I was very fortunate to attend a recent performance of the Children’s Educational Outreach Program presented by Natchez Festival of Music.

The Opera “G Train: the Musical” was written and presented by Christian McLeer and directed by Monica Harte. I was overwhelmed at how it captured and kept the attention of all children present.

The energy I felt was unbelievable and generated such excitement in them. It was very clear that our mission to educate children from Mississippi and Louisiana in the musical arts was being accomplished.

Some children even wanted to know “how they could become an opera singer?” Sadly, children today in many schools aren’t exposed to musical education so this makes our mission even more important.

The festival felt this short opera would appeal to an adult audience as well. With its unique combination of music forms, story and voices it not hard to understand an audience on their feet applauding at its beautiful conclusion. The festival has created an opportunity for any parent that felt the excitement their child experienced after seeing it, to attend and find out for themselves.

We have paired this short opera with Jessica and Michael Bunchman presenting An Evening of Musical Cabaret: “The Truth About Love — And The Usual Lies” for the opening night of the Natchez Festival of Music. We hope to see you Saturday night at Margaret Martin Performance Hall at 8 for these wonderful productions. The price is only $25 or $5 for children.

We also want to remind festival goers of Sunday, when the Alcorn State University Concert Choir will perform Spirituals and Gospel Extravaganza at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Basilica. The concert is free but donations will be accepted.

Each week in May we will present “Monday Nights at the Eola” which will offer an informative hour on the Festivals performances of the week. Not only an informative talk about the show, but also some musical highlights of the week’s performances, served up with wine and cheese (included in the price).

Natchez Pilgrimage tours will be on hand to sell tickets not only for each Monday at $10, but also to handle tickets to the upcoming performances.

Paris B. Winn is chairman of the Natchez Festival of Music.