Tonight at Christ United Methodist church (Old Canton Road at Pear Orchard) the Mississippi Symphony will present a program of piano concertos played by four winners of the Wideman Piano Competition. Having rehearsed with these fine young musicians the last two evenings, I can say that this is an extraordinary opportunity to hear world-class piano playing for a song (as it were). All four of the players simply blew me away. The MSO musicians are giving their services for this concert, which is a benefit for the orchestra. Here's the program:

Tina Chong (Canada) - Ravel: Piano Concerto

Ching-Yun Hu (Taiwan) - Prokofieff: Piano Concerto No. 3

Intermission

Yoonjung Han - Lizst: Piano Concerto No. 1

Alexey Koltakov (Ukraine) - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2

These concertos are part of the standard concert repertoire, and most concert-goers will recognize them. Contestants in performance competitions invariably choose dazzling works requiring a high level of virtuosity. The ones scheduled for tonight certainly fit that description.

The conductor's baton comes down at 6:30. Tickets are $15.00, an incredible bargain. There's a WorldWide WingDing party with exotic foods and wine, festive music, and colorful decorations afterwards at Colonial Mart Mall for $15.00.

Be there.