducting Competition. Also performing will be world renowned bassist, Francois Rabbath. The concert is at 7:30 p.m., with a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. For tickets and information visit or call the MSU Riley Center at (601) 696-2200.

    Meridian Symphony Orchestra pays tribute to members of the Active Duty Military, Reserve, and National Guard Military and their dependents on Saturday evening, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m. with the initial season concert at the MSU Riley Center.

    With display of an ID card, or Dependent ID Card, special admission fee will be $10 for each family member, adults and children. This benefit is an extension of the admission price routinely paid by those of school and college age.

    This entire concert offers melodies familiar to the curious and concert lovers alike. The program opens with Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” (includes the Can Can), followed by “Symphony No. 1” by Georges Bizet. Proto’s “Carmen Fantasy for Double Bass and Orchestra” features Francois Rabbath, an instrumentalist recognized throughout the world for his self-developed fingering technique for the double bass. These melodies are from Bizet’s opera, “Carmen.”

    Ken Lam, recent winner of the first prize at the Memphis Symphony International Conducting Competition, and presently Orchestra Conductor at Montclair State University, as well as Artistic Director of Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestras brings style, skill, and vigor to the podium. He will direct all of the evening’s music, closing with one of the most beloved compositions in the classical genre, Rimsky-Korsakov’s fiery, beautiful and breathtaking “Capriccio Espagnole.”