(Photo from Mississippi Symphony Orchestra)
- Freeman, an Academy Award-winning actor and Mississippi native, will narrate the immersive experience, which weaves song and story in a cinematic journey through the origin and evolution of Blues music.
For the first time in his home state, Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience will be presented on Friday, March 27. The show is scheduled for 7:30pm at Thalia Mara Hall, located at 255 E. Pascagoula Street in downtown Jackson.
“Bringing the Morgan Freeman Symphonic Blues Experience to Mississippi is more than a performance — it’s a homecoming,” says Janet Reihle, president and executive director of the MSO. “It’s a chance to celebrate who we are and where this music comes from. Mississippi is the birthplace of America’s music — not just the blues. But even in this performance, you hear that legacy in songs like Dust My Broom, recorded in Jackson and widely credited as a foundation of rock and roll. This is our Mississippi story, and it continues to shape music around the world.”
The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will perform alongside blues artists from Clarksdale’s Ground Zero Blues Club, which Freeman co-founded with the late Bill Luckett.
In a video posted on the MSO Facebook page, Morgan Freeman says, “I’m looking forward to sharing the Symphonic Blues Experience with you, with the help of the finest blues musicians I know. Symphonic Blues is a powerful journey through the heart and soul of the Mississippi Delta, where the raw emotion of the Blues meets the depth and richness of an orchestra.”
Freeman, an Academy Award-winning actor and Mississippi native, will narrate the immersive experience, which weaves song and story in a cinematic journey through the origin and evolution of Blues music.
The Symphonic Blues Tour was developed in collaboration with Park Avenue Artists, and it has become a national hit, gathering rave reviews and standing ovations for its electrifying, soul-stirring effect.
The concert is hosted by the MSO through the leadership of its Board of Directors, and in collaboration with Visit Mississippi, Visit Clarksdale, Memphis Tourism, and Crossroads Economic Partnership.
“For the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, presenting this work at home is personal and purposeful,” says Reihle. “Morgan Freeman has long been a champion for Mississippi and for blues musicians, and his vision of bringing blues artists together with a full symphony creates something powerful. This production has reached audiences across the country and internationally. Bringing it back to Mississippi reinforces the role of this orchestra as the state’s largest performing arts organization and showcases the caliber of musicians who perform here — and who teach here. These are the same artists placing instruments in the hands of young people and building the next generation of Mississippi musicians. But this is bigger than one genre – or even one aspect of our culture. It’s about recognizing all the artists who spend a lifetime refining their craft and giving that work to an audience. Their stories matter, and this stage helps tell them.”
The Morgan Freeman Symphonic Blues Experience underscores a simple truth: Mississippi doesn’t just have a musical past — it continues to produce and sustain it. “This is about ownership and pride,” Reihle adds. “Presenting this work here recognizes the people, the sound, and the influence that started in Mississippi — and ensures it continues to be seen, heard, and valued.”
Martin Gellner is the composer, conductor, and music director of Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience. From Austria, Gellner lends his mastery to reimagining Delta classics with sweeping orchestral power, creating a sound that’s both rooted and revelatory.
Reihle notes that Thalia Mara Hall is built for moments like this. Freeman adds, “Join us for our homecoming on March 27.”
Tickets are available in person at Ardenland in Duling Hall, or online here or at ticketmaster.com
Susan Marquez
